Pomník Tarase Ševčenka na náměstí Kinských

Identity of the monument and verified location

The bronze monument to Taras Shevchenko stands on náměstí Kinských, Praha 5 — Smíchov, in a green area at the edge of the square, near the tram stop. The local administration’s response of 8 September 2009 provides the cadastral reference parcela č. 205/2, katastrální území Smíchov. This is substantially more precise administrative evidence than an approximate coordinate from a shared online map. Object R0074 is a monument in space, rather than Taras Shevchenko himself, the square as a whole, or the historic Prague printing of “Kobzar” R0086. [TS01; TS02]

Náměstí Kinských belongs to the urban context of Smíchov; the municipal park inventory separately lists the Shevchenko sculpture among the square’s objects. The monument itself, the park on the square and Zahrada Kinských, the larger park on the Petřín slope, must be distinguished: these are different geographical levels. [TS03]

Background to 2009: the proposal and controversy

The project to install the monument developed with the participation of the Ukrainian community in Czechia. Before its placement in Smíchov, another location in Prague 6, Bubeneč, was discussed. Some local residents opposed the selected site, and questions about the permitting procedure arose in public discussion. Radio Svoboda records this debate in its report from the unveiling. [TS02]

Different voices must be represented together. Public objections by local residents do not demonstrate the city’s general hostility towards Ukrainian culture; support from the organisers, in turn, does not mean there were no legal questions. The city’s response to the 2009 interpellation describes the approval procedure and asserts the legality of the decision. A historical website should compare these documents without imposing a present-day verdict. [TS01; TS02]

Unveiling on 25 March 2009

The ceremony took place on 25 March 2009, attended by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who was on a state visit to Czechia. Mariana Drach’s dated report for Radio Svoboda contains participants’ testimony and photographic documentation of the ceremony. The municipal authorities confirm that the unveiling date was linked to the head of state’s visit in the context of the Czech presidency of the Council of the EU. [TS01; TS02]

The unveiling is a separate Event, while the monument is a lasting material entity, Place/Monument. The date of 25 March is neither Shevchenko’s birth year nor the publication date of “Kobzar”. This is particularly important for the website: the multimedia narrative covers nineteenth-century literary connections and twenty-first-century urban commemoration without merging the historical layers. [TS02]

Authors of the sculpture and architectural design

In Radio Svoboda’s report, sculptor Mykola Znoba explains that he created the monument specifically for Prague; Veronika Dirova designed the architectural solution. Secondary summaries sometimes name Mykola together with his father Valentyn Znoba; without the monument’s official record, this general family association should not automatically be converted into a claim of joint authorship of the specific Prague statue. [TS02; TS04]

According to the sculptor, the image of the young Shevchenko was chosen after discussion within the Ukrainian community. This presents the sculpture as the result of a contemporary cultural choice, rather than a historically exact portrait of Shevchenko at a particular age. A media gallery needs a documentary photograph and the work’s legal status, rather than an arbitrarily found poster. [TS02]

Material, form, scale and spatial perception

The monument is a bronze full-length sculpture of the poet on a granite base. The 2009 report describes it as approximately two metres tall; other sources give a figure of around 2.2 m. Until an official record with approved dimensions is obtained, the tourist page can use “a life-size bronze sculpture on a low pedestal”, without presenting the measurement as the result of our own survey. [TS02; TS04]

The installation site lies at the boundary between transport space and greenery. The administration reported that the works included preparing the base and the surrounding passage; this does not mean a complete reconstruction of the entire square. Visibility, safe access from the tram stop and space for public commemorations matter to visitors. [TS01]

Legal discussion in Prague 5 documents

An interpellation submitted by a local councillor on 11 June 2009 raised questions about the legality of the installation, the absence of a public survey and the circumstances of the move from another district. The Prague 5 mayor’s response of 8 September reports an approach to the heritage authorities, preparation of planning approval and the administration’s final position that the placement was not unlawful. [TS01]

This is an example of multiple documentary voices: the official’s objections and the authorities’ response are preserved as two separate documents. The conflict should neither be hidden nor regarded as finally resolved without studying the relevant administrative acts and minutes. A neutral sentence about the debate over the site and procedure is sufficient for a public article. [TS01]

Czech-Ukrainian literary grounds for commemoration

Shevchenko did not visit Prague, unlike many figures of twentieth-century emigration. His texts nevertheless became part of Czech-Ukrainian contacts through translations, literary reception and the Prague edition of “Kobzar” in 1875–1876. At the 2009 ceremony, the Ukrainian president specifically recalled these connections. The edition’s history is already covered in separate R0086, including the distinction between the actual printing of the first volume and the title-page year of 1876. [TS02; TS05]

The monument exists as a symbol of international cultural memory, rather than because the poet lived in Smíchov. No specific apartment or Prague residence address should be invented for him. For the “Literary geography” section, it is more appropriate to link the monument to book R0086 without assigning both the same type of geographical object. [TS05]

Contemporary practices of memory and public life

The monument has become a venue for cultural and public gatherings of Ukrainians in Czechia. Prague’s municipal administration reported that on 24 February 2024 participants in “Den za Ukrajinu” proceeded from the statue on náměstí Kinských towards central Prague. The monument thus has an attested contemporary event layer separate from the 2009 unveiling ceremony. [TS06]

For the website, this is a reason to create a timeline of the place: the 2009 unveiling, subsequent commemorations, cultural tours and public events. Every event needs its own source and date; present-day assessments of events must not be projected onto past periods, nor organising roles retrospectively attributed to people without confirmation. [TS06]

Map, images and accessibility

The confirmed spatial locator is náměstí Kinských, Praha 5 — Smíchov, parcela 205/2. Open maps may offer coordinates, but the centre point of the sculpture requires checking against the municipal GIS or a field GPS record. Address-level navigation can currently be offered, while exact_monument_coordinates remains null. [TS01]

Photographs require a date, author, camera angle, licence and, where necessary, permission for further use of the artwork. Historic photographs of the 2009 ceremony cannot automatically be republished merely because they appear in journalistic archives. For the illustration map, taking our own photographs of the current condition under the appropriate legal conditions is preferable. [TS02; TS03]

Spatial evidence and catalogue of possible images

Administrative record: site=náměstí Kinských, district=Praha 5–Smíchov, land_plot=205/2, monument_exact_gps=null. The monument is near the tram stop at the edge of the square, rather than within the Kinský park area on the slope. For a subsequent route, the general location can be linked to museums and other Ukrainian cultural sites only through confirmed geography. [TS01; TS03]

Media candidates: photographs of the 2009 unveiling (journalistic licence separately), the sculpture’s image in the Prague 5 inventory, a current view, a photograph with the sculptor and the municipal interpellation document. None should be imported without clear permissions. [TS01; TS02]