Mazepa, << muh ZEHP uh >> Ivan Stepanovich (1632?-1709), also spelled Mazeppa, was a famous Cossack hetman, or chieftain. Mazepa was born in western Russia and became a page at the court of King John Casimir of Poland. According to a story, Mazepa offended a nobleman there. He was strapped to a wild horse, and sent into the wilderness. The horse eventually reached a camp of Cossacks in the Ukraine. Mazepa grew up among them, and became their leader. Later, he fought without success for the independence of the Ukraine by aiding Charles XII of Sweden against Peter the Great of Russia. Byron’s poem Mazeppa (1819) and Tchaikovsky’s opera Mazeppa (1883) are based on his life story.
