Kost Lavro (born in 1961, Poltava Oblast) is a Ukrainian artist and illustrator. He is a close collaborator with the poet and publisher Ivan Malkovych. Laureate of Shevchenko National Prize in 2010.
Kost Lavro was Born on March 11, 1961 near Dikanka (now Poltava region, Ukraine).
Lavro studied art early at the Shevchenko State Art School (his classmates there included Alina Panova, Roman Turovsky and Yuri Makoveychuk) and the Kyiv Polygraphic Institute. He graduated from the Faculty of Book Design of the Ukrainian Academy of Printing. He is a Member of the National Union of Artists or Ukraine.
In his works, he combined the fundamental tenets of the Ukrainian avant-garde of the 1920s with the typical features of Ukrainian folk painting. Kost LavroâÂÂs works were repeatedly included in the catalogues of childrenâÂÂs book exhibitions in Bologna, Bratislava, and the like.
In addition to âÂÂA-ba-ba-ga-la-ma-giâÂÂ, he collaborates with the Ukrainian publishing house âÂÂSmart Childâ and the popular French childrenâÂÂs magazine âÂÂPomme dâÂÂApiâÂÂ.
Illustrations for the book âÂÂThe Night Before Christmasâ received several high book awards, including the title âÂÂBest ChildrenâÂÂs Book of 2007â at the All-Ukrainian competition âÂÂBook of the Yearâ and a 1st degree diploma for winning the âÂÂArt of the Bookâ competition (Russia, 2007).