Daily Life and Political Activity of the Orlik Family in the Context of International Relations in the First Quarter of the 18th Century

On the basis of two surviving documents compiled by Pylyp Orlyk ("Promemoria" and "Diariusz podorożny ..."), as well as insignificant literature, the author made an attempt to analyze the daily life and political activities of members of the Hetman's family in the context of international relations of the first quarter of the 18th century. This was the period of the end of the Great Northern War and the preparation of the Treaty of Nystad. The Orlyk’s family was in exile and had been constantly changing the place of residence. The involvement of members of Orlyk’s family, including his eldest daughter Anastasia Theodora and her husband, in Pylyp Orlyk’s political affairs has long been a little-known fact. Based on the mentioned texts, the author of the article proves that Anastasia Orlyk was an active associate and assistant of her father, helping him to correspond with family members and political companions. In the face of constant political persecution by the Moscow authorities, relocations and family tragedies experienced by the Orlyk, the hetman’s wife could not always be useful to him. As a result, Anastasia’s role as one of her father’s political mediators increased significantly. An active assistant to the hetman was his future son-in-law Johan Stenflycht. He tried to help Orlyk get amnesty from the Tsar Peter I of Moscow on favorable terms, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Using the help of his children and relatives, Orlyk sought to maintain the interest of European states in the Ukrainian cause. Thanks to their joint efforts, the Ukrainian government in exile tried for some time to maintain its position in international relations in the 1720s and 1730s. Orlyk’s second daughter, Barbara, who was too young at the end of the Great Northern War, was not involved in her father’s political affairs. At the same time, after the death of her sister, Barbara became Stenflycht’s wife and mother of Anastasia’s children. Orlykʼs grandchildren on Anastasia Theodora’s side survived the early deceased mother, but did not survive their father. Stenflycht had no children in his marriage to Barbara. Thus, both branches of the Orlyk-Gertsik family tree were interrupted. Today in Sweden, you can still find material evidence of the life of Johan Stenflicht, but they are not connected with his Ukrainian wives and heirs of the exiled hetman Pylyp Orlyk