Danylo Nechai

Danylo Nechay (Ukrainian: Дани́ло Неча́й, Polish: Danylo Nieczaj or Neczaj) (1612 – February 20, 1651) was a Ukrainian Cossack military commander and activist, a leader during the Cossack-Polish War, Colonel of Bratslav in Podolia from 1648–51 and the brother of Ivan Nechay.

The Nieczaj family coat of arms, version of Pobóg Polish coat of arms

Nechay was thought to have been born in the Podolian town Bar to a noble family. He was honoured for his role in the battles for Medzhybizh and Zbarazh and in the Battle of Zborov (Zboriv) in 1649. In 1651 he commanded the south-western front. He was opposed to the signing of the Treaty of Zboriv in 1649; he believed it compromised the position of the Cossacks. With Tymish Khmelnytsky he took part in the campaign against Moldavia, and captured the city of Iaşi in September 1650. He died in battle with numerically superior Polish forces, led by Polish hetman Marcin Kalinowski, who stole the Nechay coat of arms/ made a copy and changed it. This matter was in the town of Krasne, in the Podil region. Nechay is Ukrainian folk hero, he is often sung about in folk songs like ideal Cossack's knight.

A granite obelisk was erected on his grave in 1954.

Further reading
  • Viacheslav Lypynsky. Participation of Nobility in the Great Ukrainian Revolution Under the Command of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky /Collected works, vol. 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1980 (polish and Ukrainian bilingual text).
  • Яковенко Н.М. Українська шляхта з кiнця XIV до середини XVII столiття. Волинь i Центральна Україна, Київ 2008.
  • Петровський М.Н. Визвольна війна українського народу проти гніту шляхетської Польщі і приєднання України до Росії (1648–1654), Київ 1939.
  • Неча́й, Дани́ил - Новый Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, т.28
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