Abram Gannibal

The book by St. Petersburg historian F. M. Lurie tells the incredible fate of A. S. Pushkin's great-grandfather Abram Petrovich Gannibal. From his youth until his tragic death, Pushkin diligently collected information about his ancestry. All of his ancestors belonged... to ancient noble families, and only the origin of his great-grandfather on his mother's side, A. P. Gannibal, was shrouded in mystery. Researchers still argue about the place of his birth and family connections. F. M. Lurie, based on archival documents, numerous publications, and valuable information obtained during an African expedition by the editor-in-chief of the magazine "World Pathfinder" I. V. Danilov, reconstructs the extraordinary story of the African boy who became the favorite of the Russian tsar. The reader will learn how a boy, kidnapped from his home in Africa, received an excellent European education, overcame hardships and exile, and became a diplomat and the best military engineer of the Russian Empire.