Taras Shevchenko Memorial
[Inscription on south face of the Shevchenko statue base:]
Taras
Shevchenko
1814-1861
Bard of Ukraine
[Inscription on north face of statue base:]
Dedicated to the Liberation, Freedom and Independence of all Captive Nations
This monument of Taras Shevchenko, 19th century Ukrainian poet and fighter for the independence of Ukraine and the freedom of all mankind, who under foreign Russian imperialist tyranny and colonial rule appealed for “The New and Righteous Law of Washington,” was unveiled on June 27, 1964. This historic event commemorated the 150th anniversary of Shevchenko’s birth. The memorial was authorized by the 86th Congress of the United States of America on August 31, 1960, and signed into Public Law 86-749 by Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States of America on September 13, 1960. The statue was erected by Americans of Ukrainian ancestry and friends.
"...Our soul shall never perish.
Freedom knows no dying.
And the greedy cannot harvest
fields where seas are lying."
[Inscription on reverse face of the relief sculpture of Prometheus:]
"Cannot bind the living Spirit
nor the living Word.
"Cannot smirch the sacred glory
of Th’Almighty Lord."
Taras Shevchenko The Caucasus>, 1845.
[Translation of text in Ukrainian language:]
“When will Ukraine have its Washington with fair and just laws? Someday we will!”
[Other memorial markings:]
Leo Mol - sculptor.
Radoslav Zuk - architect.
Bedi-Rassy Art. Fdry. NY.
Marker is on 22nd Street NW north of P Street, NW, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
