Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net

Fedor Chaika

Great-grandfather of the composer (b. about 1695 at Nikolaevka, near Poltava; d. 1767), born Fedor Afanas'evich Chaika (Федор Афанасьевич Чайка, Fedor Afanas'evič Čajka, Fyodor Afanas'yevich Chayka).

A Cossack in the Omel'nitskii Division of the Mirgorodskii Regiment, Fedor reputedly fought under Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava. He was married to Anna (b. 1717), also known as “Chaichikha”, and they had five children: Danilo (b. 1738); Petr (b. 1745), grandfather of the composer, who adopted the surname Tchaikovsky; Mikhaio (b. 1748); Matvei (b. 1750); and Aleksei (b. 1760).