The great-grandfather of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, Abram Gannibal, lived a long and eventful life. The son of a noble African prince, he was kidnapped at an early age by the Turks and taken to Constantinople. At the age of seven, the boy came to Moscow and became Peter I's favorite black child. Subsequently, he managed to get an excellent education and make a brilliant military career, rising to the rank of General-in-Chief. Abram Petrovich went down in history thanks to his famous grandson A. S. Pushkin, who dedicated the historical work “Arap of Peter the Great” to him.
Date and place of Hannibal's birth
Dark skin and dark curly hair Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin inherited from his great-grandfather, Abram Gannibal, who was born in distant and hot Africa. The black ancestor of the great poet was an extraordinary person, personally acquainted with Peter the Great, Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth and other prominent personalities of the XVIIIcentury. What was the fate of the famous great-grandfather of Pushkin? You can find out about this by reading his biography.
Abram Petrovich Hannibal was born in the last years of the 17th century. His date of birth is 1696 or 1697. The most likely homeland of Hannibal is Abyssinia, a region in northern Ethiopia. But some researchers of the biography of Pushkin's ancestors are inclined to believe that his great-grandfather was born in the Logon Sultanate, located on the border of Cameroon and Chad. This opinion is supported by Hannibal's letter addressed to the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, in which he named the city of Logon as the place of his birth. However, to date, no documentary evidence of this version has been found.
First years of life
At birth, Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal, was named Ibrahim. His father was a noble African prince who had many wives and children. At the age of seven, Ibrahim, along with his older brother, was kidnapped by the Turks and sent to Constantinople. There, dark-skinned boys were settled in the palace (seraglio) and began to be trained as pages to the sultan. And it is not known how their fate would have developed if Count Savva Raguzinsky-Vladislavich had not arrived in Constantinople in 1705 and bought them as a gift to Peter the Great.
Why did the Russian tsar need African children, whom in Russia it was customary to call the Arabs? Peter the Great traveled a lot in Europe and often watched how foreign kings in palaces were served by dark-skinned boys. A lover of everything overseas and unusual, he wanted to have in his servicewas an arab. But not any, but literate and trained in good manners. Going to meet the desires of Peter I, Raguzinsky-Vladislavich looked after the most suitable dark-skinned boys for service in the royal palace in the seraglio and bought (according to other sources - stole) them from the head of the seraglio. So Ibrahim and his brother ended up in Russia.
Baptism, serving Peter I
In the summer of 1705, the newly arrived Arabchats converted to Orthodoxy in the Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa in Vilnius. During the rite of baptism, Ibrahim was given the name Abram, and his brother, Alexei. The godparents of Pushkin's great-grandfather were Peter the Great and the wife of the Polish King August II, Christian Ebergardin. The patronymic of the Arapchon was given by the name of the Russian Tsar who baptized them. After that, the African boy Ibrahim became Abram Petrovich. For a long time he bore the surname Petrov (in honor of his godfather) and only changed it in the early 40s of the 18th century.
Abram Gannibal became Peter the Great's favorite black boy. At first, he acted as a servant-priorozhnik (a boy who lived on the threshold of the royal chambers), then became a valet and secretary of the sovereign. Peter I trusted his black man so much that he allowed him to guard the books, maps and drawings in his office, and also gave him secret instructions. In 1716, Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, went with the tsar on a trip to Europe. In France, he was assigned to study at an engineering school. After studying in it, Abram Petrovich was included in the French army and took part in the Warquarter union of 1718-1820, where he was wounded in the head.
With the rank of captain, Hannibal returned to Russia in 1723 and was registered in the Preobrazhensky Regiment under the command of Peter I. Thanks to his brilliant knowledge of mathematics obtained in Europe, he became the first engineer-general in the history of the Russian army. In addition to the exact sciences, Abram Petrovich was well versed in history and philosophy, knew French and Latin, so in society he was treated as a highly educated person. By order of Peter, Pushkin's great-grandfather taught young officers mathematics and engineering. In addition, he was assigned to translate foreign books in the imperial court.
