The Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) presented a slide presentation “Kobzar’s Testament Riddle” that offered a new approach to the background of the classical poem “My Testament”. The local historian D. Synytsia analyzed the text of the poem and suggested his own interpreting of the facts. According to the researcher Shevchenko wanted to be buried in the vicinity of the modern Dnipropetrovsk city. In the slide show we took a fresh look at the poem’s text and found confirmation to D. Synytsia’s hypothesis. It really seems that after a visit to Ekaterinoslav region and the exploration of the Cossack heritage the poet wanted to be buried on a Scythian mound (“on mohyla”) with a view on the greatest Dnipro river rapid – the Insatiable, aka Roaring. Both objects are located not far from Dnipropetrovsk city. The hypothesis is supported by the original Shevchenko’s painting and the memoirs of the local dwellers about the noise produced by the rapids (before they were submerged in the water reservoir). The new facts from Kobzar’s biography impressed the group. The kids were thrilled by the Testament’s riddle that caused so much confusion and deprived the city of the nationwide Shevchenko Memorial.

1. Window on America center
Dnipropetrovsk
2014

2. “

3.  Do you know where the modern
Kobzar’s Memorial is situated?

6. When I die, then
make my grave
High on an ancient mound,
In my own beloved Ukraine,
In steppepland without
bound:
Whence one may see
wide-skirted wheatland,
Dnipro’s steep-cliffed shore,
There whence one may hear the blustering
River wildly roar. “
Translator – Vira Rich


7. Dnipropetrovsk local lore
historian
Dmytro Synytsia
analyzed the “My
Testament” text and has
his own hypothesis

8. NOT
“ в могилі” ,
BUT
“на могилі” .
WHAT is this object ?

9.  “MOHYLA”-is a mound of earth
and stones raised over a grave of
Scythian nobility in Dnipro river
valley

10. “Дніпро ревучий”
“Roaring Dnipro”
could be found
only in the river
section with rapids

11.  Rapids are
characterized by the
river becoming
shallower with some
rocks exposed above
the flow surface.

12.  The plan of rapids on
Dnipro River
between Dnipropetrovsk
and Khortizia island

13.  The biggest rapid’s
name was
“INSATIABLE”
It was located in Dnipro-
petrovsk
region(Vasylivka –
Mykilske na Dnipri )

14.  “Ревучий” was the
older name of the
“Insatiable” rapid

15. Outstanding historian
Dmytro Javornytskyj
quoted the local dwellers:
«Вода так ревела и грохотала по камням,
что этот шум был слышен
за несколько километров».
Even after submersion
the Insatiable’s voice can be heard from
under the water on quiet nights

16.  Zaporizhja kossacks
used the mounds to
guard their territories

17.  In 1843 29y.o. Shevchenko
visited Yekaterinoslav.
 For 2 months he traveled on
foot visiting former Cossack
villages – Old Kodak and
New Kodak,
 He walked all the way along
the Dnipro’s bank to the
rapids
 ,

18. Малюнок “Село на Орілі”, див.
http://pokrlib.at.ua/publ/slov_janskij_centr/do_200_richchja_vid_dnja_narodzhennja_t_g_shevch
enka/shevchenko_i_pridniprov_ja/30-1-0-152

20.  Dmytro Synytsia
suggests to erect a
memorial sign in
Vasylivka-na-Dnipri
 http://www.day.kiev.ua/uk/article/kultura/dnipropetrovci-proponuyut-
vstanoviti-memorialniy-znak-u-seli-vasilivka-na-dnipri
 http://uanews.dp.ua/culture/2013/05/27/8144.html

21. Dnirpoterovsk regional
authorities
constructed an artificial
waterfall as an imitation
of the “Roaring
Insatiable”

22.  37 monuments to T. Shevchenko
 3 parks named after him
 2 Ukrainian drama theatres – in Dnipropetrovsk and
Kryvyj Rig
 City Library and a Cinema of Dniprodzerzhinsk
 2 high schools ( Marganets and Lozuvatka)
 House of Culture (Pidhorodnie).
 Farming company in Kryvyj Rig region