Deregus, Mikhail Gordeevich

Born Nov. 22 (Dec. 5), 1904, in the village of Veseloe, in present-day Kharkov Raion, Kharkov Oblast. Soviet graphic artist and painter. People’s Artist of the USSR (1963). Corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1958). Member of the CPSU since 1951.

From 1923 to 1930, Deregus studied at the Kharkov Art Institute, where he taught from 1932 to 1941. Among his paintings are A Kolkhoz Holiday (1935) and Taras Bulba at the Head of His Troops (1952), both of which are in the Museum of Ukrainian Fine Arts of the Ukrainian SSR in Kiev. Deregus did the graphic series Katerina (etching, monotype, 1936-38), On the Roads of War (etching with aquatint, 1943), and Ukrainian Folk Ballads and Historical Songs (etching, light lacquer, aquatint, charcoal, 1947-50). He has illustrated the works of numerous authors, including I. P. Kotliarevskii, N. V. Gogol, Lesia Ukrainka, and N. S. Rybak. Deregus’ works poetically convey the folk heroes, history, nature, customs, and way of life of the Ukraine. He won the T. Shevchenko Prize of the Ukrainian SSR in 1969, and he has been awarded an Order of Lenin, a Badge of Honor, and medals.