home › Test Drives › Pre-revolutionary and current patrons: who is more? Russian patrons and benefactors of the 18th-19th centuries Alexander Ludwigovich Stieglitz.

Pre-revolutionary and current patrons: who is more? Russian patrons and benefactors of the 18th-19th centuries Alexander Ludwigovich Stieglitz.

Russian entrepreneurs of the 19th century treated their business differently than Western entrepreneurs. They considered it not so much a source of income as a mission that was entrusted to their shoulders by God or fate. In the merchant environment, it was believed that wealth should be used, so the merchants were engaged in collecting and charity, which was considered by many as a destiny from above. Most entrepreneurs of those times were quite honest businessmen who considered patronage almost their duty. theaters, large temples and churches, as well as extensive art collections. At the same time, Russian philanthropists did not seek to make their work public, on the contrary, many helped people on the condition that their help would not be advertised in the newspapers. Some patrons even refused titles of nobility.

The Tretyakov brothers, Pavel Mikhailovich (1832-1898) and Sergei Mikhailovich (1834-1892). The fortune of these merchants was more than 8 million rubles, 3 of which they donated to art. The brothers owned the Big Kostroma Linen Manufactory. At the same time, Pavel Mikhailovich conducted business at the factories themselves, but Sergei Mikhailovich contacted directly with foreign partners. This division was in perfect harmony with their characters. If the elder brother was closed and unsociable, then the younger one adored secular meetings and rotated in public circles. Both Tretyakovs collected paintings, while Pavel preferred Russian painting, and Sergei preferred foreign, mainly modern French. When he left the post of the Moscow mayor, he was even glad that the need to hold official receptions had disappeared. After all, this made it possible to spend more on paintings. Altogether Sergei Tretyakov spent about a million francs, or 400,000 rubles, on painting. From their youth, the brothers felt the need to make a gift to their native city. At the age of 28, Pavel decided to bequeath his fortune to the creation of an entire gallery of Russian art. Fortunately, his life turned out to be quite long, as a result, the businessman was able to spend more than a million rubles on the purchase of paintings. And the gallery of Pavel Tretyakov worth 2 million, and even real estate, was donated to the city of Moscow. The collection of Sergei Tretyakov was not so great - only 84 paintings, but it was estimated at half a million. He managed to bequeath his collection to his older brother, and not to his wife. Sergei Mikhailovich was afraid that his wife would not want to part with a valuable collection. When in 1892 Moscow got an art museum, it was called the City Gallery of the brothers Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov. Interestingly, after Alexander III visited the meeting, he offered his elder brother the nobility. However, Pavel Mikhailovich refused such an honor, saying that he wanted to die as a merchant. But Sergei Mikhailovich, who managed to become a real state councilor, would clearly accept this offer. The Tretyakovs, in addition to the collection of the gallery, maintained a school for the deaf and dumb, helped the widows and orphans of painters, supported the Moscow Conservatory and art schools. With their own money and on their site in the center of the capital, the brothers created a passage to improve transport links in Moscow. Since then, the name Tretyakovskaya has been preserved in the name of both the gallery itself and the passage created by merchants, which turned out to be a rarity for a country with a turbulent history.

Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (1841-1918). This bright personality in the history of Russian culture had a significant impact on her. It is difficult to say what exactly Mamontov donated, and it is rather difficult to calculate his fortune. Mamontov had a couple of houses in Moscow, the Abramtsev estate, land on the Black Sea coast, roads, factories and millions of capital. Savva Ivanovich went down in history not only as a philanthropist, but also as a real builder of Russian culture. And Mamontov was born in the family of a wine farmer who headed the Society of the Moscow-Yaroslavl Railway. The industrialist made his capital on the construction of railways. It was thanks to him that the road from Yaroslavl to Arkhangelsk, and then also to Murmansk, appeared. Thanks to Savva Mamontov, a port appeared in this city, and the road that connected the center of the country with the North saved Russia twice. First it happened during the First World War, and then during the Second. After all, almost all the help of the allies came to the USSR through Murmansk. Art was not alien to Mamontov, he himself sculpted well. The sculptor Matvey Antokolsky even considered him talented. They say that thanks to the excellent bass, Mamontov could become a singer, he even managed to make his debut at the Milan Opera. However, Savva Ivanovich never got on stage or at the school. But he was able to earn so much money that he managed to arrange his own home theater and establish a private opera, the first in the country. There, Mamontov acted as a director, conductor, and decorator, and also set his voice to his artists. Having bought the Abramtsevo estate, the businessman created the famous mammoth circle, whose members constantly spent time visiting their wealthy patron. Chaliapin learned to play Mamontov's piano, Vrubel wrote in the office of the patron of his "Demon". Savva the Magnificent made his estate near Moscow a real artistic colony. Workshops were built here, peasants were specially trained, and the "Russian" style was planted in furniture and ceramics. Mamontov believed that the people should be accustomed to the beautiful not only in churches, but also at train stations and on the streets. Sponsored by a millionaire and the magazine "World of Art", as well as the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. Only now the art admirer was so carried away by charity that he managed to get into debt. Mamontov received a rich order for the construction of another railway and took a large loan against the security of the shares. When it turned out that there was nothing to repay 5 million, Savva Ivanovich ended up in the Taganka prison. His former friends have abandoned him. In order to somehow pay off Mamontov's debts, his rich collection of paintings and sculptures was sold for next to nothing at auction. The impoverished and aged philanthropist began to live at a ceramic workshop outside the Butyrskaya Zastava, where he died unnoticed by everyone. Already in our time, a monument was erected to the famous philanthropist in Sergiev Posad, because here the Mamontovs laid the first short railway line specifically for transporting pilgrims to the Lavra. It is planned to erect four more monuments to the great man - in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, on the Donetsk railway and on Theater Square in Moscow.

