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Fascinating character:
Dispute about his origins:
The governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea each claim that Gannibal was born in their respective territories. Under this belief, the Ethiopian government named a street in Addis Ababa after Alexander Pushkin, Gannibal's great-grandson. It also placed a bust of him near the African Union headquarters in 2002, and arranged for a statue of Pushkin to be transferred from Moscow to Addis Ababa in 2014.[15] However, the notion that Gannibal may have been born in Ethiopia holds little currency with the general Ethiopian population.[3] The Eritrean government asserts that Gannibal was instead born in Loggo Sarda,[15] an area in modern Eritrea.[16] It also erected its own statue of Pushkin and named a street for him in 2009.[15]
Vladimir Nabokov cast doubt on Gannibal's ancestry, based on research findings during his work translating Pushkin's novel Eugene Onegin. Nabokov disagreed with Anuchin's theory, stating that it was just as likely that Gannibal was referring to "the Lagona region of equatorial Africa, south of Lake Chad."[3] Support for Anuchin's theory of Ethiopian birth declined after it was exposed as racially based, implying that "hamitic" Ethiopian origins better explained Gannibal's success than "negroid" origins.[3]
The Beninese historian Dieudonné Gnammankou, an expert on Russia,[3] studied Russian, French and African sources and argued that Gannibal was indeed from Logone-Birni and was most likely the son of a chief in the ancient sultanate. In 1995, Gnammankou asserted that the "Logon" Gannibal wrote about was actually Logone, capital of the old Kotoko kingdom of Logone-Birni, now located in northern Cameroon.[7] He believed that the pattern of slave trade around Lake Chad made that region a more plausible likelihood for Gannibal's birthplace than Gondar, Ethiopia.[3] Gnammankou's biography of Gannibal was translated into Russian, and was voted the best book on Pushkin at the 1999 Moscow Book Fair.[7]
Gnammankou's findings were in turn buttressed by the field work of Hugh Barnes. After consulting with the Sultan of Logone-Birni, Barnes found that an inscription on Gannibal's crest, which was hitherto undecipherable, corresponded with the term for "homeland" in the local Kotoko language of central Africa.[3]
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The Ethiopian case has become shakier of late. Anuchin's advocacy has been exposed as racially based ("hamitic" Ethiopian origins being more likely to explain Gannibal's success than "negroid"). Meanwhile Nabokov's remark has gained weight. A Russian expert from Benin, Dieudonné Gnammankou, has revealed that the pattern of the slave trade around Lake Chad at least makes that region a more likely candidate than Gondarene Ethiopia.
Both Hugh Barnes and Frances Somers Cocks have expended a great deal of sweat, air miles and library hours trying to pinpoint the birthplace of Abram Petrovich. They are probably the only two Gannibal-hunters to have examined each of the two areas. They are almost certainly the only ones to have followed his trail so exhaustively not only in Africa, but also Istanbul, Moscow, St Petersburg and Siberia.
Barnes appears to come down in favour of the central Africa option. His moment of revelation takes place during talks with the current Sultan of Logone-Birni, to the south of Lake Chad. Scholars have long pondered the strange inscription on the crest that Gannibal adopted for himself in Russia. Beneath a caparisoned elephant are the letters FVMMO. Barnes asks the sultan if it could possibly mean "elephant" in his Kotoko language. A Kotoko origin for the word would clinch the origin question. No, says the sultan, it does not mean "elephant" - it means "homeland". It is, as presented in his book, the most dramatic incident in all of Barnes's researches.
But it is not conclusive. A year or so later Somers Cocks also sits before the sultan. He is amused by the sudden literary interest in his family and has called one of his many sons Pushkin. Somers Cocks receives a different translation of FVMMO and offers another explanation. It could be Latin, she says, the acronym of a motto: Fortuna Vitam Meam Mutavit Oppido ("fortune has changed my life in the city").
The real location of Abram's origins will probably never be proved. For all their efforts, the tireless sleuthing of these two authors only confirms the mystery. Others will come up with their theories. African boys yet unborn will be named Pushkin; plaques and statues will appear in unsuspecting towns.
