Ivan Podkova

Date of birth unknown; died June 16, 1578. Moldavian hospodar in 1577; before that, a leader of the Zaporozh’e cossacks.

After the defeat in 1574 of the national liberation movement led by Ivan Liutyi, popular resentment against Turkish feudal oppression began to grow in Moldavia. Ivan Podkova declared himself the brother of Ivan Liutyi and marched into Moldavia, leading a detachment of 1,000 cossacks (which included Moldavians as well). Supported by the masses, he occupied the capital, Ia§i, in late November 1577 and proclaimed himself hospodar. The armies of the Turks and the local boyars moved against him, and in early 1578 he was forced to retreat to the Ukraine where he was arrested by Polish authorities. Ivan was executed in L’vov in response to the sultan’s demand.