Abram Petrovich Gannibal
Encyclopedia
Major-General Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal or Ibrahim Hannibal or Abram Petrov , was brought to Russia
as a gift for Peter the Great
and became major-general, military engineer
, governor
of Reval
and nobleman of the Russian Empire
. He is perhaps best known today as the great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, who wrote an unfinished novel about him, Peter the Great's Negro
.
called "Lagon," in present day Eritrea
, located "on the northern side of the Mareb River
..." (which serves as much of the modern border between Ethiopia and Eritrea). On an 1810 map by Henry Salt
, Logo appears in Ethiopia
(the area corresponds to today's Loggo Sarda, which had its own rulers, and which is inhabited by Christian Tigrayans and Muslim Saho; others claim it to correspond to nearby Loggo Chewa further west in Eritrea).
"As the other sons were brought to their father with their hands trussed up with a rope, he enjoyed freedom of the youngest son swimming in his father's fountains" (Pushkin's notes to Eugene Onegin
). The research (1996) of Dieudonné Gnammankou suggests he may actually have been from what is now the Sultanate of Logone-Birni
on the Logone River, in Cameroon
, south of Lake Chad
.
In an official document that Gannibal submitted in 1742 to Empress Elizabeth, while petitioning for the rank of nobility
and a coat of arms
, he asked for the right to use a family crest emblazoned with an elephant and the mysterious word "FVMMO" (means homeland in Kotoko). However, FVMMO has also been suggested to stand for the Latin expression "Fortuna Vitam Meam Mutavit Oppido" which means "Fortune has changed my life entirely.".
At the age of seven (c. 1703), Gannibal was taken to the court of the Ottoman
Sultan
at Constantinople
. Based on the year, the Sultan was either Mustafa II
(reigned 1695–1703) or Ahmed III
(reigned 1703–1730). The German biography of Gannibal, compiled anonymously from his own words, explains that "the children of the noble families were taken to the ruler of all the Muslims, the Turkish sultan, as hostages", to be killed or sold into slavery
if their fathers misbehaved. Gannibal's sister Lahan was taken into captivity at the same time but died during the voyage.
In 1704, after one year in Constantinople, Gannibal was ransomed and brought to the Russian capital by the deputy of the Russian ambassador Sava Vladislavich
Raguzinsky, on orders of his superiors (one of whom was Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy
, great-grandfather of the celebrated writer Leo Tolstoy
). Emperor Peter the Great adopted Gannibal and raised him together with his own children.
Gannibal was baptized in 1705, in St. Paraskeva Church
in Vilnius
, with Peter the Great as his godfather
.
(although Pushkin claimed Paris) to continue an education in the arts, sciences and warfare. By then he was fluent in several languages and knew mathematics and geometry. He fought with the forces of Louis XV of France
against those of Louis' uncle Philip V of Spain
and rose to the rank of captain. It was during his time in France that Gannibal adopted his surname in honor of the Carthaginian
general Hannibal (Gannibal being the traditional transliteration of the name in Russian). In Paris he met and befriended such Enlightenment
figures as Denis Diderot
, the Baron de Montesquieu
and Voltaire
. (This claim by his biographer Hugh Barnes
is disputed by reviewer Andrew Kahn.) Voltaire called Gannibal the "dark star of the Enlightenment".
Gannibal's education was completed by 1722 and he was due to return to Russia. It is rumored that he was met on his return by Peter himself, a few kilometers away from Moscow
.
After the death of Peter in 1725, Gannibal was exiled to Siberia
in 1727, some 4,000 miles to the east of Saint Petersburg
. He was pardoned in 1730 for his skills in military engineering. After Peter's daughter Elizabeth became the new monarch in 1741, he became a prominent person at her court, rose to the rank of major-general and became superintendent of Reval (now Tallinn
, Estonia
) a position he held from 1742 to 1752. A letter signed on March 22, 1744 by "A. Ganibal" (note only one 'n') has been photographed at the Tallinn City Archives, see photo. The Empress Elizabeth had in 1742 given him the Mikhailovskoye estate in Pskov
province with hundreds of serfs
. Here, he retired in 1762.
