Pavlo Polubotok

Pavlo Polubotok
Acting Hetman of Left-bank Ukraine
In office
1722–1724
Preceded by Ivan Skoropadsky
Succeeded by Danylo Apostol
Personal details
Born 1660
Borzna/Shramkivka, Cossack Hetmanate
Died December 29, 1724(1724-12-29)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Nationality Ukrainian
Religion Greek Orthodox
Military service
Years of service 1706–1724
Rank Colonel
Commands Chernihiv regiment
Battles/wars Great Northern War

Pavlo Polubotok (Ukrainian: Павло Полуботок) (born around 1660 died on December 29, 1724), was a Cossack political and military leader and Acting Hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine between 1722 and 1724.

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Biography

Pavlo Polubotok was born around 1660 in Borzna (according to another version, at family khutor-farm Polubotivka, today part of Shramkivka) in the rich Cossack family and as a young man served under his relative Hetman Ivan Samoylovych.

In 1706 he became polkovnyk (colonel) of Chernihiv regiment and during the Great Northern War remained loyal to the Russians and fought against Ivan Mazepa. Pavel Polubotok was seen by many as a possible replacement of the disgraced Hetman, but Russian Tsar Peter the Great distrusted Polubotok and supported Ivan Skoropadsky, who became the next Hetman. Nonetheless, Polubotok's loyalty was rewarded when wealthy estates throughout Ukraine were given to him.

In 1722, after the death of Skoropadsky, Pavlo Polubotok was named as his temporary replacement. As Hetman, Polubotok supported greater autonomy for Cossack Hetmante within the Russian Empire and defended old privileges of Cossack nobility. He wrote numerous petitions to Peter the Great asking him to re-instate the former way of electing the Hetman by the starshyna. In 1723 Alexander Rumyantsev was sent to Ukraine to investigate Polubotok. Within several months Polubotok was arrested, implicated in secret dealing with Pylyp Orlyk and accused of treason. The Hetman was incarcerated in the Petropavlovsk fortress and died there less than a year later on December 29, 1724.

Legacy

Historians are divided on Polubotok's legacy. Soviet historians saw him as a greedy man who concentrated on overt class interests. Some modern Ukrainians consider him as a martyr and a hero of Ukrainian struggle for independence.

Polubotok was written about in the poem "Son" ("A Dream", 1844) by Taras Shevchenko.

See also

External links