Varvara Alekseevna Morozova (Khludova) (1850-1917). This woman owned a fortune of 10 million rubles, having donated more than a million to charity. And her sons Mikhail and Ivan became famous art collectors. When Varvara's husband, Abram Abramovich, died, she inherited from him at the age of 34 the Partnership of Tver Manufactory. Having become the sole owner of big capital, Morozova took up providing for the unfortunate. Of the 500 thousand that her husband allocated to her for benefits to the poor and the maintenance of schools and churches, 150 thousand went to a clinic for the mentally ill. After the revolution, the clinic named after A.A. Morozov was named after the psychiatrist Sergei Korsakov, another 150 thousand were donated to the Vocational School for the Poor. The remaining investments were not so great - the Rogozhskoye Women's Primary School received 10 thousand, the sums went to rural and terrestrial schools, to shelters for the nervously ill. The Cancer Institute on Devichye Pole was named after its patrons, the Morozovs. And there was also a charitable institution in Tver, a sanatorium in Gagra for tuberculosis patients. Varvara Morozova was a member of many institutions. As a result, vocational schools and primary classes, hospitals, maternity shelters and almshouses in Tver and Moscow were named after her. In gratitude for the donation of 50 thousand rubles, the name of the patron was engraved on the pediment of the Chemical Institute of the People's University. Morozova bought a three-story mansion for the Prechistensky courses for workers in Kursovy Lane, and she also paid for the Doukhobors to move to Canada. It was Varvara Alekseevna who financed the construction of the first free library-reading room in Russia named after Turgenev, opened in 1885, and then also helped to acquire the necessary literature. The final point of Morozova's charitable activities was her will. The factorywoman, exposed by Soviet propaganda as a model of acquisitiveness, ordered all her assets to be converted into securities, put in a bank, and the funds received to be given to the workers. Unfortunately, they did not have time to appreciate all the kindness of their mistress - a month after her death, the October Revolution happened.

Kuzma Terentyevich Soldatenkov (1818-1901). A wealthy merchant donated more than 5 million rubles to charity. Soldatenkov traded in paper yarn, he was a co-owner of the textile Tsindelevskaya, Danilovskaya, and Krenholmskaya manufactories, in addition, he owned the Trekhgorny brewery and the Moscow Accounting Bank on shares. Surprisingly, Kuzma Terentyevich himself grew up in an ignorant Old Believer family, without learning to read and write. From an early age, he was already behind the counter in his rich father's shop. But after the death of a parent, no one could stop Soldatenkov in quenching his thirst for knowledge. A course of lectures on ancient Russian history was given to him by Timofey Granovsky himself. He also introduced Soldatenkov to the circle of Moscow Westerners, accustomed him to do good deeds and sow Eternal values. A wealthy merchant invested in a non-profit publishing house, at a loss to print books for common people. Even 4 years before Pavel Tretyakov, the merchant began to buy paintings. The artist Alexander Rizzoni said that if it were not for these two major patrons, then the Russian masters of fine art would simply have no one to sell their works. As a result, Soldatenkov's collection included 258 paintings and 17 sculptures, as well as engravings and a library. The merchant was even nicknamed Kuzma Medici. He bequeathed his entire collection to the Rumyantsev Museum. For 40 years, Soldatenkov donated 1,000 rubles a year to this public museum. Donating his collection as a gift, the philanthropist asked only to place it in separate rooms. The unsold books of his publishing house and the rights to them were donated to the city of Moscow. The philanthropist allocated another million rubles for the construction of a vocational school, and gave two million for the creation of a free hospital for the poor, where ranks, estates and religions would not be paid attention. As a result, the hospital was completed after the death of the sponsor, it was called Soldatenkovskaya, but in 1920 it was renamed Botkinskaya. The benefactor himself would hardly be upset if he learned this fact. The fact is that he was especially close to the Botkin family.

Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva (1867-1928). The origin of this princess remains a mystery. According to one of the legends, Emperor Alexander II himself could be her father. Tenisheva tried to find herself in her youth - she got married early, gave birth to a daughter, began to take singing lessons in order to get on the professional stage, and began to draw. As a result, Maria came to the conclusion that the purpose of her life is charity. She divorced and remarried, this time to a prominent businessman, Prince Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Tenishev. He was nicknamed "Russian American" for his business acumen. Most likely, the marriage was calculated, because only in this way, having grown up in an aristocratic family, but illegitimate, a girl could get a firm place in society. After Maria Tenisheva became the wife of a wealthy entrepreneur, she gave herself up to her calling. The prince himself was also a well-known philanthropist, having founded the Tenishev School in St. Petersburg. True, he still fundamentally helped the most cultured representatives of society. Even during the life of her husband, Tenisheva organized drawing classes in St. Petersburg, where one of the teachers was Ilya Repin, she also opened a drawing school in Smolensk. In her estate, Talashkino, Maria opened an “ideological estate”. An agricultural school was created there, where ideal farmers were brought up. And masters of arts and crafts were trained in handicraft workshops. Thanks to Tenisheva, the Russian Antiquities Museum appeared in the country, which became the country's first museum of ethnography and Russian decorative and applied arts. A special building was even built for him in Smolensk. However, the peasants, about which the princess baked for the good, thanked her in their own way. The prince's body, embalmed for a hundred years and buried in three coffins, was simply thrown into a pit in 1923. Tenisheva herself, who together with Savva Mamontov maintained the magazine "World of Art", gave funds to Diaghilev and Benois, lived out her last years in exile in France. There she, still not being old, took up enamel art.

Yuri Stepanovich Nechaev-Maltsov (1834-1913). This nobleman donated a total of about 3 million rubles. At 46, he unexpectedly became the owner of a whole network glass factories. He received them from his uncle, a diplomat Ivan Maltsev. He was the only one who survived during the memorable massacre at the Russian embassy in Iran (Alexander Griboedov was also killed at the same time). As a result, the diplomat became disillusioned with his profession and decided to take up the family business. In the town of Gus, Ivan Maltsev created a network of glass factories. To do this, the secret of colored glass was obtained in Europe, with its help the industrialist began to produce very profitable window panes. As a result, this entire glass and crystal empire, together with two rich houses in the capital, painted by Aivazovsky and Vasnetsov, was inherited by an elderly, already unmarried official Nechaev. Along with wealth, he got double surname. Years lived in poverty left their indelible imprint on Nechaev-Maltsev. He was known as a very stingy person, allowing himself to be spent only on gourmet food. Professor Ivan Tsvetaev, the father of the future poetess, became a friend of the rich man. During rich feasts, he sadly calculated how many building materials could be bought with the money spent by the gourmet. Over time, Tsvetaev managed to convince Nechaev-Maltsev to allocate 3 million rubles required to complete the construction of the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. It is interesting that the patron of fame himself was not looking for. On the contrary, all 10 years that the construction was going on, he acted anonymously. The millionaire went on unthinkable spending. So, 300 workers hired by him mined a special white frost-resistant marble right in the Urals. When it turned out that no one in the country could make 10-meter columns for a portico, Nechaev-Maltsev paid for the services of a Norwegian steamer. Thanks to a philanthropist, skilled masons were brought from Italy. For his contribution to the construction of the museum, the modest Nechaev-Maltsev received the title of chief chamberlain and the diamond order of Alexander Nevsky. But the “glass king” invested not only in the museum. With his money, a Technical School appeared in Vladimir, an almshouse on Shabolovka, and a church in memory of the murdered on Kulikovo Field. For the centenary of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2012, the Shukhov Tower Foundation proposed to name the institution after Yuri Stepanovich Nechaev-Maltsov instead of Pushkin. However, the renaming never took place, but a memorial plaque in honor of the patron appeared on the building.

