Abraham The great Russian general of Eritrean origin (1698-1781).

The young Abraham or Ibrahim or Abraha (as Prof. Richard Pankhurst calls him) was born around 1698 in "the Eritrean highland, north of the Mareb River in a town called Logon" (see Smith, Troyat and Pankhurst, 1957). At the time, the overall ruler of Midri-Bahri (Eritrea) was Degesmati Hab'sulus of Tseazega (who was in control of the region from 1679 till 1719). Abraham's father was a local chief or a "prince". He was quite rich and had many wives and about nineteen children.. The Turks invaded his territory, and he was engaged in a fierce battle to defend himself. He lost the battle, and his son, Abraham/Ibrahim, was subsequently abducted and taken to Constantinople by sea. His sister, Lagan, is said to have drowned in the sea in a desperate attempt to save her brother.. Abraham stayed in Constantinople for about a year in the service of the Sultan's household. At the time, upon the instructions of Tsar Peter the Great, the Russian Ambassador in Turkey was looking for "clever little African " for the Tsar's palace, as was the custom in those days at the great courts in Europe. Thus, Abraham was selected for this purpose and soon purchased from the Sultan's viziers with a bribe. The ambassador immediately dispatched him to Russia by sea.

Peter the Great was delighted with his acquisition. He baptised the young boy at the Orthodox church in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Tsar himself became his godfather and the Queen of Poland his godmother. The young boy was named Peter after his master, the Tsar. However, the child cried and protested saying that it was not his real name--insisting that he be called Ibrahim. They, therefore, gave him a similar version of this name and called him Abraham Petrov. There is no documentary evidence to suggest whether or not Ibrahim was his original name or whether he acquired it from the Turks.


Abraham had a modest beginning at court. However, the Tsar started to recognise his extraordinary abilities and took him into his immediate entourage. In fact, soon Abraham became the Tsar's valet and then his secretary. The Tsar used to dictate to him his ideas at night in his private chambers. In the morning, these were made into formal decrees, orders and instructions and passed on to the concerned officials. As he matured, Abraham started to accompany the Tsar on all his tours and military campaigns.


In 1716, when Peter the Great visited France, he took Abraham along with him as a member of his entourage. Upon the Tsar's return to Russia, Abraham was left behind to enroll in a military college to study military engineering. In 1719, the young Eritrean volunteered to fight with the French against the Spanish. He was severely wounded on the head and taken prisoner. After his release, he returned to France and entered the military engineering and artillery college at Metz, known as the Ecole d'Artillerie. Abraham Petrov showed remarkable success in his knowledge and skill, especially in military engineering and mathematics.


The Tsar wanted Abraham to return to Russia soon; however, the young officer kept giving excuses to extend his stay in France. He was actually having a good time in Paris with female friends. He is said to have had an affair with a French countess.


When Abraham finally returned to St. Peterburg in 1725 with specialty in military fortification and explosives, the Tsar was happy with Abraham's achievement and the acquisition of the latest military technology which could be deployed to strengthen the Russian Army. Abraham brought with him about 400 books on various subjects including mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, military engineering and a book entitled Love Letters of a Catholic Nun. The Tsar was particularly interested in the technical books that Abraham had brought.


The young Eritrean started getting key appointments from the Tsar, and his career promised to be brilliant. However, the Tsar died two years after Abraham's return, and the young officer started facing problems. As a result of court intrigues, he was sent to Kazan and then to the Chinese frontier under the pretext of being put in charge of fortifications in the area. He was forced to live on a meager salary and faced a lot of hardship.. He did his best to return to St. Petersburgh but did not find it easy. Fortunately, Empress Anna Ivanovna, Peter the Great's daughter, came to the Russian throne in 1730, and he was recalled from exile and appointed to a new post as a captain of military engineering. That year, he decided to marry the daughter of a Greek captain, Eudoxia, who had another lover. Abraham and Eudoxia got married, but it ended in a disaster. Abraham had another lover of German origin called Christine Sherberg, whom he married later and with whom he had eleven children.


In the meantime, he was assigned to the Baltic region to build and supervise the construction of military fortifications. He was also giving lectures on engineering and mathematics to young Russian nobles. Abraham became one of the very few people in Russia who had remarkable expertise on artillery and military fortification. In 1726, he had written a book on engineering., but it was not published. The reason for this is not known.


Around 1735, Abraham Petrov added "Hannibal" to his name and became Abraham Petrovich Hannibal (or Gannibal in Russian). He probably took this name from the famous Carthagenean (North African) general, Hannibal, who conquered Rome.


Meanwhile, Abraham Hannibal continued to get promotion after promotion in his military career. In 1742, he was appointed general-in-chief and Commander of Ravel and later became a gentleman of the bedchamber. In 1746, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna made Abraham a present of a vast property and estate, the village of Mikhailovskoye, which was later passed on to his great grandson, Alexander Pushkin.


In 1752, Hannibal became a Major-General and was appointed in charge of all military engineering in Russia. In this capacity, he displayed to the full his skill as a technician and organiser. The Russian fortifications along the Baltic Sea which he built contributed to the defense of Russia from the German invaders in the Second World War, and they still exist.


Finally, he retired in 1762 and settled in one of his estates near St. Petersburg. There, he lived "in peace and tranquility" for twenty more years recalling his life in Africa. He died on 14th May 1781, at the age of 83 or 84.

Two of Major-General Hannibal's sons took the mantle of their father and became renowned military commanders. One of them, Ivan Hannibal, in particular was a remarkable general of the Russian Navy. His feats and skills equaled, if not surpassed, those of his illustrious father. He won naval battles which were considered impossible by other commanders.


The second son, Ossip Hannibal, was a major of artillery also in the Russian Navy. But, he is well known more for having been the grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, whose mother, Nadezhda (Ossip's daughter) married a young captain called Pushkin. Nadezhda's other son was Oleg, who became an officer decorated for his bravery. Alexander Pushkin's son, also called Alexander, joined the Russian Army and was awarded a gold sabre for bravery. By 1908, he had won promotion to the rank of General of Cavalry. Some descendants of Abraham Hannibal and of Alexander Pushkin can still be traced. According to some reports, one of them was working in St. Petersburg as a football coach up to recently.