Ivan Mazepa

Ivan Mazepa

Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (Ukrainian: Іван Степанович Мазепа, Russian: Ива́н Степа́нович Мазе́па, Polish: Jan Mazepa Kołodyński; March 20, 1639 – October 2, 1709), Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, from 1687–1708, the Prince of the Holy Roman Empire 1707-1709. He was famous as a patron of the arts, and also played an important role in the Battle of Poltava where after learning of Peter I's intent to relieve him as acting Hetman of Ukraine and replace him with Alexander Menshikov, he deserted his army and sided with Charles of Sweden. The politicization of this desertion has held a lasting legacy in both Russian and Ukrainian national history.

Because of this, the Russian Orthodox Church has laid an anathema on his name since the beginning of the 18th century and refuses to renounce to this day. Everyone who opposed the Russian government in eighteenth-century Ukraine were derogatorily referred to as Mazepintsy (Mazepists). The alienation of Mazepa from Ukrainian history continued during the Soviet period as well as in the present day, an example of which is the refusal in 2008 of the Poltava city council to erect a monument of Mazepa in Poltava choosing instead a monument glorifying the defeat of Mazepa in the Battle of Poltava.