It is rumored that the great general Alexander Suvorov
owed his career as a soldier to Gannibal, who convinced Suvorov's father to let his son pursue a military career.
woman. The couple married in 1731 and had one daughter. Unfortunately Dioper despised her husband, whom she was forced to marry
. When Gannibal found out that she had been unfaithful to him, he had her arrested and thrown into prison, where she spent eleven years living in terrible conditions. Gannibal began living with another woman, Christina Regina Siöberg (1705–1781), daughter of Mattias Johan Siöberg and wife Christina Elisabeth d'Albedyll, and married her bigamously
in Reval (now Tallinn
, Estonia
), in 1736, a year after the birth of their first child and while he was still lawfully married to his first wife. His divorce from Dioper did not become final until 1753, upon which a fine and a penance were imposed on Gannibal, and Dioper was sent to a convent for the rest of her life. Gannibal's second marriage was nevertheless deemed lawful after his divorce.
On her paternal side, Gannibal’s second wife was descended from noble families in Scandinavia
and Germany
: Siöberg (Sweden
), Galtung (Norway
) and Grabow (Denmark
and Brandenburg
). Her paternal grandfather was Gustaf Siöberg, Rittmester til Estrup, who died in 1694, whose wife Clara Maria Lauritzdatter Galtung (ca. 1651–1698) was the daughter of Lauritz Lauritzson Galtung (ca. 1615–1661) and of Barbara Grabow til Pederstrup (1631–1696). Abram Gannibal and Christina Regina Siöberg had ten children, including a son, Osip. Osip in turn would have a daughter, Nadezhda, the mother of Aleksandr Pushkin
. Gannibal's oldest son, Ivan
, became an accomplished naval officer who helped found the city of Kherson
in 1779 and attained the rank of General-in-Chief
, the second highest military rank in imperial Russia
.
Some British aristocrats descend from Gannibal, including Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster
and her sister, Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn. George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven
, a cousin of Elizabeth II of Great Britain, is also a direct descendant, as the grandson of Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven
.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
as a gift for Peter the Great
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
and became major-general, military engineer
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
, governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Reval
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
and nobleman of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. He is perhaps best known today as the great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, who wrote an unfinished novel about him, Peter the Great's Negro
Peter the Great's Negro
Peter the Great's Negro is an unfinished historical novel by Alexander Pushkin. Written in 1827-1828 and first published in 1837 the novel is the first prose work of the great Russian poet.-Background:...
.
Early life
His origins are uncertain. Early writings about Gannibal suggest he was born in 1696 in a villagecalled "Lagon," in present day Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, located "on the northern side of the Mareb River
Mareb River
The Mareb River , is a river flowing out of central Eritrea. Its chief importance is defining part of the boundary between Eritrea and Ethiopia between the point where the Mai Ambassa enters the river at to the confluence of the Balasa with the Mareb at .According to the Statistical Abstract of...
..." (which serves as much of the modern border between Ethiopia and Eritrea). On an 1810 map by Henry Salt
Henry Salt
Henry Salt may refer to:*Henry Stephens Salt , English writer, campaigner for social reforms, and animal rights advocate*Henry Salt...
, Logo appears in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
(the area corresponds to today's Loggo Sarda, which had its own rulers, and which is inhabited by Christian Tigrayans and Muslim Saho; others claim it to correspond to nearby Loggo Chewa further west in Eritrea).
"As the other sons were brought to their father with their hands trussed up with a rope, he enjoyed freedom of the youngest son swimming in his father's fountains" (Pushkin's notes to Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
). The research (1996) of Dieudonné Gnammankou suggests he may actually have been from what is now the Sultanate of Logone-Birni
Logone-Birni
Logone-Birni is a town and commune in Cameroon. It is perhaps most famous as the possible birthplace of Abram Petrovich Gannibal of Russia. -References:...
on the Logone River, in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, south of Lake Chad
Lake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
.
In an official document that Gannibal submitted in 1742 to Empress Elizabeth, while petitioning for the rank of nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and a coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
, he asked for the right to use a family crest emblazoned with an elephant and the mysterious word "FVMMO" (means homeland in Kotoko). However, FVMMO has also been suggested to stand for the Latin expression "Fortuna Vitam Meam Mutavit Oppido" which means "Fortune has changed my life entirely.".
At the age of seven (c. 1703), Gannibal was taken to the court of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Sultan
Ottoman Dynasty
The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...
at Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. Based on the year, the Sultan was either Mustafa II
Mustafa II
Mustafa II Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703.-Life:...
(reigned 1695–1703) or Ahmed III
Ahmed III
Ahmed III was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV . His mother was Mâh-Pâre Ummatullah Râbi'a Gül-Nûş Valide Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hajioglupazari, in Dobruja...
(reigned 1703–1730). The German biography of Gannibal, compiled anonymously from his own words, explains that "the children of the noble families were taken to the ruler of all the Muslims, the Turkish sultan, as hostages", to be killed or sold into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
if their fathers misbehaved. Gannibal's sister Lahan was taken into captivity at the same time but died during the voyage.
In 1704, after one year in Constantinople, Gannibal was ransomed and brought to the Russian capital by the deputy of the Russian ambassador Sava Vladislavich
Sava Vladislavich
Count Savva Lukich Vladislavich-Raguzinsky was a Serbian merchant-adventurer in the employ of Peter the Great who conducted important diplomatic negotiations in Constantinople, Rome and Beijing...
Raguzinsky, on orders of his superiors (one of whom was Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy
Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy
Count Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy was a Russian statesman prominent during and after the reign of Peter the Great. He was the ancestor of all the Counts Tolstoy, including the novelist Leo Tolstoy Count Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy (1645 – 1729) was a Russian statesman prominent during and after the...
, great-grandfather of the celebrated writer Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
). Emperor Peter the Great adopted Gannibal and raised him together with his own children.
Gannibal was baptized in 1705, in St. Paraskeva Church
St. Paraskeva Church, Vilnius
St. Paraskeva Church is an Orthodox church in Vilnius.The first Orthodox church of St. Paraskeva was constructed on demand of prince Algirdas' first wife, a Vitebsk princess Maria, who was subsequently buried there in 1346. According to the legend, the church was built on the site of a temple to...
in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, with Peter the Great as his godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
.
Education
In 1717, Gannibal was taken to MetzMetz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
(although Pushkin claimed Paris) to continue an education in the arts, sciences and warfare. By then he was fluent in several languages and knew mathematics and geometry. He fought with the forces of Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
against those of Louis' uncle Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
and rose to the rank of captain. It was during his time in France that Gannibal adopted his surname in honor of the Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
general Hannibal (Gannibal being the traditional transliteration of the name in Russian). In Paris he met and befriended such Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
figures as Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
, the Baron de Montesquieu
Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu
Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu , generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment...
and Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
. (This claim by his biographer Hugh Barnes
Hugh Barnes
Hugh Barnes is a journalist and specialist on Russian matters. Born in London, he was educated at Oxford and Cambridge universities. He covered the wars in Kosovo and Afghanistan for various newspapers in the UK and abroad...
is disputed by reviewer Andrew Kahn.) Voltaire called Gannibal the "dark star of the Enlightenment".
Under Peter & Elizabeth
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
After the death of Peter in 1725, Gannibal was exiled to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in 1727, some 4,000 miles to the east of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. He was pardoned in 1730 for his skills in military engineering. After Peter's daughter Elizabeth became the new monarch in 1741, he became a prominent person at her court, rose to the rank of major-general and became superintendent of Reval (now Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
) a position he held from 1742 to 1752. A letter signed on March 22, 1744 by "A. Ganibal" (note only one 'n') has been photographed at the Tallinn City Archives, see photo. The Empress Elizabeth had in 1742 given him the Mikhailovskoye estate in Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
province with hundreds of serfs
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
. Here, he retired in 1762.
It is rumored that the great general Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov , Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince in Italy, Count of the Holy Roman Empire , was the fourth and last generalissimo of the Russian Empire.One of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle along with the likes of Alexander...
owed his career as a soldier to Gannibal, who convinced Suvorov's father to let his son pursue a military career.
