Spiridon Eristovich Zhevakhov or Spiridon Javakhishvili (1768 – July 25, 1815) was a Russian

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...

 general of Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 noble descent and a participant of the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

.

Zhevakhov was born in the émigré Georgian family of Prince Javakhishvili

Javakhishvili

Javakhishvili is a Georgian noble family, a branch of the Toreli , known from the 10th century.The surname Javakhishvili, literally "son of Javakh", derives from the 14th-century nobleman Javakh , a participant of Georgia’s resistance to Timur’s attacks...

 who had an estate in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. He enlisted in the Leib-Guard Preobrazhensky regiment

Preobrazhensky regiment

The Preobrazhensky Regiment was one of the oldest and elite regiments of the Russian army. Along with the Semenovsky regiment also served as a gendarmie unit for the state Secret Chancellery in the 18th century, headed by the Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky.It was formed by Peter the Great in the late...

 in 1779 and took part in the war against the Turkey (1787-1792), Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 (1794), Persia (1796), and Suvorov’s campaign in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 (1799). In 1797, he joined the Pavlograd hussar regiment of which he would become a commander in 1810. He fought against Napoleonic France from 1805 to 1807 and was promoted to a colonel in 1807. During the French invasion of Russia

French invasion of Russia

The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...

 in 1812, Zhevakhov served in the 3rd Army of the West and successfully commanded cavalry units. He distinguished himself in the 1813 Battle of Leipzig

Battle of Leipzig

The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...

 and was made a major-general. In 1813, he contributed to the Allies’ victory in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. After the end of the hostilities with France, he commanded a brigade in the 3rd hussar division.