Bobolynsky, Leontii

Bobolynsky, Leontii [Боболинський, Леонтій; Bobolyns'kyj, Leontij], b second half of the 17th century, d beginning of the 18th century. Priest and monk of the Trinity–Saint Elijah's Monastery in Chernihiv and graduate of the Kyivan Mohyla Academy. He wrote the chronicle Letopisets sii iest; kronika z roznykh avtorov i historikov mnohikh, dialektom ruskim iest' napisana ... (This Chronicle Is a Chronology by Various Authors and Many Historians, Written in the Ruthenian Dialect, 1699). The book deals with events of world history from ancient times and Ukrainian history and contains a petition from Isaia Kopynsky to Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and a description of the Chyhyryn campaigns, 1677–8. Bobolynsky’s chronicle is based on a 16th–17th century Ukrainian redaction of a chronology and is remarkable for its closeness to the vernacular Ukrainian language. The chronicle was first printed in 1853 as a supplement to Litopis' Hryhoriia Hrabianky (Chronicle of Hryhorii Hrabianka). Some scholars reject Bobolynsky’s authorship.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]