Nicolas Savin

Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Savin (1768–1894)^[1] was a French soldier and supercentenarian. He was the last survivor of the French Revolutionary Wars of 1792-1802 and the last French officer of the Napoleonic Wars.^[2]

Military career

Savin enlisted in the 2nd Regiment of Hussars in 1788, claiming to have been born in 1768. His father, Alexandre Savin, was killed in battle defending the Tuileries Palace during the French Revolution. Savin had "been at Toulon in 1793,"^[3] fought in Egypt in 1798, the Peninsular War, and in the 1812 invasion of Russia. Around this time he was promoted to sous-officier (lieutenant) and transferred to the 24th Chasseurs a Cheval.^[4] He was awarded many medals, including the Legion d'Honneur and St Helena Medal. In 1812 he was captured by the Cossacks and worked as a fencing teacher for the Tsarist army.^[5]

Later life

Following Napoleon's defeat Savin settled at Saratov Gubernia, Russia and changed his name to Nikolai Andreevich Savin. He married a Russian woman and had at least one daughter. From 1814-74 he worked as a tutor, teaching French to the children of Nobility. In 1887, Czar Alexander III gave "the old soldier a present of a thousand rubles."^[6] By the 1890s, he lived in a small Russian cottage with a bronze statue of Napoleon in his study.^[7] Voyenski attributes Savin's long life to his tea-drinking and active lifestyle: the old man enjoyed painting and continued gardening until he fell sick in November 1894. After receiving the Sacraments Savin died on November 29 and is buried in the local Catholic cemetery.^[5]

References

1. ^ Constantin Woensky, Léon Castillon, and Nicolas Savin, Nicolas Savin, dernier vétéran de la grande armée: sa vie -sa mort, 1768-1894 (1895).
2. ^ "Guerres de 1792-1815" (in French). Ders Des Ders. http://derniersveterans.free.fr/napoleon1.html. Retrieved 2010-10-19. 
3. ^ Archibald Forbes, George Alfred Henty, and Arthur Griffiths, Battles of the nineteenth century, Volume 1 (Cassell, 1896), 327.
4. ^ [Jean Baptiste Nicholas Savin http://www.napoleon-series.org/cgi-bin/forum/archive2007_config.pl?md=read;id=80846]
5. ^ ^{a b} Voyenski's interview with Savin http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/russianarchives/c_lastveteran.html
6. ^ Pennsylvania. State Board of Health and Vital Statistics, "A Case of Longevity," The Annals of hygiene, Volume 10, ed. Joseph F. Edwards (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1895), 23.
7. ^ Adam Zamoyski, Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March (HarperCollins, 2005), 541.

Persondata
Name	Savin, Nicolas
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Short description
Date of birth	1768
Place of birth
Date of death	1894
Place of death