page_title: Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
section_title: Education
hierarchical_section_title: Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim / Early life and military career / Education
caption_attribution_description: C.G.E.Mannerheim_in_Nicholas_Cavalry_School
context_page_description: Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was a Finnish military leader and statesman. Mannerheim served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, Regent of Finland, commander-in-chief of Finland's defence forces during World War II, Marshal of Finland, and the sixth president of Finland.
  Mannerheim made a career in the Imperial Russian Army, rising by 1917 to the rank of lieutenant general. He had a prominent place in the ceremonies for Tsar Nicholas II's coronation in 1896 and later had several private meetings with the Tsar. After the Bolshevik revolution of November 1917 in Russia, Finland declared its independence – but soon became embroiled in civil war between the pro-Bolshevik "Reds" and the "Whites", who were the troops of the Senate of Finland, supported by troops of the German Empire. Mannerheim was appointed the military chief of the Whites. Twenty years later, when Finland was twice at war with the Soviet Union in the period from November 1939 until September 1944, Mannerheim successfully led the defence of Finland as commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces.
context_section_description: He was sent to the Hamina Cadet School, a state school educating aristocrats for the Imperial Russian Army, in 1882. The handsome young Baron towered over his classmates, standing 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m). He was expelled in 1886 when he left without permission. Next he attended the Helsinki Private Lyceum, where he passed the university entrance examinations in June 1887. Besides his Swedish mother tongue, Mannerheim learned to speak Russian, French, German, English and some Finnish. From 1887 to 1889, Mannerheim attended the Nicholas Cavalry School in St. Petersburg. In January 1891, he joined the Chevalier Guard Regiment in St Petersburg.
  In 1892, he married a wealthy and beautiful noble lady of Russian-Serbian heritage, Anastasia Arapova (1872–1936). They had two daughters, Anastasie "Stasie" (1893–1978) and Sofia "Sophy" (1895–1963). The parents separated in 1902 and divorced in 1919. Mannerheim served in the Imperial Chevalier Guard until 1904. In 1896, he took part in the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II, standing for four hours in his full-dress Imperial Chevalier Guard uniform at bottom of the steps leading up to the imperial throne. Mannerheim always considered the coronation a high-point of his life, recalling with his pride his role in what he called an "indescribably magnificent" coronation. An expert rider, one of his duties was buying horses for the army. In 1903, he was put in charge of the model squadron in the Imperial Chevalier Guard and became a member of the equestrian training board of the cavalry regiments.
caption: Mannerheim (right) with a fellow student, Antanas Ričardas Druvė, in Nicholas Cavalry School, St Petersburg, late 1880s.
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