IZMAIL

izmail, or ismail, a town of russia, in the government of bessarabia, on the left bank of the kilia branch of the danube, 35 m. below reni railway station. pop. (1866) 31,779, (1900) 33,607, comprising great and little russians, bulgarians, jews and gipsies. there are flour-mills and a trade in cereals, wool, tallow and hides. originally a turkish fortified post, izmail had by the end of the 18th century grown into a place of 30,000 inhabitants. it was occupied by the russians in 1770, and twenty years later its capture was one of the brilliant achievements of the russian general, count a. v. suvarov. on that occasion the garrison was 40,000 strong, and the assault cost the assailants 10,000 and the defenders 30,000 men. the victory was the theme of one of the russian poet g. r. derzhavin's odes. in 1809 the town was again captured by the russians; and, when in 1812 it was assigned to them by the bucharest peace, they chose it as the central station for their danube fleet. it was about this time that the town of tuchkov, with which it was later (1830) incorporated, grew up outside of the fortifications. these were dismantled in accordance with the treaty of paris (1856), by which izmail was made over to rumania. the town was again transferred to russia by the peace of berlin (1878).