The Image of A. V. Suvorov Through the Eyes of the Participants in the Campaign of 1799

Abstract

Figure A. V. Suvorov has been a reference military leader for more than two centuries in Russian historical memory. His image began to be formed during the life of the general, and by 1799 his name was widely known both in Russia and abroad. Participants in the last military campaign of the field marshal noted in their memoirs his appearance, atypical for traditional idea of a Russian hero, but it was offset by the strength of his character, intelligence and memory of numerous victories that connected him with veterans of not only the Russian, but also the Austrian army. Among the contemporaries of the campaigns of 1799, there were different attitudes to the extraordinary behavior of the commander, but all agreed that he was a bright figure and knowingly became the subject of numerous historical anecdotes.