A node of national memory: Mykola Tomenko told how Nizhyn honours the 165th anniversary of Shevchenko's reburial

Ukraine recalls one of the greatest and at the same time saddest pages of its history — the return of Taras Shevchenko home.

Exactly 165 years ago, the coffin bearing the body of the poet, whom the empire tried to erase from memory during his lifetime, made its final journey from the far north to Chernecha Hora. One of the main stops on this mournful route was the Cossack town of Nizhyn. It was here, within the walls of the legendary Transfiguration Cathedral, where thousands of people once saw off the Kobzar with tears in their eyes, that the politician and public figure Mykola Tomenko, together with like-minded people, presented a unique memorial — an exact copy of the death mask of our spiritual father.

The Nizhyn railway junction of memory

May 1861 was forever imprinted in the genetic memory of the Chernihiv region. When the body of Taras Shevchenko was being transported from Saint Petersburg to Ukraine, Nizhyn became the place where the Ukrainian spirit showed itself in full force. People came here from all the surrounding villages simply to stand beside the coffin of the man who gave Ukrainians back their “I”.

Today, more than a century and a half later, Mykola Tomenko's “Ridna Kraina” Foundation, together with partners from KNUBA, has decided to commemorate this event as part of the large historical and educational project “The Last Journey of Taras Shevchenko”.

“NIZHYN honours our spiritual FATHER Taras SHEVCHENKO. Today, on the day of the 165th anniversary of the return/reburial of Taras Shevchenko in Ukraine and the stay of his coffin in Nizhyn, we have installed a copy of the poet's death mask in the city's famous Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, where on May 17, 1861, a crowded requiem took place during the transfer of Taras Shevchenko's body to Ukraine,” says Mykola Tomenko.

Art that takes you back to the past

The copy of the death mask installed in the cathedral is not simply a museum exhibit. It is the fine, jewel-like work of the well-known Ukrainian sculptors Oles Sydoruk and Borys Krylov. They managed to convey every feature of the poet's face, captured in the first hours after his passing into eternity.

Now everyone who enters the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral will be able to meet the Kobzar literally face to face and feel the atmosphere of that very May day when Ukraine was burying its prophet.

Tomenko also expressed sincere gratitude to everyone who helped bring this initiative to life on the ground — the mayor of Nizhyn Oleksandr Kodola, the rector of Nizhyn State University Oleksandr Samoilenko and the director of the Nizhyn Agrotechnical Institute Vasyl Lukach.

“Love her… in the cruel time”

Today, as Ukraine once again passes through the crucible of a cruel war, Shevchenko's prophetic words sound sharper and more relevant than ever. They become our main prayer and guiding light.

Mykola Tomenko recalled the lines that every Ukrainian today feels with the heart:

“Love your Ukraine. Love her… in the time of wrath, in the last, hard moment pray to the Lord for her.”

Such projects are not about admiring the past. They are about shaping our inner core. As long as we remember at what price our identity was won, and as long as we honour those who laid the foundations of our freedom, we remain invincible.

“We remember our history! We honour our heroes!” the public figure sums up.

Author: Daria Volkova