in november, 2010, representatives from russia and estonia, the ambassador of cameroon, and the sultan of logone-birni went to la fère, france to unveil a commemorative plaque honoring abram petrovich gannibal as a graduate of la fère's royal artillery academy. the academy, which closed in the 1990s, had been started by king louis xv shortly before gannibal's enrollment there in 1720. the plaque declares that he was a graduate of the royal artillery academy of la fère, and later became chief military engineer and general-in-chief of the imperial russian army. it also notes that gannibal is the great-grandfather of alexander pushkin, russia's greatest poet. dieudonné gnammankou, whose research into gannibal's background was largely responsible for the ceremony at la fère taking place, also served as the main speaker at a symposium following the event.