Abram Hannibal is an African great-grandfather of the Russian poet

Great-grandfather of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin Abram Hannibal lived a long and rich life. The son of a noble African prince, he was kidnapped in the early childhood by the Turks and taken to Constantinople. At the age of seven, the boy came to Moscow and became Petra's favorite arabochon. Subsequently, he managed to get an excellent education and make a brilliant military career, rising to the rank of general-anshef. Abram Petrovich went down in history thanks to his famous grandson Alexander Pushkin, who dedicated to him the historical work "Arap of Peter the Great."

Date and place of birth of Hannibal

Swarthy skin and dark curly hair Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin got from his great-grandfather, Abram Hannibal, who was born in a far and hot Africa. The black ancestor of the great poet was an extraordinary man, personally acquainted with Peter the Great, Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth and other outstanding personalities of the 18th century. 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 XVII century. The date of his birth is 1696 or 1697. The most likely homeland of Hannibal is Abyssinia - an area in the north of Ethiopia. But some researchers of the biography of Pushkin's ancestors are inclined to the version that his great-grandfather was born in the Sultanate of Logon, located on the border of Cameroon and Chad. In favor of this opinion is a letter from Hannibal, addressed to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, in which he called the town of Logon his birthplace. However, it was not possible to find a documentary confirmation of this version until today.

The first years of life

At the birth of Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, bore the name 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 abducted by the Turks and sent to Constantinople. There, the dark-skinned boys were placed in the palace (seraglio) and began to prepare in the pages of the sultan. And it is not known how their fate would have formed, if Count Savva Raguzinsky-Vladislavich did not arrive in Constantinople in 1705 and did not buy 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 arapts? Peter the First traveled widely throughout Europe and often watched black kings serve as overseas queens in palaces. A lover of everything overseas and unusual, he wanted that he had a servant in his service. But not some, but literate and trained in good manners. Going to meet the wishes of Peter I, Ragusinsky-Vladislavich looked at the serals of the boys most suitable for serving in the royal palace and bought (according to other sources - stole them) from the head of the serals. So Ibrahim and his brother got to Russia.

Baptism, service to Peter I

In the summer of 1705, newly arrived arapts took Orthodoxy in the Church of Paraskeva Friday 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 Augustus II, Christian Eberhardine. 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 the godfather) and only in the early 40s of the XVIII century replaced it.

Abram Hannibal became the beloved arapchon of Peter the Great. At first he performed the duties of a servant-bugger (a boy who lived at the threshold of the royal chambers), then became a valet and secretary of the sovereign. Peter I trusted his aura so much that he allowed him to protect books, maps and drawings in his office, and gave him secret orders. In 1716, Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, went with the tsar to travel around Europe. In France, he was assigned to study at an engineering school. When he was educated in it, Abram Petrovich was included in the French army and took part in the War of the Quarter Union of 1718-1820, where he was wounded in the head.

In the rank of captain Hannibal returned to Russia in 1723 and was decorated in the Preobrazhensky regiment, which is under the command of Peter I. Thanks to his brilliant knowledge of mathematics in Europe, he became the first engineer-general in the history of the Russian army. Except for exact sciences, Abram Petrovich was well versed in history and philosophy, he knew French and Latin, that's why in society he was treated as a highly educated person. By order of Peter, great-grandfather Pushkin trained young officers in mathematics and engineering. In addition, he was instructed to translate foreign books in the imperial court.

In the link

The service of Abram Petrovich Hannibal to Peter continued until his death in 1725. After the death of the sovereign, the arap turned out to be in disfavor with Prince Alexander Menshikov, who became the de facto ruler of the country. It happened because 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 in 1727 removes him from the court and sends him to Siberia. In exile Abram Hannibal was more than three years old. Until the end of 1729 he was kept under arrest in Tomsk, issuing 10 rubles a month.

Service in Pernov

In January 1730, the niece of Peter the Great ascended the imperial throne, Anna Ioannovna. She remembered Abram Petrovich from childhood and always treated him well. The new empress abolished the punishment of Hannibal and allowed him to continue 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, Estonia) located in Estland. Here the aura of Peter the Great was awarded the rank of engineer-captain. Throughout 1731-1733 he served as commandant in the Pernov fortified area and simultaneously taught in the garrison school to conductors (junior military engineers) drawing, fortification and mathematics. In 1733, Hannibal resigned, motivating his decision with health problems.

Marriage with Dioper

Soon after moving to Pernov, Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, for the first time in his life thought about marriage. A hardened bachelor who, by the beginning of the 1830s, had time to change the fourth decade, did not suffer from a lack of attention on the part of the weaker sex. Unusual appearance of Hannibal attracted Russian beauties, and there were many novels from a fiery arap, but he never set amorous affairs above military service. His bachelorhood continued until, at the end of 1730, while on a business trip in Petersburg, he did not get acquainted with the beautiful Greek Evdokia Diopter. Rising to the girl with passionate feelings, 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 while on a business trip. Having been detained in the northern capital for longer than expected, Abram Petrovich was introduced to his family. The fervent arap was very much liked by the young daughter of Dioper, and he proposed her hands and heart. Despite the fact that Evdokia Andreyevna was in love with the young lieutenant Alexander Kaisarov and was preparing to marry him, her father decided that the godchild of Peter the Great would be her best party for her. At the beginning of 1731, he forcibly married her with Abram Petrovich in St. Petersburg's St. Simeon the Hospice Church. After the wedding, the newlyweds went to Pernov, where Hannibal served. To the lieutenant Kaisarov was not confused by Hannibal under his feet, he was transferred to Astrakhan.

