Ivan Gannibal
Encyclopedia
Karjaküla
Karjaküla is a small borough in Keila Parish, Harju County, northern Estonia. It has a population of 387 .-External links:*...
, Reval Governorate
Governorate of Estonia
The Governorate of Estonia or Estland, also known as the Government of Estonia or Province of Estonia, was a governorate of the Russian Empire in what is now northern Estonia.-Historical overview:...
, 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...
(today 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...
) – October 12, 1801, 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...
, Russian Empire) was a Russian military leader and eminent Russian of African origin. He was the son of military commander and politician Abram Petrovich Gannibal
Abram Petrovich Gannibal
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...
, an African of chiefly
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
background who would go on to become famous as 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:...
, and the great-uncle of Russia's most famous poet, Alexander Pushkin.
Gannibal led a detachment of the Imperial Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
, which besieged and captured the Turkish
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...
fortress of Navarin
Pylos
Pylos , historically known under its Italian name Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It was the capital of the former...
during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), and took part in the founding of 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...
. Gannibal's ultimate military rank was Général en Chef
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...
.
Early life
Gannibal was the oldest of 10 children born to Abram Gannibal and his Swedish wife Christina Regina Siöberg. (His father had previously had a daughter by his first wife.) 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 NavyImperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
as an officer.
Russo-Turkish War
At the height of the Russo-Turkish War, the 34 year old Gannibal, in the rank of BrigadierBrigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
, took a leading role in the siege and capture of the Ottoman fortress of Navarin.
The Russian Mediterranean Expeditionary Force
Orlov Revolt
The Orlov Revolt was a precursor to the Greek War of Independence , which saw a Greek uprising in the Peloponnese at the instigation of Count Orlov, commander of the Russian Naval Forces of the Russo-Turkish War...
under the command of Count Alexey Grigoryevich Orlov, sent a Squadron
Squadron (naval)
A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
of ships toward Navarin in the early spring of 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 after several days of bombardment. The Russians would use Navarin as a temporary naval base for the following several months. Gannibal was awarded the Order of St. George
Order of St. George
The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George (also known as Order of St. George the Triumphant, Russian: Военный орден Св...
, third degree, for his actions in the siege of Navarin.
Gannibal also took part in the Battle of Chesma
Battle of Chesma
The naval Battle of Chesma took place on 5 -7 July 1770 near and in Çeşme Bay, in the area between the western tip of Anatolia and the island of Chios, which was the site of a number of past naval battles between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice...
later on in 1770. During the battle he was aboard the battleship "St. Eustathius", 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 IICatherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
to a seat in the Russian Admiralty
Russian Admiralty
Admiralty Board was a supreme body for the administration of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Russian Empire, established by Peter the Great on December 12, 1718, and headquartered in the Admiralty building, Saint Petersburg....
, 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. For his efforts in the founding and building of Kherson, the Empress bestowed upon Gannibal the Order of St. VladimirOrder of St. Vladimir
The Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....
, first class (1780), the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
The Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire.-History:The introduction of the Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was planned by Emperor Peter I of Russia...
(1781), a jewel-encrusted snuff box
Snuff Box
Snuff Box is a BBC Three British dark comedy starring and written by Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher with additional material by Nick Gargano. It first aired on Monday 27 February 2006....
decorated with a portrait of the Empress herself, and a 20,000-desiatina estate southwest of Kherson, now within the town of Bilozerka.
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. His ultimate rank was Général en Chef, 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. There he died, childless and a lifelong bachelor, in 1801. He was buried in the Lazarevskoe Cemetery in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
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 St. Petersburg supposing that that was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexander Nevsky, a prince, defeated the Swedes; however, the battle...
.
Decorations
Gannibal received the following decorations from the Crown:- Order of St. GeorgeOrder of St. GeorgeThe Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George (also known as Order of St. George the Triumphant, Russian: Военный орден Св...
, third degree - Order of St. VladimirOrder of St. VladimirThe Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....
, first class - Order of St. Alexander NevskyOrder of St. Alexander NevskyThe Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire.-History:The introduction of the Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was planned by Emperor Peter I of Russia...
- Order of St. AnnaOrder of St. AnnaThe Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...
, first class