Petro Kalnyshevsky

Petro Ivanovych Kalnyshevsky (Ukrainian: Петро Іванович Калнишевський; 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 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 Pustoviitivka 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. 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 colonisation of the wild fields, 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.