Saven, Nicolas

Jean-Baptiste was born April 17, 1768 in Rouen in the family of Colonel of the Royal Guard Andre Saven. He graduated from a Jesuit college in the city of Tours, and returning to Paris in 1789, enrolled in the Academy of Painting, where he studied painting, becoming a professional artist. His father died defending the Tuileries Palace during the French Revolution. Having lost his parents, Jean-Baptiste Saven in 1798 entered the military service in the 2nd Hussar Regiment. With him, he went through almost all of Napoleon’s main military campaigns: he participated in the Egyptian campaign , the battle of Austerlitz , the battle of Jena , the Iberian Wars . He has been awarded many awards, including the Legion of Honor . Saven participated in all major battles of the Patriotic War of 1812, including the Battle of Borodino . Then in November 1812 he, along with the remnants of the army, retreated to the Berezina River, where he was captured by the Cossacks. Among other prisoners, he was sent to Yaroslavl, from where in February 1813 he was transferred to Saratov.

First, he gave fencing lessons to officers of the local garrison, and then, with the assistance of Governor Panchulidzev, Saven successfully passed the exam in a noble hostel, received the right to teach French, and devoted himself to raising children of Saratov noblemen. Among his students was Nikolai Chernyshevsky . Saven became a popular figure in the city and gained lasting wealth. He accepted Russian citizenship and married a merchant's daughter. After returning to the French throne of the Bourbons, the Russian government decided to return the captives to their homeland. However, Saven decided not to return to his homeland, where no one was waiting for him and where at the age of 45 he had to start all over again. Only the Catholic faith, he did not change until the end of his days.

He remade his name in Russian fashion - Nikolai Andreyevich Savin. He stayed a teacher of the French language and drawing for many years, retiring only in 1874 at the age of 106.

In 1894 they knew about Saven and his homeland. In addition to many warm letters, a parcel arrived from France to Saratov containing a box with the St. Helena medal and a letter to her signed by the Minister of War Mercier. Along with the order, the Ministry of War received a notice on the appointment of Saven an annual pension.

Saven died on November 29, 1894 in his Saratov house. He was buried in the local Roman Catholic cemetery.

In 1998, a memorial plate was erected in his honor at the site where Saven’s house was located. French Ambassador to Russia Hubert Kolen de Verdier participated in the opening.

According to other sources, N. Saven is a non-commissioned officer of the 24th Jaeger Regiment, born in 1787.

• Military K. From the memoirs of the last officer in the army of Napoleon I. (To the portrait of N. A. Saven) // Russian Antiquity, 1896. - T. 86. - No. 4. - P. 109-114. - Network version - M. Voznesensky 2006.
• List of St Helena Medal Award
• In Saratov, the last Napoleonic soldier was immortalized (Rus.)
• Totfalushin V.P. New about the legendary Saven // Age of 1812. Research. Sources. Historiography. M., 2004. (Proceedings of the State Historical Museum. Issue 137). S. 233-236.