Transcending Linguistic and Cultural Boundaries: A Story of Friendship Between Ira Aldridge (1807–1867) and Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861)

• Authors: Kujawińska-Courtney Krystyna
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The text presents the unique friendship between Ira Aldridge (1807–1867), the first Africa–American tragedian and Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861), Ukrainian artist, poet and painter. They met for a short time in 1858, when Aldridge came to St Petersburg to play Shakespeare with a German troupe. Since their lives’ experiences were similar – Aldridge suffered from racial discrimination, while Shevchenko was born as a serf – their friendship was instantaneous. Shevchenko appreciated Aldridge’s theatrical skills and Aldridge highly valued Shevchenko’s art. Aldridge’s portrait painted by Shevchenko is a memento of their meetings and friendship and is exhibited in the Moscow Tretiakov Gallery.

Keywords

EN

Ira Aldridge; Taras Shevchenko; friendship

• Publisher: Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw
• Journal: Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 24/1
• Pages: 7-18

Contributors

author

Kujawińska-Courtney Krystyna

• University of Łódź

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