Ivan Abramovich Gannibal (russian: Иван Абрамович Ганнибал; June 5, 1735 – October 12, 1801) was an eminent Russian military leader. He was the son of military commander, general and engineer

Abram Petrovich Gannibal Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal, or Abram Hannibal or Abram Petrov ( ru , Абра́м Петро́вич Ганниба́л; c. 1696 – 14 May 1781), was a Russian military engineer, general-in-chief, and nobleman of Africa ...

, as well as the great-uncle of Russia's most famous poet,

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

. Gannibal led a detachment of the Imperial

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

, which besieged and captured the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

fortress of Navarin during the

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a major armed conflict that saw Russian arms largely victorious against the Ottoman Empire. Russia's victory brought parts of Moldavia, the Yedisan between the rivers Bug and Dnieper, and Crimea into the ...

, and took part in the founding of the city of

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

. Gannibal's ultimate military rank was Général en Chef.

Early life

Gannibal was the oldest of 10 children born to Abram Gannibal and his Swedish-German wife Christina Regina Siöberg in

Karjaküla Karjaküla is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Lääne-Harju Parish, Harju County, northern Estonia. It has a population of 387 (as of 1 January 2004). Russian military leader Ivan Gannibal Ivan Abramovich Gannibal (russian: Иван Аб� ...

, Reval Governorate,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(presently in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

). Gannibal was destined for a military career from an early age, entering the Naval Artillery School in the imperial capital at the age of 9. He would eventually graduate from the Naval Academy and join the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

as an officer.

Russo-Turkish War

At the height of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, the 34-year-old Gannibal, in the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

, took a leading role in the siege and capture of the Ottoman fortress of Navarino in the Peloponnese. The Russian Mediterranean Expeditionary Force under the command of Count

Alexey Grigoryevich Orlov Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (russian: Алексей Григорьевич Орлов; – ) was a Russian soldier and statesman, who rose to prominence during the reign of Catherine the Great. Orlov served in the Imperial Russian Arm ...

sent a squadron of ships toward Navarino in April 1770. Three of the vessels were sent toward shore with a forward force of 300 men and a number of artillery pieces, under Gannibal's command. The forward force commenced an artillery barrage on the fortress, eventually forcing its surrender on 10 April 1770 after several days of bombardment. The Russians would use Navarino as a temporary naval base for the following months. Gannibal was awarded the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

, third degree, for his actions in the siege of Navarino.Ганнибал Иван Абрамович - Личности
Korabel.ru. Retrieved on 2010-09-04. Gannibal also took part in the

Battle of Chesma The naval Battle of Chesme took place on 5–7 July 1770 during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) near and in Çeşme (Chesme or Chesma) Bay, in the area between the western tip of Anatolia and the island of Chios, which was the site of a numb ...

(near Chios) in July 1770. During the battle he was aboard the battleship "St. Eustathius" ( ru , Святой Евстафий Плакида , translit = Svyatoy Yevstafiy Plakida), which exploded and sank as a result of the intense action. Gannibal had to be rescued from the water after the explosion.

Later military career

In 1772 Gannibal was promoted to Major-General, and in 1776 he was given in the command of the entire naval artillery in the Imperial Navy. The following year, 1777, he was appointed by Empress

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

to a seat in the

Russian Admiralty Board of Admiralties (russian: Адмиралтейств-коллегия, ''Admiralteystv-kollegiya'') was a supreme body for the administration of the Imperial Russian Navy and admiralty shipyards in the Russian Empire, established by Peter the ...

, the supreme governing body of the Imperial Navy.

Kherson

In 1778 Gannibal was appointed commander of the Kherson fortress, which he was tasked with building along with the surrounding city, on the order of Catherine II. He took to the task with zeal, erecting a functioning fortress and port within a relatively short period of time.Літопис Херсона
Library.kherson.ua. Retrieved on 2010-09-04. For his efforts in the founding and building of Kherson, the Empress bestowed upon Gannibal the

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

, first class (1780), the

Order of St. Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Empero ...

(1781), a jewel-encrusted

snuff box A decorative box is a form of packaging that is generally more than just functional, but also intended to be decorative and artistic. Many such boxes are used for promotional packaging, both commercially and privately. Historical objects are u ...

decorated with a portrait of the Empress herself, and a 20,000- desiatina estate southwest of Kherson, now within the town of

Bilozerka Bilozerka ( uk, Білозе́рка, ) is an urban-type settlement in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Bilozerka settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It has a population of Ad ...

.Мой город - Херсон - Площадь Ганнибала: первый строитель
Mycity.kherson.ua. Retrieved on 2010-09-04. Gannibal is considered to be one of the founders of the city of Kherson. One of the squares of Kherson bears his name.

End of life

Gannibal retired from the army in 1784, having fallen out with Prince

Grigory Potyomkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...

. His ultimate rank was Général en Chef, the same rank as his father two decades before. Gannibal retired to his father's estate (and final resting place) in the village of Suyda near the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

. There he died, childless and a lifelong bachelor, in 1801. He was buried in the

Lazarevskoe Cemetery Lazarevskoe Cemetery (russian: Лазаревское кладбище) is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg, and the oldest surviving cemetery in the city. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeterie ...

in the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Ale ...

Decorations

Gannibal received the following decorations from the Crown: *

, third class *

, first class *

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

, first class

Gannibal in literature

Gannibal's great-nephew Alexander Pushkin devoted to his great-uncle a paragraph in his partial autobiography (1834) and a quatrain in his poem, "My Genealogy" (1830):А. С. Пушкин. Моя родословная. Текст произведения , Библиотека Комарова
Ilibrary.ru. Retrieved on 2010-09-04.

References

Biography
from shiphistory.ru, ''passim'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gannibal, Ivan 1735 births 1801 deaths People from Lääne-Harju Parish People from the Governorate of Estonia People from the Russian Empire of African descent People from the Russian Empire of Swedish descent Imperial Russian Army generals Imperial Russian Navy personnel Kherson Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class 18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg) Russian untitled nobility