Shevchenko Bartholomew Hryhorovych (June 11, 1821, Kyrylivka village, Zvenyhorod district, Kyiv province – June 11, 1892, Buryakivka village, Radomysl district, Kyiv province) – a cousin and relative of Taras Shevchenko (Taras Hryhorovych’s brother Yosyp married Varstroy Mostroylo and sister). The son of a serf, adopted by a merchant.
The first acquaintance of relatives in absentia took place in 1837, when Bartholomew Shevchenko began to write letters to Taras Shevchenko on behalf of his illiterate brother Nikita. Bartholomew and Taras met personally in 1844 during the service of Bartholomew Shevchenko in the main office of the estate of Pavel Engelhardt.
In 1857–1864, Bartholomew Shevchenko lived with his family in Korsun, where he worked as an assistant manager of the estate of His Royal Highness Prince Pavel Lopukhin. During his visit to Korsun in 1859, Taras Shevchenko stayed with Bartholomew Shevchenko, who helped him redeem his relatives from serfdom and buy a plot of land for a house. Taras Hryhorovych’s friendly family relations developed with Bartholomew Shevchenko’s children – Andriy, Hanna, Kalenyk, Frosina.
In 1859–1861, Taras Shevchenko wrote 22 letters to Bartholomew Shevchenko and received 11 (those that have survived).
n 1864, Bartholomew Shevchenko served as manager of the estate of L. Poniatowski in Borodyanka, Kyiv district. He was under investigation at the time, accused of links to Polish insurgents. After 1864 and until the end of the 1870s, he worked as a forester in Shenderivka, Kaniv County. There, in 1875, he wrote Memoirs of Taras Shevchenko, published in the Lviv magazine Pravda (1876, pp. 1-2).
Bartholomew Shevchenko – one of the organizers of the funeral of Taras Shevchenko, he bought the land under Shevchenko’s grave and gave it to Kanev, took care of arranging the grave, bequeathed his own funds for this purpose.Bartholomew Shevchenko’s children and grandchildren carefully guarded the memory of the Great Kobzar.