Who wrote "Mazeppa", a long narrative poem about a seventeenth century leader of Ukraine?

Ivan Mazeppa (1639-1709) was a significant figure in the history of Ukraine. According to the poem, the young Mazeppa has a love affair with a polish Countess, Theresa, while serving at the Court of King of Poland. Countess Theresa was married to a much older Count. On discovering the affair, the Count punishes Mezappa by tying him naked to a wild horse and setting the horse free; eventually he reached the Cossacks (Russian colony of Ukraine) and became their Hetman (military leader). This legendary story caught the attention of the English poet Lord Bryan, whose Mazeppa (1819) poem describes the traumatic journey of the hero strapped to the horse. His long narrative poem "Mazeppa" inspired many paintings, particularly by French Romantics, which in turn stimulated musical compositions, stage plays, "Mazeppa" (1993 French drama film), more poems, and so on.

The poem was translated into French the same year by Amedee Pichot and many French painters decided to depict Mazeppa's "wild ride". New life was breathed into an equestrian tale when it was transposed to the American Wild West. The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, includes the geography, history, folklore, and culture in the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America in the early 17th century.

The cultural legacy of Mezappa was revitalised with the independence of Ukraine in 1991.