The lyrics constitute a slightly modified version of the first stanza of a patriotic poem written in 1862 by the poet Pavlo Chubynsky, a prominent ethnographer from Kyiv. In 1863, Mykhailo Verbytsky, a Ukrainian composer and Greek-Catholic priest, composed music to accompany Chubynsky’s text. The first choral performance of the piece was at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv, in 1864.
In the first half of the 20th century, during unsuccessful attempts to gain independence and create a state from the territories of the Russian Empire, Poland, and Austria-Hungary, the song was the national anthem of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the West Ukrainian People’s Republic, and Carpatho-Ukraine. A competition was held for a national anthem following Ukraine’s secession from the Soviet Union, with one of the songs being “Za Ukrainu” (English: “For Ukraine”) by the Ukrainian writer and actor Mykola Voronyi. “Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy i slava, i volya” was officially adopted by Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on 15 January 1992. The official lyrics were adopted on 6 March 2003 by the Law on the Anthem of Ukraine (Закон про Гімн України).