Alexander Peresvet — Russian fairy tale character

Alexander Peresvet – also spelled Peresviet – was a Russian Orthodox monk.

Peresvet is believed to have hailed from the Bryansk area and to have taken the monastic habit at the Rostov Monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb. He moved to the Monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky, in the service of Dmitry Donskoy. He later moved to the Trinity Lavra where he became a follower of Sergius of Radonezh. Alexander and his friend Rodion Oslyabya joined the Russian troops set out to fight the Tatars under the leadership of Mamai.

The battle of Kulikovo was opened by single combat between the two champions. The Russian champion was Alexander Peresvet. The champion of the Golden Horde was Temir-murza. The champions killed each other in the first charge. According to a Russian legend, Peresvet did not fall from the saddle, while Temir-murza did.

Peresvet's body, together with that of his brother-in-arms Oslyabya, was brought to Moscow. The two men were buried at the 15th-century Theotokos Church in Simonov Monastery.