Petro Kalnyshevsky (20 June 1690?, Ukraine – 31 October 1803, Russia) was the last Ukrainian Koshovyi Otaman of the Zaporozhian Host of Ukraine, serving in 1762 and from 1765 to 1775. Kalnyshevsky was a hero in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Order of Saint Andrew with diamonds for courage and the rank of lieutenant-general.
Being the leader of the Zaporozhian Host of Ukraine, Kalnyshevsky defended the rights of Ukrainian Cossacks and their independence from increasing Imperial Russian influence, and encouraged agricultural development and trade in the Zaporozhian steppe. After the destruction of the Ukrainian Zaporizhian Sich by Russia, Kalnyshevsky was arrested by the Russian government, tried and in July 1776 incarcerated at Solovetsky Monastery in Russia, with the strict prohibition of correspondence or socialization with anyone. In 1792, he was transferred to solitary confinement at the Povarnya jail in Russia, where he remained until 1802. When his cell was opened it was discovered that it had feces two arshins (nearly four feet) deep.[1] Being pardoned by Russian Emperor Alexander at the claimed age of 110 years, Kalnyshevsky (already blind at that time) decided to remain in the monastery, where he died two years later in 1803.
Kalnyshevsky was canonized in Ukraine by the Kyiv Patriarchate in 2008. He was canonized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 2014.[1]
In 2017, Roman Turovsky-Savchuk composed a tombeau in honor of Kalnyshevsky.[2]