Aleksandr Aleksandrov

Alexander Andreevich Alexandrov (Russian: Александръ Александровъ; born Nadezhda Andreyevna Durova; September 17, 1783 – March 21, 1866) was a Russian cavalry soldier and writer who participated in the Napoleonic Wars. Alexandrov was assigned female at birth, but presented as a man for his entire adult life.

At twenty-three, Alexandrov fled his home, and enlisted in an uhlan (light cavalry) regiment, dressing as a male soldier and taking on the name Alexander Sokolov. He served from 1806 to 1816, and received the Cross of St. George for bravery. After his service, he published a memoir, originally titled, "Notes of Alexsandrov", one of the earliest autobiographies in the Russian language. To his outrage, publishers re-titled it using his birth name "Notes of N.A. Durova", and eventually The Cavalry Maiden.

Historians have traditionally regarded him as a female wartime cross-dresser, while several modern scholars describe him as a transgender man.