Ivan Gannibal

Ivan Abramovich Gannibal (; 5 June 1735 – 12 October 1801) was an eminent Russian military leader. He was the son of military commander, general and engineer Abram Petrovich Gannibal, as well as the great-uncle of Russia's most famous poet, Alexander Pushkin. Gannibal led a detachment of the Imperial Black Sea Fleet, which besieged and captured the Turkish fortress of Navarin during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, and took part in the founding of the city of Kherson. Gannibal's ultimate military rank was Général en Chef. Early life Gannibal was the oldest of 10 children born to Abram Gannibal and his Swedish-German wife Christina Regina Siöberg in Karjaküla, Reval Governorate, Russian Empire (presently in Estonia). Gannibal was destined for a military career from an early age, entering the Naval Artillery School in the imperial capital at the age of 9. He would eventually graduate from the Naval Academy and join the Imperial Russian Navy as an officer. Russo-Turkish War At the height of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, the 34-year-old Gannibal, in the rank of Brigadier, took a leading role in the siege and capture of the Ottoman fortress of Navarino in the Peloponnese.