Honorific Prefix: | Count |
Vasily Orlov-Denisov | |
Birth Date: | 8 September 1775 |
Death Date: | 24 January 1843 |
Birth Place: | Patiizbyansky, Don Cossack Host, Russian Empire |
Death Place: | Kharkov, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire |
Native Name: | Василий Васильевич Орлов-Денисов |
Rank: | General of the Cavalry |
Branch: | Imperial Russian Army |
Serviceyears: | 1789–1821 |
Battles: | |
Relations: | Orlov-Denisov family |
Count Vasily Vasilyevich Orlov-Denisov (ru|Василий Васильевич Орлов-Денисов; 8 September 1775 – 24 January 1843) was a Russian Cossack general. He was the son of Vasily Petrovich Orlov, the ataman of the Don Cossacks, and grandson (on his mother's side) of the first Cossack count, Fyodor Petrovich Denisov. In honour of his grandfather, he added his surname to his own, becoming Orlov-Denisov on 26 April 1801.
Vasily Orlov-Denisov is not to be confused with Vasily "Vas'ka" Denisov, who appears as a fictional character in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. Tolstoy has said the similarity in names was a mistake on his part, arising from the "specially typical character" of Orlov-Denisov. He insisted that "nothing resembling the actual facts of [Orlov-Denisov's] life is ascribed to [Vas'ka Denisov] in the novel."[1]