# Ivan Gonta

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{{Short description|Ukrainian rebellion leader}}
{{no footnotes|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ivan Gonta
| image              = Portret Iwana Gonty (zm.1768).jpg
| alt                = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption            = Ivan Gonta
| birth_name         = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date         = {{c.|1705}}
| birth_place        = Rożyszki (now [Rozsishky](/source/Khrystynivka_urban_hromada)), [Bracław Voivodeship](/source/Brac%C5%82aw_Voivodeship) (now [Cherkasy Oblast](/source/Cherkasy_Oblast), Ukraine)
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1768|1705}}
| death_place        = Serby (now [Hontivka](/source/Hontivka)), [Bracław Voivodeship](/source/Brac%C5%82aw_Voivodeship) (now [Vinnytsia oblast](/source/Vinnytsia_oblast), Ukraine)
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = 
| years_active       = 
| known_for          = One of the leaders of the [Koliivshchyna](/source/Koliivshchyna)
| notable_works      = 
| children           = Moses<br> Eustraty<ref>{{Cite web |title=Провінційне містечко христинівка - офіційний сайт |url=https://casinoua.org.ua/khrystynivka/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=CasinoUA |language=uk}}</ref>
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2012}}

'''Ivan Gonta''' ({{Langx|uk|Іван Ґонта}}), also known in contemporary sources as '''Gontenko''' ([Old Ukrainian](/source/Ruthenian_language): Ґонтенко);<ref>{{Cite book|title=Коліївщина: 1768-1769 роки у документальній спадщині|date=2019|volume=1|page=159|publisher=In-t ukraïnsʹkoï arkheohrafiï ta dz͡hereloznavstva |isbn=9789660288287}}</ref> {{Circa|1705}}{{Efn|The fact that Ivan Gonta was born in 1705 is stated in the inscription on his portrait.}}{{Spnd}}1768) was one of the leaders of the [Koliivshchyna](/source/Koliivshchyna), an armed rebellion of peasants and [Ukrainian Cossacks](/source/Ukrainian_Cossacks) against [Bar confederation](/source/Bar_confederation) in the [Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth](/source/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth).

Born in Rożyszki (modern Rozsishky) near [Uman'](/source/Uman') in [Bracław Voivodship](/source/Brac%C5%82aw_Voivodship), Gonta served as a [sotnik](/source/sotnik) (captain) of Cossack household militia of [Franciszek Salezy Potocki](/source/Franciszek_Salezy_Potocki), the [Voivode](/source/Voivode) of [Kiev](/source/Kiev_Voivodship), and commanded a small unit in the garrison of Uman since 1757. During the [Koliivshchyna](/source/Koliivshchyna) he was ordered to fight the approaching [haidamaka](/source/haidamaka) forces of [Maksym Zalizniak](/source/Maksym_Zalizniak). Instead, he and his militia joined the rebels, and the joint forces captured and ravaged the town of Uman on June 21, 1768. In what became known as the [Massacre of Uman](/source/Massacre_of_Uman), thousands of local Polish [szlachta](/source/szlachta), Jews, [Uniate](/source/Uniate)s and other people were slaughtered. After that, Gonta was proclaimed [colonel](/source/colonel) and commanded the garrison of Uman.

When Gonta sent a detachment to spread rebellion into the Ottoman Empire, [Catherine the Great](/source/Catherine_the_Great), the Empress of [Russia](/source/Russia_(empire)), dispatched a regiment of [Don Cossacks](/source/Don_Cossacks) fighting against Bar confederation to help Poland suppress the rebellion to prevent Ottomans from waging a war against Russia. The commander of the Russian unit, Guriev, made the rebels believe he was siding with them for the joint trip against Bar confederation and managed to capture approximately 900 of them without a single shot. After that, Ivan Gonta was handed over to the Poles and was tried for high [treason](/source/treason). Sentenced to death by grand Crown [Hetman](/source/Hetman) [Franciszek Ksawery Branicki](/source/Franciszek_Ksawery_Branicki), he was then executed in the village of Serby by being flayed alive and quartered. 

Although largely non-notable during his life, after his death he became a [hero](/source/folk_hero) of countless folk songs and legends that portrayed him as a hero and a [martyr](/source/martyr). He was immortalized in [Taras Shevchenko](/source/Taras_Shevchenko)'s controversial [epic poem](/source/epic_poem) ''[Haidamaky](/source/Haidamaky_(poem))'' though Gonta had never killed his Roman Catholic sons.

== In popular culture ==
* [Taras Shevchenko](/source/Taras_Shevchenko)'s  epic poem ''Haidamaky'' dedicated to participants of the Koliivshchyna including Gonta.

==External links==
* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CG%5CO%5CGontaIvan.htm Ivan Gonta] at [Encyclopedia of Ukraine](/source/Encyclopedia_of_Ukraine)

==Notes== 
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonta, Ivan}}
Category:Cossack rebels
Category:Zaporozhian Cossack people
Category:18th-century Ukrainian people
Category:1768 deaths
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:People from Cherkasy Oblast
Category:People from Bracław Voivodeship
Category:Koliivshchyna

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ivan Gonta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Gonta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Gonta?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.