Abram Petrovich Hannibal was an Ethiopian prince, Russian general, and great-grandfather of the Russian poet Alexander S. Pushkin.
Background
Abram Petrovich Hannibal was born in Lagona, Ethiopia, in 1697. The son of the reigning prince, Almost at once, he was bought or kidnaped by Russian agents as a curiosity for Peter the Great and with two other black boys was sent to Moscow. The tsar was delighted and was ready to adopt the boy, whom he nicknamed Hannibal. The following year, at Vilna, he was baptized Abram Petrovich; Peter was godfather and gave him the patronymic Petrovich as if Abram were his own son. For ten years Abram went everywhere with the tsar and slept in a corner of his workshop.
Education
In 1716 he was sent to France to study.
Career
During his six years out of Russia he took part in the War of the Spanish Succession and was wounded. When Peter died in 1725, Hannibal fell out of favor and was sent to Siberia. There he built the fortress of Selenchinsk. After five years of virtual banishment, he was restored to honor and rose to the rank of general.
Achievements
He became one of the royal favorites, a general-in-chief, and one of the best educated men in Russia in his era. His great-grandson was Alexander Pushkin, the famous Russian writer who later glorified the deeds of his black ancestor in his book, The Negro of Peter the Great.
Connections
Gannibal married twice. His first wife was Evdokia Dioper. They married in 1731.
In 1736 Gannibal remarried Christina Regina Siöberg.
Wife:
Evdokia Dioper
She was a Greek woman
Wife:
Christina Regina Siöberg
She was the daughter of Mattias Johan Siöberg
Son:
Osip
His son Osip was the father of Nadezhda Osipovna Hannibal, the mother of Pushkin.
