Myrhorod Colonel Hryhorii Lisnytskyi

Abstract

The article is devoted to the biography of Myrhorod Colonel Hryhorii Lisnytskyi, an outstanding political and military figure of Ukraine in the early modern period. The study includes a comprehensive investigation of life history, with particular attention paid to his possible place of birth and his role as “Hetman of Kostyr”. Moreover, it highlights Lisnytskyi’s evolution as a political figure: a loyal associate of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, he later came into conflict with the hetman regarding pretension to the mace. During the change of leadership of the Zaporizhzhia Army, he supported the candidacy of Yurii Khmelnytskyi, for whom he had high hopes. Following Ivan Vyhovsky’s accession to power, Lisnytskyi regained his colonelcy and gained high authority among the Cossack leadership. In addition, he distinguished himself in the diplomatic arena, repeatedly conducting negotiations as ambassador of the Zaporizhian Host in Moscow and Warsaw. In the spring of 1659, Lisnytskyi, as a representative of the Cossack delegation, attended a session of the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where the preliminary version of the Treaty of Hadiach was being deliberated. After the Battle of Konotop, he was left on the Left Bank to defend the eastern borders of the Hetmanate. In Yuriy Khmelnytsky’s government, Lisnytsky distinguished himself as an administrator and diplomat, for which he was rewarded by the hetman with new estates. During Jan Kazimierz’s campaign in Left-Bank Ukraine in early 1664, anti-Polish sentiments intensified among the Cossacks. Hryhorii Lisnytskyi was among the suspects, who was arrested and later executed.