Zhukovsky, Vasilii

Zhukovsky, Vasilii [Žukovs’kyj, Vasilij], b 9 February 1783 in Mishenskoe, Tula gubernia, Russia, d 24 April 1852 in Baden-Baden, Germany. (Portrait: Vasilii Zhukovsky.) Russian Romantic poet and translator. As a tutor at the tsar's court from 1815 to 1839, he used his influence to help buy Taras Shevchenko's freedom from serfdom. In fact, it was a portrait of Zhukovsky, painted by Karl Briullov, which was raffled to collect the necessary funds. Shevchenko dedicated the poem ‘Kateryna’ to him. Zhukovsky's works have been translated into Ukrainian by Pavlo Hrabovsky and Maksym Rylsky.