Family
Gannibal married twice. His first wife was Evdokia Dioper, a GreekGreeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
woman. The couple married in 1731 and had one daughter. Unfortunately Dioper despised her husband, whom she was forced to marry
Forced marriage
Forced marriage is a term used to describe a marriage in which one or both of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will...
. When Gannibal found out that she had been unfaithful to him, he had her arrested and thrown into prison, where she spent eleven years living in terrible conditions. Gannibal began living with another woman, Christina Regina Siöberg (1705–1781), daughter of Mattias Johan Siöberg and wife Christina Elisabeth d'Albedyll, and married her bigamously
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
in Reval (now Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
), in 1736, a year after the birth of their first child and while he was still lawfully married to his first wife. His divorce from Dioper did not become final until 1753, upon which a fine and a penance were imposed on Gannibal, and Dioper was sent to a convent for the rest of her life. Gannibal's second marriage was nevertheless deemed lawful after his divorce.
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
: Siöberg (Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
), Galtung (Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
) and Grabow (Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
). Her paternal grandfather was Gustaf Siöberg, Rittmester til Estrup, who died in 1694, whose wife Clara Maria Lauritzdatter Galtung (ca. 1651–1698) was the daughter of Lauritz Lauritzson Galtung (ca. 1615–1661) and of Barbara Grabow til Pederstrup (1631–1696). Abram Gannibal and Christina Regina Siöberg had ten children, including a son, Osip. Osip in turn would have a daughter, Nadezhda, the mother of Aleksandr Pushkin
Aleksandr Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature....
. Gannibal's oldest son, Ivan
Ivan Gannibal
Ivan Abramovich Gannibal was a Russian military leader and eminent Russian of African origin...
, became an accomplished naval officer who helped found the city of Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
in 1779 and attained the rank of General-in-Chief
General-in-Chief
General-in-Chief has been a military rank or title in various armed forces around the world.- France :In France, General-in-Chief was first an informal title for the lieutenant-general commanding over others lieutenant-generals, or even for some marshals in charge of an army...
, the second highest military rank in imperial Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
Some British aristocrats descend from Gannibal, including Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster
Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster
Natalia Ayesha Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster is the wife of Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster.The Duchess of Westminster is the younger daughter of Lt.-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and his wife, Georgina Wernher. Her elder sister is Alexandra, Duchess of Abercorn...
and her sister, Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn. George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven
George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven
George Ivar Louis Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven , styled Earl of Medina before 1970, is a British businessman, peer, and current Head of the House of Mountbatten.-Family:...
, a cousin of Elizabeth II of Great Britain, is also a direct descendant, as the grandson of Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven
Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven
Nadejda Mikhailovna Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven was the second daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife Sophie, Countess von Merenberg. She was a younger sister of Countess Anastasia de Torby.Her paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Michael...
.
Biographies
- Life of Ganibal by D. S. Anuchin, 1899
- Notes on prosody: And Abram Gannibal by Vladimir NabokovVladimir NabokovVladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
, 1964 - Абрам Петрович Ганнибал [Abram Petrovich Gannibal] by Георг Леетс [Georg Leets], Таллин [Tallinn], paperback 1984
- Abraham Hanibal - l’aïeul noir de Pouchkine by Dieudonné Gnammankou, paperback, Paris 1996
- Жизнь Ганнибала – прадеда Пушкина [The Life of Hannibal, Pushkin's Great Grandfather] by Наталья Константиновна Телетова [Natalja Konstantinovna Teletova], hardback, St. Petersburg 2004
- The Moor of St Petersburg: In the Footsteps of a Black Russian, by Frances Somers Cocks, paperback 2005
- Gannibal: the Moor of Petersburg, by Hugh Barnes, hardback 2005
- Abraham Hannibal and the Raiders of the Sands, by Frances Somers Cocks, paperback 2003 [historical novel for children]
- Abraham Hannibal and the Battle for the Throne, by Frances Somers Cocks, paperback 2003 [historical novel for children]