200 Hryvnia Banknote

The first Ukrainian banknote, known as the hryvnia, was designed by Heorhiy Narbut in 1918. Unfortunately, with the fall of the Ukrainian state less than a year later, the circulation of the Ukrainian hryvnia ceased in 1920. It was only around 70 years later, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, that Ukraine was able to gain its currency back. In 1991, the graphic artists, Vasyl Lopata and Borys Maksymov, were invited by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic to create the new Ukrainian hryvnia. Together, they designed ₴1, ₴2, ₴5, ₴10, ₴20, ₴50, ₴100, and ₴200 banknotes. Lopata would create the portraits and the architecture, while Maksymov would design the ornaments, heraldry, and text. The ₴200 banknote shown was introduced in 2001 and was in circulation until 2020. It featured Lesya Ukrainka, one of the most prominent writers and poets in Ukrainian literature. She is the first and the only woman featured on the hryvnia and is still featured on the ₴200 banknote today, although with a new design.