Commander and folk hero. The Presidential Library portrays Alexander Suvorov

Alexander Suvorov entered Russian and world history as one of the greatest military leaders. He went from a guards soldier to a generalissimo, he participated in seven major wars of the Russian Empire and he did not lose a single battle as a commander. Thanks to his intelligence, talent and courage to make decisions, the Russian Empire was able to defeat all the invaders, win several wars and significantly expand its borders. He was awarded all the famous Russian orders of that time. Suvorov's success was explained by envious people as luck, others spoke of his natural talent and tireless work.

Hundreds of books have been written about Suvorov, memoirs of contemporaries have been left. Many publications are available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

Alexander Suvorov was born on November 24 (13 according to the old style) 1729 (according to other sources, 1730) in the family of a general. His father, Vasily Ivanovich, was the godson of Peter the Great and was considered one of the educated people of his time. Looking at the weak and sickly son, he believed that a military career did not shine for him. And the boy, on the contrary, only dreamed about it. He read and listened to stories about commanders and decided to develop himself, strengthen his body and spirit, temper and ride, acquire the knowledge necessary for an officer.

Who knows what the fate of Suvorov would have been if one day an old acquaintance, General Hannibal, did not come to his father. According to the book Biography of Field Marshal General and Generalissimo Prince Alexander Vasilievich of Italy, Count Suvorov-Rymniksky (1900), the father, talking with the guest, told him about his son's hobby.

In 1742, Alexander Suvorov was enrolled as a private in the Semyonovsky Guards Regiment. After seven years of military service, Suvorov received his first officer rank. As a soldier, he himself cleaned ammunition, went on guard along with the soldiers, learning to endure possible hardships, fatigue, hunger, cold. One day Suvorov stood guard in Peterhof near Monplaisir and, despite his small stature, saluted the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who was walking in the garden, so deftly that she stopped. Upon learning that he was the son of Vasily Ivanovich Suvorov, whom she knew, the empress took out a silver ruble with the intention of giving it to the young man. Suvorov kept this coin all his life.

His military career quickly took off. Suvorov rises through the ranks, occupies the posts of duty officer under the commander-in-chief, colonel, then regiment commander. He takes his first combat steps during the Seven Years' War. Then he participates in the Russian-Turkish wars, in the suppression of the Pugachev’s Rebellion, in the Polish campaigns of 1768–1772 and 1794, and in the wars with France. During the Bessarabian campaign in March 1790, he stormed the strongest Turkish fortress of Izmail. But one of the most striking victories of Suvorov was the Battle of Rymnik, when under his command an enemy army was defeated, five times larger than the Russian one. After this victory, Suvorov was elevated by Catherine II to the dignity of a count and received the "second surname" - Rymniksky.

He was famous not only for his success, but also for the fact that he could witty, with humor, get out of unpleasant situations. For example, according to the writer and publicist Grigory Danilevsky, who compiled the collection Suvorov Papers Preserved in the Family of His Former Ruler of Affairs Kuris, says, when Suvorov asked for awards for the assault on Ishmael, his enemies in St. Petersburg arranged it so that Catherine sent him one badge of the order St. George so that he puts it on the most worthy. The council convened by the commander on this occasion “judged and decided that this part belongs to the most worthy of all - Suvorov himself”.

Much has changed with the death in 1797 of Empress Catherine II.

Warmly beloved among the people, the commander Suvorov was resigned. By order of Paul I, he was exiled to the remote estate of Konchanskoe.

In exile, Suvorov lived like a soldier simply: he got up early, attended the village church, where he sang in the choir and rang the bells, read newspapers, following what was happening in Europe. In 1788, Russia entered into an alliance with England and Austria in order to restore the European powers in their former possessions. Suvorov was summoned to Petersburg. Great new things were ahead. "Suvorov has arrived!" - an hour after his arrival, the news spread throughout St. Petersburg...

The commander ended his career as a generalissimo, having received this title in 1799 after the famous campaigns - Italian and Swiss. In St. Petersburg, a solemn meeting of the hero was being prepared. However, it was abruptly cancelled. He again found himself "out of favor" with the sovereign. Instead of the promised rooms in the Winter Palace, Suvorov was ordered to stay at the house of his relative, Count Khvostov, where he, exhausted and sick, went to bed and died on the morning of May 6, 1800.

His whole life was spent in military campaigns, but he did not think about his own glory, but about the glory of the Fatherland. Suvorov devotedly loved Russia, the Russian people, believed in the strength of the Russian soldier: “We are Russians! God with us!". Combat experience brought him worldwide fame as an outstanding military leader, and his book The Science of Victory is still a reference book for cadets of military schools. Suvorov taught not only to fight, but also not to lose the nobility of the soul: "Die yourself, but help out your comrade".

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, the name of Suvorov inspired soldiers to win. During the war, the Order of Suvorov was established, and thousands of heroes received this honorary award. In the Soviet years, it was decided to revive the military-patriotic education developed in tsarist Russia, when young men were sent to the cadet corps from childhood. Only now they were called Suvorov schools. So they are called to this day.

Suvorov was buried in St. Petersburg in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. There are only three words on his gravestone: "Suvorov is buried here".