Sviatoslav III Vsevolodovych

Sviatoslav III Vsevolodovych [Святослав Всеволодович; Svjatoslav Vsevolodovyč], b 1126 in Chernihiv, d 27 July 1194 in Kyiv. Kyivan Rus’ prince; son of Vsevolod Olhovych. He reigned in the Volodymyr principality, Turiv-Pynsk principality, Novhorod-Siverskyi principality, and Chernihiv principality and then became grand prince of Kyiv in 1181. He established a coalition among Rus’ princes to fight marauding Cumans (Khans Boniak and Konchak) and achieved a major victory against them in 1184 at the Orel River. The effectiveness of that effort subsequently declined as the princes set off against the nomads in an uncoordinated manner (eg, the famous campaign of Ihor Sviatoslavych in 1185, described in Slovo o polku Ihorevi). Sviatoslav's later efforts to stem the Cumans were somewhat more successful. He was buried in Saint Cyril's Church at Saint Cyril’s Monastery.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]