The Taras Shevchenko Memorial is a bronze statue and stone relief-adorned wall located on the 2200 block of P Street NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States.

In addition to its numerous memorials and monuments which pay homage to famous Americans, Washington, D.C. is home to many artworks honoring foreign heroes.

Examples in Dupont Circle include memorials honoring Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi of India, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk of Czechoslovakia, and Lajos Kossuth of Hungary.

Seventeen sculpture designs were submitted and on July 14, 1962, the committee unanimously chose the one by Leonid Molozhanyn (Leo Mol), a Ukrainian Canadian who would go on to sculpt works in several countries depicting Shevchenko.

The stonework was provided by the Jones Brother Company while the carving was completed by Vincent Illuzzi, Sr.[8] [14] The choice of Shevchenko as the subject for a statue was not without controversy.

Opponents, such as The Washington Post editorial board, argued "the Ukrainian poet is known to only a few Americans, he is the idol of the Soviet Communist Party, he is anti-Semitic and anti-Polish.

"[4][15] Following the strongly worded editorial's publication, there was a deluge of angry responses, including from members of Congress like Representatives Thaddeus J. Dulski of New York and Ed Derwinski of Illinois.

Derwinski said erecting a memorial to Shevchenko seemed appropriate when compared with some of the other statues in the city, such as those honoring Dante, Edmund Burke, and Jose de San Martin.

[4][11] In November, a member of the National Capital Planning Commission, which was required to approve the statue according to the congressional resolution, called for the cancellation of the memorial.

[8] The day-long festivities included concerts at DAR Constitution Hall and a procession of around 35,000 people of Ukrainian descent, many wearing native clothing, marching from the Ellipse to the memorial site.

Led by Colonel William Rybak, it took four hours for all the participants to march past the White House, west on Pennsylvania Avenue, and north on 23rd Street to the memorial site.

[21] There were approximately 100,000 people in attendance at the ceremony, including delegations from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well as U.S. government representatives and foreign ambassadors.

Following a 12-minute speech, Eisenhower unveiled the statue, calling Shevchenko a Ukrainian hero and stated: "For my hope is that your magnificent march from the shadow of the Washington Monument to the foot of the statue of Shevchenko will here kindle a new world movement in the hearts, minds, words and actions of men; a never-ending movement dedicated to the independence and freedom of peoples of all captive nations of the entire world.

"[4] He also said the statue represented "millions of oppressed" in Eastern Europe and "gives them constant encouragement to struggle forever against Communist tyranny, until, one day final victory is achieved, as it most surely will be.

A commemorative book which includes a brief history of the monument, a list of the memorial fund donors, and other documents related to the site were also installed in the base.

The statue, which faces south, depicts Shevchenko wearing a long suit coat and stepping forward as his left hand holds his jacket lapel.