Obydovsky, Ivan

Obydovsky, Ivan [Обидовський, Іван; Obydovs'kyj], b 1676, d 1701. Cossack officer; nephew of Hetman Ivan Mazepa. He graduated from the Kyivan Mohyla Academy, served as colonel of Nizhyn regiment (1695–1701), and participated as acting hetman in wars against Turkey (1695) and Sweden (1700–1). Obydovsky was Mazepa’s heir presumptive; he received the high administrative rank of stolnyk, obtained substantial land grants in Russia and Slobidska Ukraine, and married the daughter of Vasyl Kochubei. He died prematurely, however, and in 1701 Mazepa chose another nephew, Andrii Voinarovsky, as a potential successor.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]