21 Feb: Researching the 'Cavalry Maiden' - Aleksandr Aleksandrov
Online Talk - Aleksandr Aleksandrov was a hero of the Napoleonic wars. Ukrainian by birth, he had signed up as a teenager to fight for Russia against the French invaders. His bravery earned him several medals, including receiving the Cross of St. George from the Tsar himself. But Aleksandrov was not quite what he seemed. His birth name was Nadezhda Durova. He had a husband and a son.
After the war, Aleksandrov continued to live as a man. He became friends with the novelist, Pushkin, who encouraged him to write an autobiography. This was later published as The Cavalry Maiden. Since then, Aleksandrov’s story has often been portrayed as that of a brave woman disguising herself as a man to fight for her country. But recent research into Aleksandrov’s personal archive tells a very different story, and one that will be very familiar to trans people today.
Talk by Cheryl Morgan, hosted by Kim Renfrew.
more info here