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OUR LIFE MONTHLY , published by Ukrainian National Womens League of America Vol. XXX. ________ M ARCH, 1973 No. 3 The Women in Shevchenko's Life All U krainians know Shev chenko th e poet and cham pion of hum an rig h ts — b u t few .know him as a hum an being and few er still know w h at an im p o rtan t p a rt women played in th e life and creative w ork of th is genius. The loss of his m other w hen he w as nine y ears old, and th e com ing of a step m o th er w ith th re e of h er own children s h o rt ly a fte r, b ro u g h t Shevchenko closer to his own th re e siste rs who w ere very kind and ten der tow ards him and who defended him ag ain st his step m o th er’s w rath . H is poem “K a ty ry n a ” is dedicated to his siste r C atherine, and his ten d er relationship w ith his youngest sister, Irene, is b est seen in th e poem “S estri” (To a S is te r). Shevchenko’s f irs t love w as O xana w hom he firs t saw w hen he w as th irteen . H e w as g razin g sheep beyond th e village and w as overcom e w ith te a rs a t th e su d den realization th a t he possessed nothing, w hen a girl w ho had been picking hem p cam e to him , consoled him and kissed his cheek. T his g irl does n o t leave his m em ory th ro u g h o u t h is life. H e speaks of th is m em ory in his poem “To O xana K .” and O xana appears in several of his w orks w ritten th ro u g h o u t his life. In all th e wom en th a t he m et d u r in g his lifetim e, he alw ays un consciously searched fo r th a t som ething th a t would rem ind him of his “pleasant, curly O x an a.” Some years la te r in a sh o rt sta y in L ithuania, w hile in th e service of th e E n g elh ard ts, he fell in love w ith a P olish seam stress who paid a lot of atten tio n to him . B u t Shevchenko’s m aster le ft L ith u an ia fo r P etersb u rg w here Shevchenko soon g o t a c quainted w ith well-known U krainians and la te r w ith a fa m ous R ussian poet Zhukovsky and a well know n a t th e tim e p ain ter Bruelov. T hrough th e ef fo rts of th ese tw o men, S hev chenko’s freedom w as bo ug h t in 1938. Shevchenko had been given a r t in stru ction s while still in th e E n g elh a rd t’s service — he now continued a t th e A cadem y of A rts, receiving a silver m edal. Of his new life Shevchenko w rote “You dress y ourself well, go to th e th e a tre , listen to concerts, live am ong good th o u g h tfu l peo ple; in one word, you b ask in a paradise — b u t w h at is h ap pening there, a t your hom e in U kraine ?” In such m om ents of introspec tion, w hich increased w ith tim e, he would stop p ain tin g and so cializing, lock him self in his room and w rite verses. I t w as a t one of th ese tim es th a t he w rote w h at has become one of th e m ost popular of U k rainian songs — “Oh D nieper.” T he firs t col lection of Shevchenko’s poem s — “K obzar” — includes several bal lads and verses on ill-fated and u nrequited love — like “Topo- lya,” “K a ta ry n a.” H is g re a te st poem, “H aydam aky,” appeared th e y ear a fte r “K obzar” was printed. T hese tw o w orks m ade Shevchenko fam ous th ro u g h o u t U kraine. In 1843 Shevchenko re tu rn ed to U kraine — he had le ft a 15 y ear old, ragg ed slave — he w as re tu rn in g , a free, m atu re, well dressed m an. H e w as now an honored guest, and as such, even tually m et th e P rince and P rin c ess Repnin. P rincess B arb a ra R epnin w as a ttra c te d to Shev chenko and a stro n g affectio n ate bond grew betw een th em despite th e fa c t th a t th e P rincess w as m uch older. T h eir frien dship re m ained platonic and deeply a f fectio nate th ro u g h o u t Shevchen ko’s life. R etu rn in g to P etersb urg, Shev chenko com pleted his studies w ith a diploma, in A rt from th e A cadem y. T his w as th e y ear (1845) of his g re a te s t produc tiv ity and his g re a te s t revolt ag ain st th e u n ju s t social order. Shevchenko continued w ritin g poem s of p ro te st although m any w riters w ere being arrested . H is tim e finally cam e and in 1847 he w as sentenced to com pulsory m ilitary service in th e K irghiz Steppes under prohibition to w rite or draw . H ow ever he did m anage, under g re a t difficul ties, to compose a whole cycle of lyric poem s full of longing fo r his n ative land. The P rincess R epnin w rote to Shevchenko during th is exile and attem p ted to intervene on his b eh alf several tim es. A change of com m and a t one of th e fo rts to w hich Shevchen ko had been sent, b ro u g h t a new love into his life — th e com m an d er’s young w ife A gatha. Shevchenko w as a g u est m any tim es of th is m ore lenient of ficer’s fam ily and p ainted A g a th a ’s p o rtra it, du ring w hich tim e he fell in love w ith her. T h eir a ttac h m e n t soon becam e an item of gossip and A g a th a broke o ff th e relation sh ip abruptly. Shevchenko w as h u rt b u t th is blow m ade him look a t w om en m ore soberly. A lthough he adm itted th a t no once could live w ith o u t love — especially an a rtis t. T hrough th e effo rts of his friend s and followers, am ong w hom w as th e w ife of A. K. Tol stoy, Shevchenko w as released in M ay 1857. W hile w aitin g fo r perm ission to re tu rn to P e te rs burg, Shevchenko m et and be- HALUE ЖИТТЯ — БЕРЕЗЕНЬ, 1973 27
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