Petro Kalnyshevsky

Petro Ivanovych Kalnyshevsky (Old Ukrainian: Петр(ъ) (Петро) Калнишевский, Калнишенко; ; 20 June 1690 – 31 October 1803) was a Ukrainian Cossack leader who served as the final Kish otaman of the Zaporozhian Sich, holding the office from 1765 to 1775. He had previously briefly served as kish otaman in 1762. Kalnyshevsky's role as the final leader of the Zaporozhian Sich before its liquidation and annexation into the Russian Empire, as well as his subsequent arrest by the Russian government and deportation to the Solovetsky Islands, has made him a popular figure in Ukrainian literature and consciousness.

Most scholars accept that Kalnyshevsky was born in the village of in 1690, although this is disputed. He rapidly ascended from the rank of osavul with the support of high-ranking older relatives during the 1750s and led a Russian-backed crackdown on haydamak peasant rebels, overseeing mass executions. By 1761 he had become the de facto ruler of Ukraine's Zaporozhia. He was appointed as kish otaman for the first time in 1762, but was soon removed from office by Empress Catherine the Great. He returned to office with the support of Russia and wealthy Cossacks in 1764, after two years of rule by leaders of the poor Cossacks had led to increased tensions between the Sich and its neighbours.

Kalnyshevsky oversaw unprecedented concentration of power into the hands of the kish otaman, abolishing the process of yearly elections which had previously governed the role. Relying on a combination of Russian and landowning interests to remain in office, he intensified the , as well as grain production, and attempted to prevent Russian territorial encroachment upon the Sich. After the Sich's liquidation, he was arrested and exiled to the Solovetsky Islands, remaining there until his death in 1803.

Early life and career According to Volodymyr Kuksa, a professor of history at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, most Ukrainian researchers believe Kalnyshevsky's date of birth to be 20 June 1690. Historian has disputed this, however, saying that no birth record from this time has been found for Kalnyshevsky and he was likely born . Kalnyshevsky is often described as being from the village of , but this fact is also questioned by Hrybovskyi, who notes that in the 1930s village elders from Pustoviitivka were unaware of the otaman having been from there. Kalnyshevsky was first mentioned in 1754, as an osavul of the Lubny Regiment.

Early military and political career Kalnyshevsky's political career began with the patronage of the , which his older relatives, Andrii and David, were both part of. Another relative by name of Zynovii, who was head of the Vedmedivka kurin and a representative of the Zaporozhian Sich's delegation to the Russian Empire, also may have played a role in Kalnyshevsky's rise through the ranks. Much of Kalnyshevsky's early career in politics was spent as a Zaporozhian diplomat in Saint Petersburg, where he was a member of a delegation negotiating trade relations with Russia. Kalnyshevsky would spend over a year in the city as part of the delegation.

Kalnyshevsky's stint in office, however, would not last long; in October 1763 he was removed by the personal orders of Empress Catherine. He returned to his office as kish judge after his removal.

Kalnyshevsky's policies as kish otaman encouraged the by Cossacks, and he further sought the expansion of the Sich's grain production and trade to strengthen the Sich's economy. Being pardoned by Emperor Alexander I 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.

Legacy Kalnyshevsky has been credited by economist I. M. Rishniak as responsible for the development of Ukraine's agricultural industry and by keeping southern Ukraine from being permanently annexed into Russia. Varying schools of historiography, however, differ on assessments of Kalnyshevsky. Marxist and Soviet historiography has typically portrayed him as a landlord responsible for exploiting the Cossack masses with the support of the Russian government and emphasised his seizure of power as harmful to the Cossacks' democratic traditions. Ukrainian nationalist historiography, on the other hand, has emphasised his arrest, long imprisonment and eventual death, describing him as a martyr.

In 2017, Roman Turovsky-Savchuk composed a tombeau in honor of Kalnyshevsky.

Kalnyshevsky was canonised in Ukraine by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate in 2008. He was canonized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in 2014.