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

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.