Antin Holovaty

Antin Holovaty or Anton Golovaty ; between 1732 and 1744 – 28 January 1797 was a prominent Zaporozhian Cossack leader who after the Zaporozhian Sich's destruction was a key figure in the formation of the Black Sea Cossack Host and their later resettlement to the Kuban Region of Russia.

Biography Early years Holovaty was born in the town of Novi Sanzhary (modern Poltava Oblast, Ukraine) in a family of Cossack starshyna and studied at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. Aged 24, 1756 he left the academy and joined the Kushchivsky kuren of the Pidpelnensky Sich to complete his studies as an officer. By the 1760s was elected to be the Otaman of that Kuren, which helped raise his social standing.

By 1764, because of his higher education he received the rank of colonel and was given the position of military secretary. In that year, as part of the Zaporozhian delegation headed by Kish otaman Hrytsko Fedoriv, Holovaty was chosen as a delegate to the coronation of Catherine II of Russia. The trip left a profound impression on him. He delighted the audiences with his musical prowess on the bandura, entertaining the audiences with Cossack songs and dumas. For this he received a silver medal and a noble title from the Empress.

During his trip, Holovaty became aware that the demise of the Zaporozhian Sich was being discussed and planned in Petersburg. Knowing that the end of the Crimean Khanate would result in the eventual dissolution of the Zaporozhian Host, he was pro-active in putting forward a plan to re-organize the Sich and lands it owned in a manner similar to how the Don Cossack Host was organised. This project was given for consideration to Russian authorities, but was discarded by Potemkin. The Zaporozhian Sich was dissolved in 1775 and Holovaty's plans and political maneuvering were exposed to other Zaporozhians who ceased to trust him. As a result, Holovaty retired from the Zaporozhian Host to manage his properties.

After the end of Zaporozhia With the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775, the most senior Cossacks were repressed. Among them was Holovaty's older brother Pavlo who was one of those arrested together with the last Zaporozhian kosh otaman Petro Kalnyshevsky. Both Kalnyshevsky and Pavlo Holovaty spent a year incarcerated in Moscow, and were given death sentences which were later commuted to incarceration for life. Kalnyshevsky was later pardoned aged 110. Most Cossacks escaped repressions by moving beyond the Danube into Turkish territory.

Holovaty escaped repercussions because he had retired from the Zaporozhian host. A factor which was also of influence was that he was given the rank of captain in the Russian Cavalry by the Empress, and was granted an official nobility (dvoryanstvo) title with an estate.

After the dissolution of the Zaporozhian Host, a new threat to the Russian Empire began to grow from the Ottoman Empire. The destruction of Sich, was followed when five thousand men, approximately 30% of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, left for the Ottoman-controlled Danube area in June 1775 and received protection from the Sultan forming the Danubian Sich under his protectorate. By 1778 they were followed by another 7000 Cossacks to the Danubian Sich with 4000 settling on the Boh river and forming the Boh Cossack Host. The former Zaporozhians gave their oaths to serve the Sultan on both land and sea against all enemies of the Silistrine Pasha, They were ordered to defend the borders against Russian intrusion.

When the war with Turkey finally broke out, the new Host played a crucial role in helping the Russian Army, particularly in capture of Berezan fortress, gaining the Potemkin's and the Empress's favour. however, Holovaty was able to obtain an audience before the Empress. He stunned the court by speaking to the Empress in French and immediately gained her sympathies. The concerns of the Cossacks were stated and the terms and conditions for the famous tsarist edict granting the Zaporozhians the lands on the Taman Peninsula in perpetuity were negotiated. Holovaty became a popular figure in Petersburg, often entertaining the nobility at various functions with Cossacks songs accompanied by his bandura playing. He left Petersburg in July with the now famous edict and numerous gifts. His title of Ataman was passed onto General Feodor Bursak, also an ex-Zaporozhian.

Holovaty mas married to Ulyana Grigoryevna Golovataya (Prokhna) who met in Saint Petersburg in 1768. In total they had six sons.