Petro Kalnyshevsky (20 June 1690? – 31 October 1803) was the last Koshovyi Otaman of the

Zaporozhian Host Zaporozhian Host (or Zaporizhian Sich) is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River in what is Central Ukraine today, from the 15th to the 18th centuries. These in ...

, serving in 1762 and from 1765 to 1775. Kalnyshevsky was a hero in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Order of Saint Andrew with diamonds for courage and the rank of lieutenant-general.

Life

Being the leader of the Zaporozhian Host, Kalnyshevsky defended the rights of

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

and their independence from increasing

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

n influence, and encouraged agricultural development and trade in the Zaporozhian

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

. After the destruction of the

Zaporizhian Sich The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Cos ...

, Kalnyshevsky was arrested, tried and in July 1776 incarcerated at Solovetsky Monastery, with the strict prohibition of correspondence or socialization with anyone. In 1792, he was transferred to solitary confinement at the Povarnya jail, where he remained until 1802. When his cell was opened it was discovered that it had feces two arshins (nearly four feet) deep. Being pardoned by Emperor Alexander at the claimed age of 110 years, Kalnyshevsky (already blind at that time) decided to remain in the monastery, where he died two years later in 1803.

Canonization

Kalnyshevsky was canonized by the

Orthodox Church of Ukraine The Orthodox Church of Ukraine ( uk, Православна церква України, Pravoslavna tserkva Ukrainy; OCU) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church whose canonical territory is Ukraine. The church was united at the unifi ...

in 2008. Later, he was canonized by

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( uk, Українська православна церква, Ukrainska pravoslavna tserkva; russian: Украинская православная церковь, Ukrainskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', UOC), common ...

in 2014.

Influence

In the arts

In 2017,

Roman Turovsky-Savchuk Roman Turovsky-Savchuk (Ukrainian: Роман Туровський-Савчук) is an American artist-painter, photographer and videoinstallation artist, as well as a lutenist-composer,

composed a tombeau in honor of Kalnyshevsky.

Sources

Житіє праведного Петра Калнишевського
Life of Petro Kalnyshevsky on the official web-site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), in Ukrainian.
Documentary film about Petro Kalnyshevsky on the official web-site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
in Russian. * Коцур Г. Меценатська діяльність доби козаччини: історичний досвід церковного будівництва // Науковий вісник Чернівецького університету: Зб. наук. праць. – Чернівці, 2005. * Ефименко П.С. Калнишевскій, послъдній кошевой Запорожской Съчі. 1691 – 1803 // Русская старина. – 1875. – Т. XIV. * Эварницкій Д.И. Послъдній кошевой атаманъ Петръ Ивановичь Калнишевскій. – Новочеркасскъ, 1887. * Скальковський А.О. Історія Нової Січі, або останнього Коша Запорозького: Передм. та комент. Г.К.Швидько. – Дніпропетровськ, 1994. * Голобуцкий В.А. Запорожское казачество. – К., 1957. * Апанович О. Розповіді про запорозьких козаків. – К., 1991.

References