Abraham Hanibal - Prince of Logone - Pushkin's African Ancestor

Gnammankou, Dieudonne; Watt, Edyth (translated)

ISBN 10: 0956638031 / ISBN 13: 9780956638038

Edité par Books of Africa Ltd, London, UK, 2015

A propos de cet article

First Edition / First Print. Hardback copy in black cloth boards with gold gilt lettering to spine. Unclipped dustjacket in new removable protective clear sleeve. 269pp. Colour and b/w photographs and maps throughout. Not library copy, no inscriptions. (45/1).

N° de réf. du vendeur ABE-1636275221648

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Abraham Hanibal - Prince of Logone - Pushkin's African Ancestor
• Éditeur: Books of Africa Ltd, London, UK
• Date de parution: 2015
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0956638031
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780956638038
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: 1st Edition
• État de l'article: Very Good
• État de la jaquette: Very Good

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Hanibal (1697- 1761) was probably the most outstanding African in Europe in the 18th Century, his rags to riches life, and the fact that he was the great-grandfather of Russia's greatest writer, Alexander Pushkin, makes him of even greater interest. Now finally appearing in English, this was the book, based on original research, which proved fairly conclusively that Hanibal (sometimes spelt Gannibal in English) was born in Logone-Birni, in present day Cameroon rather than, as was supposed, in Ethiopia. This book recounts his life story. He was taken as a slave to Istanbul and then to Russia at the age of 8 where Tsar Peter the Great adopted and educated him. He was sent to study mathematics and military engineering in France, where he joined the French army fighting against Spain and was promoted to the rank of captain. Back in Russia, he was promoted but briefly exiled to Siberia where he designed fortresses on the frontier. His first marriage was a disaster but he went on to marry a Swedish aristocrat with whom he had seven children, one of whom, Osip, was to be the grandfather of Pushkin. There were moments in his life when he suffered for being black, yet he ended his life as a pillar of the Russian aristocracy, even owning serfs. Hanibal's contribution to the technical advancement of the Russian army was huge. He was commander-in-chief, director of fortifications, and head of the engineering corps. In 1725-26 he published an important text book on geometry and fortification for engineering students and introduced the study of civil engineering into the Russian schools of military engineering.

À propos de l?auteur

Dieudonne Gnammankou is an historian of the African Diaspora and a Slavist scholar. His research on Pushkin and Hanibal, received international acclaim and ushered a new era in the study of Pushkin's African ancestry in Russia and elsewhere.