Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (also spelled Mazeppa; Ukrainian: Іван Степанович Мазепа, Polish: Jan Mazepa Kołodyński; 30 March [O.S. 20 March] 1639 – 2 October [O.S. 21 September] 1709) was a Ukrainian military, political, and civic leader who served as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa´s life have inspired many literary, artistic and musical works. He was famous as a patron of the arts.
Mazepa played an important role in the Battle of Poltava (1709), where after learning that Tsar Peter I intended to relieve him as acting Hetman (military leader) of Zaporozhian Host (a Cossack state) and to replace him with Alexander Menshikov, he defected from his army and sided with King Charles XII of Sweden. The political consequences and interpretation of this defection have resonated in the national histories both of Russia and of Ukraine.
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