Afanasii Shafonskii

Born Dec. 13 (24), 1740, in the village of Sosnitsy, in what is now Chernigov Oblast; died Mar. 27 (Apr. 8), 1811, in the village of Iaklichi (Gapovka), in what is now Chernigov Oblast. Ukrainian economist, ethnographer, and physician.

Shafonskii was the son of a sotnik (cossack lieutenant). From 1756 to 1763 he studied at the universities of Halle, Leiden, and Strasbourg. In 1769 he became a senior physician at Moscow General Hospital, where he took part in the struggle against a plague epidemic. His book A Description of the Plague in theCapital City of Moscow From 1770 to 1772 (parts 1–2, 1775) was translated into many foreign languages. In 1782, Shafonskii served in the criminal court of Chernigov Vicegerency; between 1784 and 1786 he compiled A Topographical Description of Chernigov Vicegerency (parts 1–2,1851), which contains valuable material on the history, ethnography, and economy of the Left-bank Ukraine.