Alexander Suvorov bust

Alexander Suvorov

Battle of Lanckorona
Battle of Stołowicze
First Russo-Turkish War

Battle of Kozludzha
Kuban Nogai Uprising Second Russo-Turkish War

Battle of Kinburn
Siege of Ochakov
Battle of Focșani
Battle of Rymnik
Siege of Izmail
Kościuszko Uprising

Battle of Brest
Battle of Maciejowice
Battle of Praga
War of the Second Coalition

Battle of Trebbia
Battle of Novi
Battle of Cassano
Suvorov's Swiss expedition
Awards

Order of St. Andrew
Order of St. George
Order of St. Vladimir
Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
Order of St. Anna
Order of the Black Eagle
Order of the Red Eagle
Order of the White Eagle
Order of Sts. Maurice and Lazarus
Order of St. John of Jerusalem
Order of St. Hubert
Order of St. Stanislaus
Military Order of Maria Theresa
Pour le Mérite
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, tr. Aleksándr Vasíl‘evič Suvórov; 24 November [O.S. 13 November] 1729 or 1730 – 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1800) was a Russian military leader, considered a national hero. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Italy, and the last Generalissimo of the Russian Empire.

Suvorov was born in Moscow. He studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian Army at the age of 17. During the Seven Years' War he was promoted to colonel in 1762 for his success on the battlefield. When war broke out with the Bar Confederation in 1768, Suvorov captured Kraków and defeated the Poles at Lanckorona and Stołowicze, bringing about the start of the Partitions of Poland. He was promoted to general and next fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Kozludzha. Becoming the General of the Infantry in 1786, he commanded in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 and won crushing victories at the Battle of Rymnik and Siege of Izmail. For his accomplishments, he was made a Count of both the Russian Empire and Holy Roman Empire. Suvorov put down a Polish uprising in 1794, defeating them at the Battle of Maciejowice and storming Warsaw.

While a close associate of Empress Catherine the Great, Suvorov often quarreled with her son and heir apparent Paul. After Catherine died of a stroke in 1796, Paul I was crowned Emperor and dismissed Suvorov for disregarding his orders. However, he was forced to reinstate Suvorov and make him a field marshal at the insistence of the coalition allies for the French Revolutionary Wars.[1] Suvorov was given command of the Austro-Russian army, captured Milan, and drove the French out of Italy at the Battles of Cassano d'Adda, Trebbia, and Novi.[2] Suvorov was made a Prince of Italy for his deeds. Afterwards he became surrounded in the Swiss Alps by the French after a Russian army he was supposed to unite with was routed before he could arrive. Suvorov led the strategic withdrawal of Russian troops while fighting off French forces four times the size of his and returned to Russia with minimal casualties, for which he became the fourth Generalissimo of Russia. He died in 1800 of illness in Saint Petersburg.

Suvorov is considered one of the greatest commanders in Russian and world history.[3] He was awarded numerous medals, titles, and honors by Russia, as well as by other countries. Suvorov secured Russia's expanded borders and renewed military prestige and left a legacy of theories on warfare. He was famed for his military manual The Science of Victory and noted for several of his sayings.[4] Several military academies, monuments, villages, museums, and orders are dedicated to him. He never lost a single major battle he had commanded.[5]