Fyodor Chayka

Great-grandfather of the composer (b. about 1695 at Nikolayevka, near Poltava; d. 1767), born Fyodor Afanasyevich Chayka (Фёдор Афанасьевич Чайка).

A Cossack in the Omelnitsky Division of the Mirgorodsky Regiment, Fyodor reputedly fought under Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava. He was married to Anna (1717–?), also known as "Chaychikha", and they had five children:

1. Danilo (b. 1738);
2. Pyotr (b. 1745), grandfather of the composer (who later adopted the surname Tchaikovsky);
3. Mikhailo (b. 1748);
4. Matvey (b. 1750);
5. Aleksey (b. 1760).