Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich was a nobleman from the Poltava Governorate. In 1793, he was assigned to the Page Corps, and in 1799, he was enrolled as a chamber page at the court of Emperor Paul I. In 1800, Ivan Paskevich was appointed adjutant and transferred as a lieutenant to the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment.

Paskevich took part in battles with the Turks. During the storming of the Brailov fortress he was wounded by a bullet in the head. After that, he received the rank of colonel and was appointed commander of the Vitebsk Musketeer Regiment. In 1810, he distinguished himself during the siege of Varna and in the Battle of Batin, when he was promoted to major general.

In 1811, Ivan Paskevich was appointed chief of the Oryol Infantry Regiment. In 1812, he headed the 26th Infantry Division. He participated in the battles of Saltanovka, Smolensk, Maloyaroslavets, Vyazma, Krasny, and defended the Raevsky redoubt in the Battle of Borodino.

In 1813, he commanded the 7th Infantry Corps, took part in the siege of Modlin, in the battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, and Dresden. For his bravery in the Battle of Leipzig, he was promoted to lieutenant general. In 1814, he took command of the 2nd Grenadier Division, fought near Laon, Arcis-sur-Aube and Paris.

Ten years later, Paskevich was awarded the rank of adjutant general. In 1826, he was promoted to infantry general and appointed to command the troops of the Separate Caucasian Corps. He participated in the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, and for the Treaty of Turkmenchay he was awarded the count’s title with an honorary addition — he was known as “Count of Yerevan”.

Paskevich participated in the Russo-Turkish War in 1828–1829. He received the rank of Field Marshal General. In 1831, he became Commander-in-Chief of the army during the suppression of the Polish Uprising. During the Storming of Warsaw, he had a concussion. Ivan Paskevich was awarded the honorary title of His Serene Highness Prince of Warsaw and appointed governor of the Kingdom of Poland.

George Dawe painted a portrait of Ivan Paskevich. The Borodino Museum-Reserve houses a reproduction made by the artist Afanasy Yefremovich Kulikov in the early 20th century. The work was transferred to the museum in 1959 from the State Historical Museum.