In exile
The service of Abram Petrovich Hannibal to Peter continued until his death in 1725. After the death of the sovereign, the Arap fell out of favor with Prince Alexander Menshikov, who became the de facto ruler of the country. This happened due to the fact that Hannibal knew his sins and secrets too well. He knew about the intrigues and abuses of the prince, and about his close relationship with Catherine I. Wanting to get rid of a dangerous witness, Menshikov removed him from the court in 1727 and sent him to Siberia. Abram Hannibal was in exile for more than three years. Until the end of 1729, he was kept under arrest in Tomsk, giving out 10 rubles every month.
Service in Pernov
In January 1730, the niece of Peter the Great, Anna Ioannovna, ascended the imperial throne. She remembered Abram Petrovich from childhood and is always good to him.belonged. The new empress canceled Hannibal's punishment and allowed him to continue his military service. From January to September 1730, he was a major in the garrison of Tobolsk, after which he was recalled from Siberia and transferred to the city of Pernov (now Pärnu in Estonia) located in Estonia. Here the rap of Peter the Great was granted the rank of engineer-captain. During 1731-1733 he served as a commandant in the Pernovsky fortified area and at the same time taught drawing, fortification and mathematics at the garrison school to conductors (junior military engineers). In 1733, Hannibal retired, citing he alth problems as the reason for his decision.
Marriage with Dioper
Shortly after moving to Pernov, Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal, thought about marriage for the first time in his life. An inveterate bachelor, who by the beginning of the 30s of the 18th century managed to exchange his fourth decade, did not suffer from a lack of attention from the weaker sex. The unusual appearance of Hannibal attracted Russian beauties, and the ardent arap had a lot of novels, but he never put amorous affairs above military service. His bachelor life continued until, at the end of 1730, while on a business trip in St. Petersburg, he met the beautiful Greek woman Evdokia Dioper. Inflamed with passionate feelings for the girl, the African decided to marry her.
Evdokia was the youngest daughter of the Greek officer of the galley fleet from St. Petersburg Andrei Dioper, whom Hannibal had to meet during a business trip. Lingering in the northern capitallonger than expected, Abram Petrovich was introduced to his family. The ardent black man really liked the young daughter of Dioper, and he made her a marriage proposal. Despite the fact that Evdokia Andreevna was in love with the young lieutenant Alexander Kaisarov and was preparing to marry him, her father decided that the godson of Peter the Great would be the best match for her. At the beginning of 1731, he forcibly married her to Abram Petrovich in the St. Petersburg Church of St. Simeon the God-Receiver. After the wedding, the newlyweds went to Pernov, where Hannibal served. So that Lieutenant Kaisarov would not get under Hannibal's feet, he was transferred to Astrakhan.
Treason and trial
Forced marriage did not bring happiness to either Abram Petrovich or his young wife. Evdokia did not love her husband and was not faithful to him. In Pernov, she stared at the young military and soon became the mistress of the local Don Juan Shishkin, who was a student of her husband. In the autumn of 1731, Dioper gave birth to a white-skinned and fair-haired girl, who could not be the daughter of Abram Hannibal, a native of Africa. In Pernov, which at that time had only 2 thousand inhabitants, the news of the birth of a white child by a black engineer-captain became a real sensation. Pushkin's great-grandfather Abram Petrovich Hannibal caught the mocking glances of those around him and was very upset by his wife's infidelity. It was during this period that he wrote a letter of resignation, which was granted only in 1733. After his dismissal, Abram Petrovich moved to the Karjaküla manor, located near Reval.
Hannibal could not forgive the traitor-wife. There were rumors that he beat her mercilessly,kept him locked up and threatened to kill him. Not wanting to live with Evdokia in the same house anymore, he started a high-profile divorce proceedings, accusing her of adultery. The military court found Dioper guilty and decided to send her to the Hospital Yard, where all the prisoners were kept. There, the unfaithful wife spent a long 11 years. Despite the fact that Evdokia's guilt was proven, the court did not divorce her from her husband, but only punished her for fornication.
Second marriage
While Evdokia Dioper was serving a sentence for treason, her husband married a second time. The chosen one of Abram Petrovich was a noblewoman of Swedish origin Christina Regina von Sheberg, who lived in Pernov. She was 20 years younger than her husband. Abram Petrovich entered into a marriage with her in 1736, providing instead of a certificate of divorce, a certificate from a military court confirming the fact of betrayal of his first wife. After the wedding, he brought his wife to Karjakülu Manor.