Treason and court

Marriage under duress did not bring happiness to either Abram Petrovich or his young wife. Evdokia did not love her husband and did not keep loyalty to him. In Pernov she looked 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, Diopter gave birth to a white-skinned and blonde girl who could never be the daughter of Abraham Hannibal, a native of Africa. In Pernov, which at that time numbered only 2 thousand inhabitants, the news of the birth of a black engineer-captain of a white child became a real sensation. Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, caught the mocking glances of those around him and was hard pressed by his wife's infidelity. It was during this period that he wrote a petition for resignation, which was granted only in 1733. After his dismissal, Abram Petrovich moved to the Karjakyla manor, located near Revel.

Hannibal could not forgive the traitor-wife. There were rumors that he mercilessly beat her, kept him in confinement and threatened to kill him. Not wanting to live with Evdokia in the same house anymore, he started a loud divorce process, accusing her of adultery. The military court found Dioper guilty and ordered her to be sent to the Hospital courtyard where they kept all prisoners. There the unfaithful wife spent a long 11 years. Despite the fact that Evdokia's guilt was proved, the court did not divorce her with her husband, but only punished for fornication.

The second marriage

While Yevdokiya Dioper was serving a sentence for treason, her husband married for the second time. The chosen nobleman of Swedish origin, Hristina Regina von Shebergh, who lived in Pernov, became the chosen one for Abram Petrovich. She was 20 years younger than her husband. Marriage with her Abram Petrovich concluded in 1736, providing instead of the certificate of divorce certificate of the military court, confirming the fact of the betrayal of his first wife. After the wedding, he brought his wife to the Karjakylu manor.

1743 Yevdokia Diopter was released from prison and soon became pregnant. To marry a new lover, she filed a request to the spiritual consistory for a divorce from Hannibal, in which she confessed her past treason. The unexpected act of Evdokia almost cost Abram Petrovich freedom and career, because he could be accused of bigamy. The divorce proceedings lasted until 1753 and ended unexpectedly for Hannibal: he was ordered to repent and pay a fine. Consistory acknowledged his marriage to Christina Sheberg as valid, finding the military court guilty in this situation, who should not have considered the case of adultery without the presence of representatives of the Holy Synod. Evdokia was much less fortunate. For the 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 the marriage with Christina Sheberg, the great-grandfather of the poet had 11 children, of whom only seven survived until the adulthood (Ivan, Osip, Isaak, Peter, Sofya, Elizaveta and Anna). The children of Abram Hannibal gave him many grandsons. His son Osip married Mary Alekseevna Pushkina in 1773, who in two years gave birth to her daughter Nadezhda, the mother of the Russian genius Alexander Pushkin.

Of the children of a dark-skinned godson, Peter I, his eldest son Ivan was the most outstanding. He was a well-known Russian commander-in-chief and commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, Ivan commanded the Navarino fight and participated in the battle of Chesme. Under his direct leadership in 1778, Kherson was founded. As you can see, the descendants of Abram Hannibal have become 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, which favored the arab and promoted the growth of his career. Biography of Abram Hannibal testifies that in 1742 he received as a present from the Empress the manor of Karjakylu, in which he lived, and several other estates. In the same year, Hannibal was elevated to the post of commandant of Revel and awarded palace lands near Pskov, where they subsequently founded the Petrovskoye estate. In the early 40s of the 18th century, Abram Petrovich changed the name Petrov to the more sonorous Hannibal on the initiative of Elizabeth, taking it in honor of the legendary commander of antiquity who, like him, came from Africa.

In 1752, Mr .. Abram Hannibal was transferred from Revel to St. Petersburg. The African great-grandfather of the Russian genius held the post of manager of the engineering part, and later supervised the construction of the Kronstadt and Ladoga canals and founded a school for the children of masters and workers. Abram Petrovich was promoted to the rank of general-chief and resigned at the age of 66.

last years of life

After the dismissal of a black great-grandfather, Pushkin settled with his wife in the village of Suida near St. Petersburg. He was a very wealthy landowner, who owned more than 3 thousand serfs. In Suida, Hannibal lived the last 19 years of his life. Many times Alexander Suvorov came to visit him, with whose father Abram Petrovich was friendly for a long time. According to rumors, it was he who persuaded his friend to teach his son military affairs.

In the winter of 1781, at the age of 64, Christina Sheberg died. Hannibal survived her for only 2 months and passed away on April 20, 1781. He was 85 years old. 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.

Disputes around the portrait of Pushkin's great-grandfather

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 the researchers. According to one version, the person depicted on the ancient canvas is really the great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin Abram Hannibal, on the other - the general-enchanf of the times of Catherine II by Ivan Meller-Zakomelsky. One way or another, but the portrait of a dark-skinned man in military uniform, most of Pushkin's biographers, is considered one of the few surviving images of Abram Petrovich to this day.

The Memory of Hannibal in Literature and Cinematography

Abram Hannibal did not find Pushkin. The legendary Russian poet was born 18 years after the death of his 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 the Pushkin novel made a feature film "A Tale of how Tsar Peter therap wedded". The role of Hannibal in the film was performed by Vladimir Vysotsky.