This day in Russian history and the History of the world.

September 17

September 17, 1783: Nadezhda Andreyevna Durova was born. Also known as Alexander Durov, Alexander Sokolov and Alexander Andreevich Alexandrov, Durova was a woman who became a decorated soldier in the Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic wars.

She was the first known female officer in the Russian military.

Her memoir, The Cavalry Maiden, is a significant document of its era because few junior officers of the Napoleonic wars published their experiences and because it is one of the earliest autobiographies in the Russian language.

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