# Tatiana Tairova (Yakovleva) Independent Scholar ![Tatiana Tairova Yakovleva](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/huri/files/tatiyana_baturin_01_2_0_0_0_0_0.jpg?itok=788nCJeZ) email ### Jacyk Distingushed Fellow at the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University September 2024 - January 2025 Supported by HURI with a gift from the Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation ### HURI Research Project #### "Not on the saber!" The Ukrainian Cossack Elite in Relations with Sovereigns and Neighbors The project examines the mentality and self-perception of the Cossack elite of the 17th century – from Petro Sahaidachnyi to Ivan Mazepa. It is a study the self-perception of the Cossack elite in the context of their relations with sovereigns, the Polish king or the Moscow tsar, as well as with Europe more broadly. The first aspect of the project is the relations of Ukraine with Europe. How did the Cossack elite relate themselves to Europe? How did European countries look at Ukraine? Did they consider Cossack Ukraine to be a separate political player of consequence? When did Cossack Ukraine become a subject of all-European politics? The study will include documents related to France, Britain, the Vatican, as well as the attitude of the Ottoman Empire to Ukraine. The second aspect of the project is Ukraine vis-à-vis Poland and the relations of the Cossack elite with Poland in particular. What led to the acute conflict and separation? The conflict of the Cossack leaders, the gentry, with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth will be examined. The third aspect is an examination of the relationship between the Cossack elite and the Moscow state. What did the Cossack officers see in the alliance with Moscow? Was it an appeal to the historical past or just a means to an immediate benefit? The project will be based on documents from Polish, Russian, and Turkish archives as well as the large number of rare European sources available in Western libraries, such as Harvard’s. ### Biography ![Tatiana Tairova Yakovleva](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/huri/files/tatiyana_baturin_01_0.jpg?itok=dEHKVdWJ) Dr. Tatiana Tairova (Yakovleva) is the author of 16 books and around 140 articles on the history of Ukraine, including the monograph, *Ivan Mazepa and the Russian Empire* (McGill & Queen, 2020). She was Professor of Ukrainian History and Director of the Center for the Ukrainian Studies at St. Petersburg State University for nearly two decades until she was dismissed in 2022 for opposing the war in Ukraine.Tatiana Tairova founded the Center for Ukrainian Studies at St. Petersburg State University in 2004. One of the primary goals of the Center was the identification and publication of archival materials on Ukrainian history in Russian archives. Thanks to the materials found in the course of this work, she authored monographs that radically changed existing knowledge of the Mazepa-era and the history of relations between the Hetmanate and the Moscow authorities. In 2004, she discovered and later published the so-called Baturyn archive, which was a significant event for the world of Ukrainian studies because it brought to light a large quantity of previously unknown historical documents and presented the structure and content of hetman archives for the first time. In 2020, by the initiative and under the guidance of Tairova, the first academic edition of Samiilo Velychko's chronicle was realized. This publication changed our understanding of Cossack chronicles and Velychko's views. Tatiana Tairova was born in Leningrad and graduated from Leningrad State University in 1989. She was awarded the first Petro Jacyk Doctoral Thesis Fellowship from the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), University of Alberta. She earned her *kandidat nauk* degree in 1994 from the Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and her *doktor nauk* degree on the history of the Hetmanate from St. Petersburg State University in 2004. From 2022-2024, she was a research fellow supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung in Germany. - ## Fellowship Year [Fellows for Academic Year 2024-2025](/fellowship-year/fellows-academic-year-2024-2025) - ## Fields of Expertise [Art and Culture](/fields-expertise/art-and-culture) [Early Modern History](/fields-expertise/early-modern-history) [History](/fields-expertise/history) [History and Archives](/fields-expertise/history-and-archives) [Medieval and Early Modern History](/fields-expertise/medieval-early-modern-history) [Memory Studies](/fields-expertise/memory-studies) [Russia-Ukraine War](/fields-expertise/russia-ukraine-war) - ## Role [Fellows](/role/fellows)