Executed Renaissance
May 21, 2026
The National Bank of Ukraine has released commemorative coins to honor two Ukrainian artists who were executed during the Soviet Union’s Great Purge of 1936-38—painter Ivan Padalka and writer Maik (Mykhailo) Johansen.
The commemoratives share a common obverse. The inscription SLOVO (“word”) appears in the center, with a bleeding bullet hole in the first “O.” The reverses depict a portrait of each artist, respectively, with their names and years of birth and death. The mintage for each 5 hyrvnias is limited to 75,000. They can be purchased through the National Bank of Ukraine’s online store.
From The Reading Room