Chepa, Andriian

Chepa, Andriian [Чепа, Андріян; Čepa, Adrijan], b ca 1760 in the Poltava region, d ca 1822 in Poltava gubernia. Amateur historian. From 1779 to 1789 Chepa served in the chancellery of the governor-general of Left-Bank Ukraine, Count Petr Rumiantsev (Zadunaisky), whose estates he later managed. A Ukrainian patriot, supporter of Ukrainian autonomy, and connoisseur of Ukrainian antiquity, Chepa amassed a great collection of historical documents and materials (used by Dmytro Bantysh-Kamensky and Yakiv M. Markovych in their works). His intention of publishing these materials was never carried out, and the entire collection (with some possible exceptions) was destroyed in a fire on his estate.

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