Vasily Kapnist

Count Vasily Vasilievich Kapnist, was a Russian poet, playwright and nobleman who was known as an active critic of serfdom in Russia and as a proponent of restoration of the Zaporozhian host in the region of southern Ukraine. Kapnist was the grandson of a Greek merchant from Zakynthos. He was a descendant of the noble family of Capnissi.