On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, the first complete biography of Abram Petrovich Hannibal (circa 1696-1781), the famous ancestor of the great Russian poet, is offered to the attention of readers. The fate of this man seems incredible: a black captive, sold into slavery in Istanbul, he becomes the godson and inseparable secretary of Peter the Great, receives an education in France and devotes his entire life to serving Russia as a military engineer and then chief general of the Russian army. The author of the book, African researcher D. Gnammanku, offers his version of the origin of Pushkin’s great-grandfather, which will undoubtedly arouse interest in Russia.