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Yelena Shidyanskaya

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Yelena Shidyanskaya
Native name
Елена Ивановна Шидянская
Born1755 (1755)
Died1849 (aged 93–94)
Simferopol, Crimea
AllegianceRussian Empire
RankCaptain
CommandsAmazon company

Yelena Ivanovna Shidyanskaya (Russian: Елена Ивановна Шидянская) nee Yelena Ivanovna Sardanova (Russian: Елена Ивановна Сарданова), 1755–1849) was a Greek-Russian military commander.[1] She was an ethnic Greek Crimean appointed commander of the "Amazon company" appointed by Grigory Potemkin to serve during the visit of Catherine the Great to the Crimea in 1787. While this military unit was largely ceremonial and existed only during Catherine's visit, it was nevertheless formally a military unit during its existence, and Yelena Shidyanskaya was thereby the first woman in Russia to be appointed to the post of commander of a military unit.

References

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  1. ^ .Ф. Домбровский. «Капитан амазонской роты» (Одесский Вестник, 1849, № 1)