Wonder Woman of the Week: Nadezhda Durova
- Jul 20, 2022
- 2 min read
Our Wonder Woman this week is a leading figure in Russian literature, Russian military history, and one of the few journalists who covered the Napoleonic Wars in Eastern Europe. Nadezhda Durova was born in a Russian army camp as the daughter of a Russian officer and an abusive mother. After Nadezhda's mother threw the young child out of the window of a carriage, Durova's father kicked her mom out of the camp and placed his daughter in the care of his soldiers. This meant the young girl learned all the arts of war including sword fighting, knife fighting, and expert horsewomanship. Even after her father retired from service, young Nadezhda continued to train with fencing and equestrian- even taming a wild stallion as a prank on her family. For all that training however, Russian societal norms demanded she marry and become a mother. Durova married a local judge before having a son two years later, but she dreamed of putting her soldiers kills to use.
Nadezhda Durova left her family, disguised herself as a man, then joined up with the Russian army headed west to stop Napoleon's advance through Prussia. During the campaign, Russian and Prussian forces met stiff competition and ultimately lost the war. Durova however was a ray of hope for her fellow soldiers. Not only did she serve in combat in two major battles of the campaign, but showed heroism by rescuing soldiers from being captured by the French on multiple occasions- including giving her own horse to her superior officer to get him off the battlefield quickly. Rumors of an Amazon fighting in the Russian army spread rapidly, and it did not take long before the Russian Tzar tracked down his army's Amazon warrior. The Tzar invited Durova to the imperial palace and honored her with the Cross of St. George for her bravery in battle, then promoted her to lieutenant and sent her back to the front. When France invaded Russia in 1812, Durova was part of the pivotal cavalry actions that delayed French forces and took a cannonball to the leg at Smolensk. She continued to fight in the battle however, and refused leave until days after the engagement. Durova later retired from service in 1816- after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo.
Throughout her service, Nadezhda Durova wrote about her experience in battle as an officer in great detail, then later published her writings after retirement. Durova's works are some of the only written documents from a Russian officer in the Napoleonic Wars, and one of the earliest autobiographies written in the Russian language. Because of the literary significance of her writings, Durova's work is a staple of Russian literature, comparative literature, and Russian history courses today; and her writings on her war-time experiences provide critical insight into the brutality of combat during the era.
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