Taras Shevchenko’s Birthday: Karazin Community Commemorates

Today, 9 March, we commemorate the birthday of a figure who has become synonymous with Ukrainian freedom — Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko. An outstanding poet, prose writer, thinker, and artist, he laid a strong foundation for our national identity, becoming the voice of a people who, across centuries, assert their right to freedom and uniqueness.

For V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, which for more than two centuries has been a center of enlightenment and Ukrainian culture, the figure of Shevchenko holds special significance. His creative legacy is not only a literary canon but also a moral guide for many generations of students and scholars.

It is symbolic that among the alumni of Karazin University there is a whole constellation of outstanding artists who were awarded the highest creative award of the state — the National Taras Shevchenko Prize of Ukraine. The names of Oles Honchar, Volodymyr Sosiura, Yurii Shevelov, Hryhir Tiutiunnyk, Hryhorii Tiutiunnyk, Ivan Svitlychnyi, and many others are forever inscribed in the history of the university as examples of devotion to the native word and to the ideas bequeathed by the Kobzar.

Today, the prophetic appeals of Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko are more relevant than ever. They inspire us to defend our land, develop education, and strengthen the spiritual power of the nation. By honoring the memory of this genius, we affirm our faith in the victory of light over darkness and in the inevitable flourishing of Ukraine.

Happy birthday to the Kobzar! Let us remember, preserve, and prevail.