The Stolen Prince: Gannibal, Adopted Son of Peter the Great, Great-Grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, and Europe's First Black Intellectual [Hardcover]

Hugh Barnes (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 30, 2006

Soviet and Russian Studies and History

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this disappointing biography, Russian scholar and journalist Barnes claims to seek the truth behind the story of Alexander Pushkin's black great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal (1696–1781), who was born a slave, raised as a Russian prince and employed by Peter the Great as a military engineer, diplomat and spy. Pushkin's account of his elusive ancestor mutated into an unfinished novel, The Negro of Peter the Great. Traveling to the Logone Delta in Chad, Barnes impressively sleuths Gannibal's likely origins. He entertains with his description of 18th-century Constantinople, where the boy Gannibal was taken as a slave to work as a page in the sultan's harem. But the author becomes pedantic when weighing the evidence for Gannibal's removal by Russian ambassadors, supplying far too much information on Russian foreign emissaries and court politics. Indeed, throughout the biography we periodically lose sight of Gannibal altogether. Despite meticulously tracing his subject's career (even visiting a ruin of one of Gannibal's fortifications), evoking the racism of the Enlightenment and detailing the strife of Gannibal's first, singularly unsuccessful marriage, this biography lacks a historical purpose or thesis, hovering tentatively around a cluster of facts. 16 pages of b&w photos. (June 6)
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From Booklist

The onetime child slave, known in the Russian Empire as Abram Petrovich Gannibal, was an elusive but fascinating character who would count the great poet Pushkin as one of his descendants. Gannibal's early life is shrouded in mystery; Barnes, a journalist and Russian specialist, has done an admirable job of gleaning fact from myth as he traces the strange odyssey of this man who gained celebrity and power across eighteenth-century Europe. Supposedly a native of Abyssinia, Gannibal was rescued from slavery in Istanbul. He became a favorite and eventually adopted son of Czar Peter the Great. He gained fame across the continent as a soldier, diplomat, and the "first black intellectual." As viewed by Barnes, Gannibal was neither a particularly admirable or even likable person, but he certainly lived an interesting life. What makes this saga especially compelling is Barnes' effort to peel back the successive layers of mystery and outright fiction that have surrounded Gannibal's life. This work is an engrossing combination of biography and investigative journalism. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ecco; 1st ptg edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066212650
• ISBN-13: 978-0066212654
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,439,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A captivating half detective, half biographical novel July 29, 2007

By Channen Mack

Format:Hardcover

An African man in Russia? Sounds far fetched but it's true Abram Petrovich Gannibal was one such man who came from slavery to preeminence in 17th century Russia. This novel attempts to find exactly where this enigmatic man came from and how he became a favorite of Tsar Peter the Great. Using clues from Gannibals letters, which reveal him to have an elusive personality, and accounts from poet Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, which are a more fiction than fact, the author attempts to track Gannibals journey from his African homeland, through the Ottoman Empire and finally to Russia. Along the way a cast of other colorful charactes reveal themselves and some are most beneficial to Gannibal. After gainig Peter the Great's favor Gannibal is educated in Paris and becomes an accomplished mathmetician, draftsman, and even pyrotechnic engineer. Yet as time passes and new rulers come to the throne Gannibal soons finds himself out of favor. Nonetheless his heritage should not be forgotten and is dully laid out in this novel. And it is still not forgotten interestingly enough in the Mountbatten family of Great Britain who have a line of descent from Gannibal.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising story of a Black Ex-Slave October 1, 2006

By John Matlock

Format:Hardcover

In this book we are treated to a fascinating story of the court of Peter the Great. The story of how diplomats were acting in the Russian court at the time, the internal politics, the manipulations of the whole system is quite fascinating.

At the same time, what I found puzzling was how this one lad, captured as a slave from (presumably) Chad, he was made a page in the sultan's harem, and from there to the Russian court. Not stopping there, proceeded to become, as the subtitle says, 'Europe's First Black Intellectual.'

Accomplished in mathematics and military theory, he was a designer of fortifications, friend (or at least acquaintenance) of the powerful of the time across all of Europe. These were astounding achievements for any man, but even more surprising for a black ex-slave.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A blend of history, travelogue and memoir which surveys the life and times of a young African slave August 18, 2006

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Hardcover

THE STOLEN PRINCE: GANNIBAL, ADOPTED SON OF PETER THE GREAT, GREAT-GRANDFATHER OF ALEXANDER PUSHKIN, AND EUROPE'S FIRST BLACK INTELLECTUAL is perhaps most startling for the final five words in its subtitle: a black intellectual in early Europe? Lost documents have been revealed to provide depth and understanding to this reconstruction of the life of Gannibal, creating a blend of history, travelogue and memoir which surveys the life and times of a young African slave in Constantinople in 1703 who claimed to be a prince stolen from Africa. Russia's tzar adopted the child and gave him the best education available, and thus Gannibal became a early soldier, diplomat and spy whose reputation and achievements would earn him a name through history.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch