According to the established opinion, the author of the winged phrase about the soldier and the general was the great Russian commander. We checked whether this is so.

The fact that it was thanks to Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov (1730–1800) that the famous aphorism appeared, it was said by many Russian official resources. Among them are sites of educational institutions: Higher School of Economics, Voronezh State Pedagogical University, Murmansk State Technical University, Academy of Modern Infocommunication Technologies, Engineering and technical school, schools and gymnasiums St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod and many other cities. Organizations such as organizations like EMERCOM, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Fund for presidential grants And "Immortal regiment of Russia".

And indeed: to whom, if not Suvorov, the author of many military aphorisms and the famous "Science to win", be the father of an instructive phrase? However, reality is different. In many reference books, including the “Encycloped Dictionary of Winged Words and Expressions” edited by Vadim Serov, about this quote It is said:

“From the collection“ Soldiers' Notes ”(1855) of the Russian writer Alexander Fomich Pogosssky (1816–1874), nicknamed the contemporaries of“ Military Dal ”. In his collection of aphorisms-teachings, stylized as folk proverbs, there is such an expression: “The bad soldier who does not think to be a general, and even flatter who thinks too much that it will be with him” (Polit. Soc. A.F. Pogosssky. I. SPb., 1899). The first part of this phrase became winged. ”

Unfortunately, one of the most popular modern resources on winged phrases contains a mistake that migrated there, apparently, from the Soviet reference book "Winged words: literary quotes, figurative expressions"(1960). The fact is that Alexander Pogosky was far from the first writer who used the indicated aphorism.

IN "Collections of 4291 ancient Russian proverbs" The editorship of Anton Barsov, published in 1770, meets a few more wisdom in form, "every soldier wants to be a general, and the sailor is the admiral." But the option “thin that one who does not think to be feldmarshal” is present in Maxim Nevzorov’s journal more similar to our aphorism. "Friend of youth" For May 1811. "Field Marshal" mentions the magazine "Son of the Fatherland" in 1818. In the "Complete meeting of Russian proverbs and sayings located in the alphabet of order" (1822), edited by Dmitry Knyazhevich, you can meet expression "A thin soldier who does not hope to be a general." So, apparently, by the beginning of the 19th century, various variations of this aphorism went among the people. In the story of a little -known writer Peter Sumarokov "The first lesson of love and glory" (1833) There is already an option “Bad a soldier who does not hope to be a general”, also called a “proverb”. In the same form, the expression fell into "Chancellery tutorial"(1839) Fedora Rusanov.

But in the works of Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov and his documentary biographies there are no such statements. Perhaps the appearance of a false association was contributed to the writer, critic and eternal opponent Pushkin Faddey Bulgarin, in his artistic biography "Suvorov" (1843) is described scene with the participation of young Alexander Vasilievich, his father and Abram Hannibal, Pushkin's great -grandfather. Alexander tells the parent that he wants to start the service with the rank of a soldier, because "wants to be a sergeant." To which Hannibal reacts: “Glorious! The late sovereign Pyotr Alekseevich always said: the thin one soldier who does not hope to be a general! ” And now only four years pass, and Vladimir Burnashev in his "Guide for young people who appoint themselves to trade affairs" (1847) calls the expression "Suvorov proverb." And in the "Essay on the ethnography of the Jewish population in Russia" (1866) Moses Berlin attributes These words to Napoleon Bonaparte. In fact, the emperor (at that time is already former) in 1816 declaredthat with him, “every soldier hoped to become a general”, which, apparently, later influenced Attribution Napoleon of the famous aphorism "Each soldier in his satchel wears the Marshal rod."

Thus, the statement attributed to Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov is a folk proverb, known in several versions. The commander of such words, as far as one can judge now, did not pronounce.