www.theguardian.com
Dispute about his origins:
Debate over Gannibal's place of birth
Gannibal's actual place of birth continues to be uncertain, and is subject to speculation by modern historians. Until recent scholarly field work, it was generally assumed that he originated in Ethiopia.[3] Chiefly Russian scholars for many years believed that he was from the vicinity of Medri Bahri, an ancient kingdom in present-day Eritrea.[14] In a letter he wrote to Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great's daughter, Gannibal stated that he was from the town of "Logon"[7] or "Lagone".[3] Anthropologist Dmitry Anuchin wrote an essay about Alexander Pushkin in which he theorized that "Lagone" referred to Logo-chewa in Eritrea.[3] In 1999, the Russian Institute in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, also campaigned for a commemorative stamp to honor Pushkin's bicentennial.[3]The governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea each claim that Gannibal was born in their respective territories. Under this belief, the Ethiopian government named a street in Addis Ababa after Alexander Pushkin, Gannibal's great-grandson. It also placed a bust of him near the African Union headquarters in 2002, and arranged for a statue of Pushkin to be transferred from Moscow to Addis Ababa in 2014.[15] However, the notion that Gannibal may have been born in Ethiopia holds little currency with the general Ethiopian population.[3] The Eritrean government asserts that Gannibal was instead born in Loggo Sarda,[15] an area in modern Eritrea.[16] It also erected its own statue of Pushkin and named a street for him in 2009.[15]
Vladimir Nabokov cast doubt on Gannibal's ancestry, based on research findings during his work translating Pushkin's novel Eugene Onegin. Nabokov disagreed with Anuchin's theory, stating that it was just as likely that Gannibal was referring to "the Lagona region of equatorial Africa, south of Lake Chad."[3] Support for Anuchin's theory of Ethiopian birth declined after it was exposed as racially based, implying that "hamitic" Ethiopian origins better explained Gannibal's success than "negroid" origins.[3]
The Beninese historian Dieudonné Gnammankou, an expert on Russia,[3] studied Russian, French and African sources and argued that Gannibal was indeed from Logone-Birni and was most likely the son of a chief in the ancient sultanate. In 1995, Gnammankou asserted that the "Logon" Gannibal wrote about was actually Logone, capital of the old Kotoko kingdom of Logone-Birni, now located in northern Cameroon.[7] He believed that the pattern of slave trade around Lake Chad made that region a more plausible likelihood for Gannibal's birthplace than Gondar, Ethiopia.[3] Gnammankou's biography of Gannibal was translated into Russian, and was voted the best book on Pushkin at the 1999 Moscow Book Fair.[7]
Gnammankou's findings were in turn buttressed by the field work of Hugh Barnes. After consulting with the Sultan of Logone-Birni, Barnes found that an inscription on Gannibal's crest, which was hitherto undecipherable, corresponded with the term for "homeland" in the local Kotoko language of central Africa.[3]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ethiopian case has become shakier of late. Anuchin's advocacy has been exposed as racially based ("hamitic" Ethiopian origins being more likely to explain Gannibal's success than "negroid"). Meanwhile Nabokov's remark has gained weight. A Russian expert from Benin, Dieudonné Gnammankou, has revealed that the pattern of the slave trade around Lake Chad at least makes that region a more likely candidate than Gondarene Ethiopia.
Both Hugh Barnes and Frances Somers Cocks have expended a great deal of sweat, air miles and library hours trying to pinpoint the birthplace of Abram Petrovich. They are probably the only two Gannibal-hunters to have examined each of the two areas. They are almost certainly the only ones to have followed his trail so exhaustively not only in Africa, but also Istanbul, Moscow, St Petersburg and Siberia.
Barnes appears to come down in favour of the central Africa option. His moment of revelation takes place during talks with the current Sultan of Logone-Birni, to the south of Lake Chad. Scholars have long pondered the strange inscription on the crest that Gannibal adopted for himself in Russia. Beneath a caparisoned elephant are the letters FVMMO. Barnes asks the sultan if it could possibly mean "elephant" in his Kotoko language. A Kotoko origin for the word would clinch the origin question. No, says the sultan, it does not mean "elephant" - it means "homeland". It is, as presented in his book, the most dramatic incident in all of Barnes's researches.
But it is not conclusive. A year or so later Somers Cocks also sits before the sultan. He is amused by the sudden literary interest in his family and has called one of his many sons Pushkin. Somers Cocks receives a different translation of FVMMO and offers another explanation. It could be Latin, she says, the acronym of a motto: Fortuna Vitam Meam Mutavit Oppido ("fortune has changed my life in the city").
The real location of Abram's origins will probably never be proved. For all their efforts, the tireless sleuthing of these two authors only confirms the mystery. Others will come up with their theories. African boys yet unborn will be named Pushkin; plaques and statues will appear in unsuspecting towns.
Review: Gannibal by Hugh Barnes and The Moor of St Petersburg by Frances Somers Cocks
Hugh Barnes and Frances Somers Cocks present parallel investigations into Pushkin's African great-grandfather in Gannibal and The Moor of St Petersburg. Philip Marsden is enthralled.
