Ivan Mazepa belongs to the constellation of unique individuals who created the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian spirit. Arguably the most famous Ukrainian hetman (according to folk wisdom, “From Bohdan till Ivan there were no hetmans”), Mazepa accomplished so much in the area of state building and cultural development that many educated and patriotically- minded Ukrainians have yet to grasp the immensity of his achievements. A truly important landmark in this intellectual journey was the publication in 2006 of the book Ivan Mazepa in the Sarmatian-Roksolanian Dimension of the High Baroque by Rostyslav Radyshevsky and Volodymyr Sverbyhuz (Prosvita Publishing Center. This book, which quickly won prestigious awards at various book fairs, is one of the first successful attempts to take a comprehensive look at Mazepa’s multifaceted activity and analyze it with holographic three-dimensional accuracy and thoroughness.
The Day’s correspondent interviewed historian Volodymyr SVERBYHUZ, the co-author of this book.
Dr. Sverbyhuz, can you tell us a bit about yourself? What are your professional interests? How did you end up studying Mazepa?
“I head the editorial division at the International School of Ukrainian Studies in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Over the last four years Professor Rostyslav Radyshevsky, the head of the school, and I have focused on Ivan Mazepa in the historical, cultural, artistic, spiritual, and state-political context of his time. We used only authentic primary sources of that period: the hetman’s universals (proclamations), registers, and literary works. For example, we were the first to introduce into scholarly circulation a number of works by Pylyp Orlyk, Stefan Yavorsky, Ivan Ornovsky, and Ivan Petro Armashenko. Professor Radyshevsky deserves special praise for collecting these sources from around the world.
“My previous scholarly interests were also connected with Mazepa. Evidently, my birth place has something to do with this: I was born in Poltava where Mazepa’s name has always been on people’s lips, in a good or bad context and irrespective of ideological preferences. Monuments (primarily built by Russians) are reminders of the famous battle of Poltava, which is also portrayed in museums and schools. So the Mazepa theme is a didactic, educational one. It has been close to my heart since I was a schoolboy. I had the honor of presenting my Ukrainian-language book The Ancient Nobility, which was published in Warsaw in 1999. The topic of the book is the Ukrainian nobility, its history, traditions, and worldview.
“I am very pleased to say that the book about Hetman Mazepa was awarded first prize in the history category at the recent All-Ukrainian Book Publishers’ Competition in the Ukrainian Home.”
You and Professor Radyshevsky formulated the topic of your new book as follows: the value system of the high Baroque. At the center of this system is the monumental figure of Hetman Mazepa. What was this system and what was Mazepa’s place in it?
“Before I answer your question, let me say that our book was commissioned by the Shevchenko Scientific Society (USA).
“The topic of the book is: Ivan Mazepa as an architect of Ukrainian culture. Therefore, the hetman was considered in the context of the value system that existed during the period of Ukrainian high Baroque. This topic is vast, so I will highlight only the main values.
“This was a very unsettled time and nearly all of Europe was embroiled in wars. So this background of general destruction gave rise to an ideal of a strong personality who is able to act decisively. Mazepa had this type of personality and embodied the image of a Ukrainian with all his contradictions. At the same time he was a European Kulturtrager (vehicle of culture and civilization) and this is what I would like to dwell on.
“Above all, Mazepa was distinguished by his extremely high level of culture, which was, remarkably, placed into the foundation of Ukraine’s state policy. During Mazepa’s 22-year reign (the longest legitimate reign among Ukrainian hetmans) our country prospered. The Baroque culture blossomed — this phenomenon is sometimes called “Cossack Baroque” — whereas other historians use more sophisticated equivalents that follow the European scholarly terminology. It was during Mazepa’s reign that the Baroque face of Kyiv and many other Ukrainian cities was shaped. This includes Baroque churches, which beautify Ukraine to this day, and book printing: the finest and most ornamental publications about Ukrainian hetmans with an appreciable inclusion of worldly topics date back precisely to the time of hetmans Ivan Samoilovych and Ivan Mazepa.
“A lot can be said about the Ukrainian urban culture of that time — this was a magnificent phenomenon and a superb example of Ukrainian-language culture, which in a way is didactic and educational in its nature: the well-known Skrypnyk orthography of the 1920s may be said to rely on the Ukrainian business and spoken language of Mazepa’s time.
“It was at this time that the political doctrine of “a thousand years of the Ukrainian hetman state” was developed. This was a hyperbolic doctrine that traced the origins of the hetman state from Kyiv’s great princes. However, the question was formulated in a very appealing way. I think that admiration for the Cossacks, which played such an important role in Ukrainian history and culture, originated during this time.”
If I am not mistaken, your book mentions that Pylyp Orlyk, Mazepa’s famous comrade in arms, was searching for the Khazarian roots of Cossackdom.
“The reference to the Khazars is part of an extremely interesting phenomenon known as Ukrainian Sarmatism (not accidentally, the title of our book includes the Sarmatian- Roksolanian dimension of the Ukrainian Baroque). The term “Sarmatism” is sometimes used vaguely to refer to the names of certain Asiatic tribes and aspects of everyday life. I will try to give you a precise terminological definition. In our case, Sarmatism was the ideology of the hetman and Cossack starshyna (officers), which was aimed at counteracting the spread of Muslim influences in Ukraine. In other words, this was the national ideology of the day. This topic ran through all state ceremonials in the late 17th century through the early 18th century, and the Cossack leaders took it very seriously. In literature the term “Sarmatism” is identified with Ukrainians, “Ruthenians,” and “Roksolanians.” It was used even in the titles of officials in the General Military Chancellery of those years. Of course, this should also be viewed in the context of the fairly frequent attacks by the Crimean khans.
“Sarmatism refers also to the personal culture of a Cossack as manifested in his everyday life. If we compare, say, Muscovite Sarmatism (and this is something we can talk about), Polish Sarmatism, and Ukrainian Sarmatism, the latter is closer to the folk tradition. It became part and parcel of the culture of the rank and file Cossack. For example, it is expressed in food by the thick, fatty soups or cabbage soups (these dishes gave rise to Ukrainian borshch), in clothing-by the sharovary (wide Cossack pantaloons), and in other elements of the Cossacks’ appearance, such as the famous oseledets (a forelock of hair left on a shaved head).”
Another exceptionally important theme runs through your book: Mazepa and European democratic values of his time. What is your view on this topic?
“I should perhaps begin my answer by discussing Mazepa’s domestic policies because his reforms, which were truly revolutionary in the sphere of the state and law, transformed the hetman state and changed it from what it was before Bohdan Khmelnytsky or at the beginning of his reign into a European- like country. Although Ukraine was a vassal of the Muscovite tsar, it was built on the model of advanced West European countries of the day.
“Actually, here we need to talk about those things that could bring glory to Ukraine and Ukrainians. We can assert that before Mazepa came to power he developed several constitutions for Ukraine. Unlike the famous 1710 Constitution written by Pylyp Orlyk, they are inaccessible to researchers. However, they are mentioned in the documents of Peter the Great, Muscovite voivodes, and in the papers of Mazepa’s successor Ivan Skoropadsky.
“The content of these constitutions is the defense of Ukrainian national rights and liberties. This was the foundation that gave rise to the traditions of Ukrainian law and our state. Another very important detail is that legitimate government bodies came into being in the bottom-up fashion (local government agencies were formed first). Meanwhile, the infamous “black councils” vanished into thin air, together with the accompanying chaos, anarchy, misrule, and violence. The new agencies were civilized, European-type institutions. Historical documents contain references to the “council at Baturyn” (or even the “Baturyn diet”), and in his literary works the court writer Ivan Burnovsky praised this assembly and Mazepa’s participation in it.
“It is important to note that it was precisely during Mazepa’s rule that Ukraine became known in various European countries. The country was spoken about everywhere and the most popular European newspapers wrote about it. The hetman’s rare talent and his wealth of experience certainly played an important role here. (Europeans were also interested in the romantic adventures of his youth.) The hetman’s gift was placed at the service of state politics.
“No less important is another fact that I would like to emphasize here. Mazepa not only aimed at implementing European standards, culture, and education in Ukraine. He also engaged people’s intellect in the construction of a modern Ukrainian hetman state of European design. This is what we need to remember, and this is what brought him much success and many accomplishments.”
One last question: it looks as if the Mazepa theme has not been exhausted in your research. Will it be continued?
“Definitely. This is exactly what I am planning to do. Mazepa and his epoch can easily be a lifelong research project, and you will always keep finding something new and inspiring. What’s more, the history of this great hetman has more educational value for us today, like never before: why do we contemplate the dramas of the past if not to learn the lessons of today, which are prompted by the past?
“I would like to remind you that the Kolomak council elected Ivan Mazepa hetman of Ukraine on June 25, 320 years ago. Several events commemorating this date will be held in Poltava, including a soiree in honor of the hetman, which will start at 5:00 p.m. at the art museum.”