1743 Evdokia Dioper was released from prison and soon became pregnant. In order to marry a new lover, she submitted to the spiritual consistory a request for a divorce from Hannibal, in which she confessed to her past infidelities. The unexpected act of Evdokia almost cost Abram Petrovich his freedom and career, because he could be accused of bigamy. The divorce proceedings lasted until 1753 and ended unexpectedly well for Hannibal: he was ordered to repent and pay a fine. The Consistory recognized his marriage to Christina Sjoberg as valid, considering the military court guilty in the current situation, which should not have beenconsider the case of adultery without the presence of representatives of the Holy Synod. Evdokia was much less fortunate. For adultery committed in her youth, she was sentenced to imprisonment in the Staraya Ladoga Monastery, where she remained until the end of her life.
Offspring
In his marriage to Christina Sheberg, the great-grandfather of the poet had 11 children, of which only seven survived to adulthood (Ivan, Osip, Isaac, Peter, Sophia, Elizabeth and Anna). The children of Abram Hannibal gave him many grandchildren. His son Osip in 1773 married Maria Alekseevna Pushkina, who 2 years later gave birth to a daughter, Nadezhda, the mother of the Russian genius Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
Of the children of the dark-skinned godson of Peter I, his eldest son Ivan became the most outstanding. He was a famous Russian military leader and commander in chief of the Black Sea Fleet. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, Ivan commanded the Battle of Navarino and participated in the Battle of Chesma. Kherson was founded in 1778 under his direct supervision. As you can see, the descendants of Abram Hannibal became outstanding and respectable people.
Military career under Elizabeth I
In 1741, Abram Petrovich returned to military service. During this period, the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth I, ascended the throne, who favored the arap and contributed to the growth of his career. The biography of Abram Gannibal testifies that in 1742 he received as a gift from the empress the Karyakulu manor, where he lived, and several other estates. In the same year, Hannibal was elevated tothe post of chief commandant of Revel and was awarded palace lands near Pskov, where he later founded the Petrovsky estate. In the early 40s of the 18th century, Abram Petrovich, on the initiative of Elizabeth, changed the surname Petrov to the more sonorous Hannibal, taking it in honor of the legendary commander of antiquity, who, like him, was a native of Africa.
In 1752, Abram Gannibal was transferred from Revel to St. Petersburg. The African great-grandfather of the Russian genius served here as the manager of the engineering department, and later supervised the construction of the Kronstadt and Ladoga canals and founded a school for the children of craftsmen and workers. Abram Petrovich rose to the rank of General-in-Chief and retired at the age of 66.
Last years of life
After his dismissal, the dark-skinned great-grandfather of Pushkin settled with his wife in the village of Suyda near St. Petersburg. He was a very we althy landowner, who owned more than 3,000 serfs. Hannibal lived in Suida for the last 19 years of his life. Alexander Suvorov came to visit him more than once, with whose father Abram Petrovich was friendly for a long time. According to rumors, it was he who convinced his friend to train his son in military affairs.
In the winter of 1781, Christina Sheberg died at the age of 64. Hannibal survived her by only 2 months and died on April 20, 1781. He was 85 years old. They buried Abram Petrovich at the village cemetery in Suida. Unfortunately, his grave has not survived to this day. Now in the house where Hannibal spent his last years, there is his museum-estate.
Controversy surrounding the portrait of great-grandfatherPushkin
Our contemporaries do not know for sure what Abram Hannibal looked like. The photo of his portrait in military uniform, which is presented in books and on the Internet, has not been finally identified by researchers. According to one version, the person depicted on the old canvas is indeed the great-grandfather of A. S. Pushkin, Abram Gannibal, according to another, Ivan Meller-Zakomelsky, General-in-Chief of the time of Catherine II. One way or another, but the portrait of a dark-skinned man in military uniform that has survived to this day is considered by most of Pushkin's biographers to be one of the few images of Abram Petrovich that have survived to this day.
Memory of Hannibal in literature and cinema
Abram Hannibal did not find Pushkin. The legendary Russian poet was born 18 years after the death of his African great-grandfather. Alexander Sergeevich was always interested in the biography of Abram Petrovich and described his life in his unfinished historical work “Arap of Peter the Great”. In 1976, the Soviet director A. Mitta, based on Pushkin's novel, made a feature film "The Tale of How Tsar Peter Married Married". The role of Hannibal in the film was played by Vladimir Vysotsky.
