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Video: What the most famous merchant families have done for the good of Russia
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The Russian merchants are now part of our history that has remained in the last century, and we are gradually beginning to forget about the contribution made by representatives of some eminent dynasties. Meanwhile, in tsarist Russia, the word "patronage" was closely associated with the names of successful merchants. Many of these highly educated people, art critics and philanthropists with a capital letter, had a huge impact on the formation of Russian education and culture.
Bakhrushins
The successful Zaraysk merchant Aleksey Fedorovich Bakhrushin moved to the capital in the 1830s with his huge family. All things were transported on carts. Among the numerous belongings in the basket, little Sasha was sleeping peacefully, who would later become an honorary citizen of Moscow and a benefactor, as well as the father of famous collectors. His son, Alexey Alexandrovich Bakhrushin, was fond of theater and even was the chairman of the Theater Society. The Theater Museum created by him, due to its extensive collection, had no analogues in the world. The second son, Sergei, collected Russian paintings, icons, books, looking for and buying them on Sukharevka. Before his death, he bequeathed his library to the Rumyantsev Museum, and porcelain items and antiques to the Historical Museum.
As for their father, Alexander Alekseevich, together with his brothers he built a hospital with a shelter for the terminally ill (in fact, the first Russian hospice) on Sokolnichy Pole, and a house with free apartments for those in need on Sofiyskaya Embankment. In addition, the Bakhrushins opened several orphanages and educational institutions in Moscow, and also allocated large sums of scholarships to students. Near every orphanage or hospital built, the Bakhrushins erected a temple.
Mamontovs
This merchant dynasty originated from the merchant Ivan Mamontov, who did business in Zvenigorod, where he was known as a benefactor. Two of his grandchildren, Ivan and Nikolai, came to the Mother See with very wealthy people.
Their children received a good education and had a variety of talents. For example, the well-known merchant Savva Mamontov himself was a gifted person (he took singing lessons in Milan, participated in the theatrical circle of the writer-playwright Ostrovsky, etc.), and was able to notice and appreciate the talents of others. It was he who helped the musical career of Chaliapin, Mussorgsky, contributed to the triumph of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Sadko. Actors, painters, composers came to their merchant friend for advice in any field of art - from applying makeup and choosing scenery to vocal techniques. And, I must say, his recommendations have always been very true and accurate.
A real island of culture of that time was the Abramtsevo estate, which Mamontov acquired from the writer Sergei Aksakov and transformed it in the full sense of the word. His wife, Elizaveta Grigorievna, opened a hospital and a school in the district, where handicraft workshops were established. This was done to prevent rural youth from leaving for the city.
Writers, architects and musicians came to Abramtsevo. Repin, Serov, Vrubel and other famous artists painted their creations in the picturesque estate of Savva Mamontov. For example, in the dining room of a merchant in Abramtsevo there was a famous painting "A Girl with Peaches", which Valentin Serov painted in this particular estate (the daughter of the Mamontovs, Vera, posed) and presented to the owner's wife, Elizaveta Grigorievna.
Shchukins
This merchant family, the founder of which is considered to be Vasily Petrovich Shchukin, who came to Moscow from the Kaluga province, not only supplied goods to remote cities of Russia and abroad, but also became famous for collectors. For example, brothers Nikolai Ivanovich and Sergei Ivanovich were great lovers and connoisseurs of art. The first collected ancient fabrics, lace products and manuscripts, which after his death became the property of the Historical Museum. And the second became famous for immediately appreciating the genius of such incomprehensible to Muscovites of that time artists as Degas, Monet, Gauguin, Matisse, Van Gogh.
Despite the ridicule of those around him, Sergei Ivanovich bought (sometimes for symbolic money) and carefully preserved the masterpieces of these painters, predicting great fame for them. For example, the merchant's dining room had 16 paintings by Gauguin, 11 of which he bought abroad in bulk. Most of the paintings from his collection can now be seen in the Hermitage.
Another brother, Pyotr Shchukin, became known as an eccentric thanks to his "mania for collecting." With great passion he bought antiques (books, utensils, paintings, etc.) and even opened the Museum of Russian Antiquities. Some of its exhibits were indeed of great artistic and historical value. After the death of Pyotr Ivanovich, part of his collection ended up in the Historical Museum, something turned out to be in other famous museums, and the paintings went to the Tretyakov Gallery.
Demidov
The Demidov dynasty dates back to the times of Peter the Great, when Nikita Demidov, a former blacksmith and gunsmith under Peter I, managed to advance and received large plots of land in the Urals for the construction of factories. Having become rich, he became one of the Tsar's main assistants in the construction of St. Petersburg and donated large sums of money and metal for the construction of the future city.
Subsequently, in the mines, which passed to his sons, large reserves of gold, silver and ore were found.
The grandson of Nikita Demidov, Procopius, became famous as one of the most active philanthropists in Russia. He allocated huge money to help schools, hospitals and scholarships for students from poor families.
Tretyakovs
The great-grandfather of the future founders of the Tretyakov Gallery, Sergei Mikhailovich and Pavel Mikhailovich, came to Moscow from Maloyaroslavets with his wife and children, being a poor merchant from an ancient, but not very well-known family. Although the commercial and industrial affairs of his descendants went well in the capital, this merchant dynasty was never among the richest. However, thanks to their sincere and disinterested love for art, the Tretyakov brothers became perhaps more famous than all the other merchants-patrons.
Pavel Mikhailovich spent almost everything he earned on the creation of his gallery, and this seriously affected the well-being of his family. Visiting museums and galleries in Europe, he became an incredibly subtle and professional connoisseur of painting. Muscovites and guests of the city can still appreciate the results of this hobby.
Each merchant family has its own history, and some surnames well-known in Moscow even gave rise to urban legends. For example, the family of the merchant Filatov has a mysterious story associated with the construction in the capital a very strange building.
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