Andrii Rachinsky

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Andriy Andriyovich Rachinsky (born 24 November 1724 in Velyki Mosty; died 1794 in Novhorod-Siverskyi) was a Ukrainian statesman during the Hetmanate era, and also a composer and conductor. He came from the noble Raczynski family and studied in Lviv, where he led the choir at St. George's Cathedral from 1749 to 1752. In 1753 he became the court bandmaster for Hetman Kirill Razumovsky. He moved to Novhorod-Siverskyi in 1763 and held several government roles: centurion of the Novgorod hundred in the Starodub regiment (1763–1782), fellow of Bunchuk (1780), and head of the second department of the upper division of the Novhorod-Siversky governorate (1782–1796). His wife Marina was a niece of Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky and related to General Treasurer Yakov Markovich. Their son Gavrilo Rachinsky was a violinist, guitarist and composer. His great-grandson Oleksandr Rachinsky was a zemstvo activist and deputy in the Ukrainian People's Republic’s Ministry of Education, and a friend of the Moscow writer Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy.