Nadezhda Andreevna Durova
Nadezhda Andreevna Durova was a notable figure in early 19th-century Russia, recognized for her unique contributions as both a soldier and a writer. Born in the Kama-Volga region, she grew up in a military family and was trained in martial arts. At the age of twenty-three, she disguised herself as a man to join the army, where she was granted the name Aleksandr and rose to the rank of officer, serving notably in the Napoleonic Wars and earning the St. George Cross, which she was the first woman to receive. After retiring from military service, Durova became a writer, publishing her memoirs and a variety of literary works, largely inspired by her experiences.
Her most famous work, "The Cavalry Maiden," highlights the theme of freedom in her unconventional role, reflecting on gender dynamics in a male-dominated society. Although her writing career was brief, lasting only four years, Durova's storytelling showcased romantic elements and local folklore, drawing attention from contemporaries like Aleksandr Pushkin. However, despite her initial popularity, she remains a lesser-known figure in the annals of Russian literature. Durova spent her later years in retirement, ultimately passing away at the age of eighty-two, honored for her military service but mostly overlooked in literary history.
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Subject Terms
Nadezhda Andreevna Durova
Writer
- Born: September 1, 1783
- Birthplace: Kama-Volga region, Russia
- Died: March 23, 1866
- Place of death: Probably Yelabuga, Russia
Biography
Nadezhda Andreevna Durova was born in the Kama-Volga region of Russia. Her father was a cavalry officer. Durova was taught martial arts in childhood by a hussar. She left the family early, had an unsuccessful marriage and a child, and disguised herself as a man so that she could join the army at twenty-three. Czar Aleksandr I personally allowed her to stay in the army, and he gave her a new name, Aleksandr, and promoted her to the rank of officer. She served in the czar’s cavalry for ten years, excelled in the Napoleonic war, and won the prestigious St. George Cross. She was the only woman to win it until the twentieth century. She retired in 1816 as a captain.
Little is known about Durova during the period after her retirement from the army and before she began publishing a mixture of diary and memoirs, called The Cavalry Maiden, for which she used her own experiences. Aleksandr Pushkin aided the publication and wrote a preface for it. He was fascinated by Durova’s simple yet genuine resourcefulness, which explains how she was able to succeed as a writer without a formal education. Some critics, notably Vissarion Belinsky, welcomed her, and, though others rejected her, she was popular, mainly because of the subject matter of her works and the fact that she was a woman. In The Cavalry Maiden, she emphasizes not so much her own acts of bravery or descriptions of battles as the freedom she felt in her unusual position. She was aware of the overall position of women in the male-dominated Russia of her time. In this work, as well as in tales and memoir notes, she is cognizant of the different treatment of genders but also of people from provinces and those in the capitals. In her emphasis on these themes, Durova foreshadows the topics in the works of the famous authors, such as Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevski and Leo Tolstoy.
The span of Durova’s publishing lasted only four years. In addition to her memoirs, she published a novel and short stories. In all her works she was a true romanticist, paying attention to complex plots, fantastic elements, local color and folklore. Her telling style is dynamic, yet it seldom rises above mediocrity. Of her stories, “Sernyi kliuch” (the sulphur spring), set in a village and replete with romantic features, best characterizes her storytelling.
Durova spent her last twenty five years in total retirement. She had stopped writing after 1840, convinced that she had nothing new to say and that she could not write as well as before. When she died in her eighty-second year, she was buried with high military honors. As a writer, she is almost forgotten. She was primarily an amateur, almost a footnote in the history of Russian literature.