How the state "thanked" the patron for donating the Maly Theater to Russia: Vasily Vargin

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Among the merchants and industrialists of the early 19th century, Vasily Vargin, a second-generation peasant, managed to become one of the richest and most influential. However, he worked, thinking not only about profit. During the war with Napoleon, this man became a real salvation for the Russian army, and then, having visited Paris on the theatrical square Place Pigalle, he thought about the power of art and decided to create something similar in his homeland. Today we rarely remember the name of Vasily Vargin, he is not always mentioned along with Tretyakov and Mamontov, but oblivion of the descendants can be considered not the worst disaster that befell the famous patron of the arts.

The surname Vargin most likely came from the word "mittens" (vargi). It was this product that the ancestors of the future industrialist, the serfs of the Serpukhov monastery, knitted for sale. The father and brothers expanded the business, traded all over Russia and even in Riga. Young Vasily Vasilyevich was sent to Moscow, and in 1808, he signed his first major contract, but only such that his father and more experienced brothers probably itched hands to break off a couple of sticks on the back of a 17-year-old "smart guy". The contract for the supply of canvas for the Russian army was offered at such prices "to which none of the other suppliers, the best industrialists and officials, most experienced in trade, could agree." In addition, all experienced merchants were well aware that government orders were paid poorly and with various legal delays.

However, the young industrialist not only took on an unprofitable and huge contract, but also managed to fulfill it so well that soon all state contracts were sent only to him. For this, today Vargin is called the "first monopolist" in Russia, but he acted contrary to modern ideas about the "tycoons of the market." This was especially evident during the Napoleonic invasion.

According to the rules of the free market, if a product starts to be in demand, then the price for it can be increased, however, in difficult years, Vasily Vargin not only did not raise the prices of goods, but on the contrary, lowered them! Minister of War Count A. I. Tatishchev then wrote:

The official's delight is understandable, because Vargin helped, or rather, as historians calculated, about 30 million. Translated into modern money, this amount becomes much more significant. A legend has survived about how the young businessman behaved in a critical situation, when the danger arose that his carts would fall into the hands of the enemy. Without thinking about his profit, Vargin gave the order to drown the goods worth half a million.

After the war, the government did not forget the industrialist. He was awarded the title of hereditary honorary citizen and awarded the medal "For diligence", showered with diamonds. In addition, he retained a monopoly on the supply of military goods, and, of course, very soon all the expenses of the war times were more than offset. Vargin managed to become one of the richest people in Russia, although he still did not use his monopoly too zealously, and kept prices very moderate.

Vargin owned textile factories in Vyazyami, Kostroma, Pereslavl and Moscow, had eleven tenement houses, but he did not like to spend his wealth on silly window dressing, as was customary in the merchant environment. One of the largest industrialists in Russia has never been married. He lived in his own house on Pyatnitskaya with his parents.

After the war, Vargin became more and more involved in public affairs. One of the most important things in his life was the construction of the building of the Maly Theater. After the fire, Moscow was quickly rebuilt again, the Bolshoi Theater was founded, and not far from it Vasily Vasilyevich bought several plots of land. One of the old buildings was redesigned for another temple of art.

In 1824 Vargin handed over to the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters a brand new building, which we used to call the Maly Theater. At first, it was rented by the Directorate, and ten years later it was bought out: “it was ordered to take the building to the treasury for 375 thousand rubles with payment by installments from the state treasury in 10 years”. The construction and equipment costs were no less than a million, so the patron practically donated the new theater to the state.

Over the years Vargin has acquired another passion that only a very wealthy person can afford. He began to collect a collection of diamonds and approached this business on an unprecedented scale. Historians believe that he did not just buy stones, but sought out special specimens. Vargin believed that the most beautiful of stones brings good luck and happiness to a person. The industrialist's fortune in his best years was about 18 million rubles, and the legendary collection is estimated today by experts at no less than 80 million dollars. The fate of this treasure is unknown today, and its search is one of the attractive ideas for treasure hunters.

However, after 1827, Vargin's business went very badly. The new Minister of War, AI Chernyshev, being on bad terms with his predecessor, decided to take revenge on Tatishchev's “protege”. He declared Vargin a "monopoly", tried to bring him to court, allegedly for shortcomings and overexposure of state money, but the first commission did not reveal such violations. The second, however, found everything that was needed, and three years later the richest man in Russia ended up behind the bars of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and his property was transferred into custody.

During his imprisonment, Vargin's parents died, and he himself, having been released a year later, realized that his life was completely destroyed. According to the recollections of contemporaries, after being imprisoned in the fortress, Vargin changed a lot. He looked like a broken man, tired of life. The abrupt transition from fame and wealth to humiliation and poverty turned him into a gloomy, irritable old man. Fearlessness in the conduct of business was replaced by the indecision of a driven man waiting for the next blow of fate.

Only five years later did he get the opportunity to do business and began to somehow rectify the situation. The breeder and philanthropist could wait for full rehabilitation only twenty years later, when Alexander II came to the throne. After the review of the case, Vargin received back some of the estates. An imaginary debt of a million rubles was also removed from him, which he allegedly owed to the state, but all this was no longer pleasing. Soon Vargin died of a "nervous stroke" and was buried in the cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery.

Today, charity is perceived by us as part of the modern approach to doing business, but the roots of this phenomenon can be found in very ancient times. The most famous merchant families did a lot for the good of Russia