Alexander Ludwigovich Stieglitz (1814-1884). This baron and banker was able to donate 6 million from his fortune of 100 million rubles to good deeds. Stieglitz was the richest man in the country in the second third 19th century. He inherited his title of court banker, along with his capital, from his father, the Russified German Stieglitz, who received the title of baron for merit. Alexander Ludwigovich strengthened his position by acting as an intermediary, thanks to which Emperor Nicholas I was able to conclude agreements on foreign loans for 300 million rubles. Alexander Stieglitz in 1857 became one of the founders of the Main Society of Russian Railways. In 1860, Stieglitz was appointed director of the newly created State Bank. The baron liquidated his firm and began to live on interest, taking a luxurious mansion on the Promenade des Anglais. By itself, the capital brought Stieglitz 3 million rubles a year. Big money did not make the baron sociable, they say that even the hairdresser who cut his hair for 25 years did not hear the voice of his client. The modesty of the millionaire took on painful features. It was Baron Stieglitz who was behind the construction of the Peterhof, Baltic and Nikolaev (later October) railways. However, the banker remained in history not for his financial assistance to the king and not for the construction of roads. The memory of him remained largely thanks to charity. The baron allocated impressive sums for the construction of the School of Technical Drawing in St. Petersburg, its maintenance and museum. Alexander Ludwigovich himself was no stranger to art, but his life turned out to be devoted to making money. The adopted daughter's husband, Alexander Polovtsev, managed to convince the banker that the country's growing industry needed "scientific draftsmen." As a result, thanks to Stieglitz, a school named after him and the country's first museum of decorative and applied arts appeared (the best part of his collections was eventually transferred to the Hermitage). Polovtsev himself, who was the secretary of state of Alexander III, believed that the country would be happy when merchants began to donate money for education without the selfish hope of receiving a government award or preferences. Thanks to his wife's inheritance, Polovtsev was able to publish 25 volumes of the Russian Biographical Dictionary, but because of the Revolution, this good deed was never completed. Now the former Stieglitz School of Technical Drawing is called Mukhinsky, and the marble monument to the baron-philanthropist has long been thrown out of it.

Gavrila Gavrilovich Solodovnikov (1826-1901). This merchant became the author of the largest donation in the history of Russia. His fortune was about 22 million rubles, 20 of which Solodovnikov spent on the needs of society. Gavrila Gavrilovich was born in the family of a paper merchant. The future millionaire was introduced to the business from childhood, so he never really learned how to write or express his thoughts. But at the age of 20, Solodovnikov had already become a merchant of the first guild, and at the age of 40 he earned his first million. The businessman became famous for his extreme prudence and thrift. They say that he did not disdain to eat yesterday's porridge and ride in a carriage without rubber on wheels. Solodovnikov conducted his affairs, albeit not entirely cleanly, but he calmed his conscience by drawing up a well-known will - almost the entire fortune of the merchant went to charity. The patron made the first contribution for the construction of the Moscow Conservatory. A contribution of 200 thousand rubles was enough for the construction of a luxurious marble staircase. Through the efforts of the merchant, a concert hall was built on Bolshaya Dmitrovka with theater stage where ballets and extravaganzas could be staged. Today it has become the Operetta Theatre, and then it housed the Private Opera of another patron, Savva Mamontov. Solodovnikov wanted to become a nobleman, for this he decided to build a useful institution in Moscow. Thanks to the philanthropist, the Clinic for Skin and Venereal Diseases appeared in the city, equipped with all the most interesting. Today, the Moscow Medical Academy named after I.M. Sechenov is located in its premises. At the same time, the name of the benefactor was not reflected in the name of the clinic. According to the will of the merchant, his heirs were left with about half a million rubles, while the remaining 20,147,700 rubles were used for good deeds. But at the current rate, this amount would be about 9 billion dollars! A third of the capital went to equip zemstvo women's schools in a number of provinces, another third - to create vocational schools and a shelter for homeless children in Serpukhov district, and the rest - to build houses with cheap apartments for poor and lonely people. Thanks to the bequest of a philanthropist in 1909, the first Free Citizen house appeared on 2nd Meshchanskaya Street with 1152 apartments for single people, the Red Diamond house with 183 apartments for families was also built there. With the houses, the features of communes appeared - a shop, a canteen, a laundry, a bathhouse and a library. On the ground floor of the house for families there was a nursery and a kindergarten, the rooms were offered already furnished. Only officials were the first to move into such comfortable apartments “for the poor”.

Margarita Kirillovna Morozova (Mamontova) (1873-1958). This woman was related to both Savva Mamontov and Pavel Tretyakov. Margarita was called the first beauty of Moscow. Already at the age of 18, she married Mikhail Morozov, the son of another well-known philanthropist. At 30, Margarita, being pregnant with her fourth child, became a widow. She herself preferred not to deal with the affairs of the factory, whose co-owner was her husband. Morozova breathed art. She took music lessons from the composer Alexander Scriabin, whom she supported financially for a long time in order to enable him to create and not be distracted by everyday life. In 1910, Morozova donated the art collection of her deceased husband to the Tretyakov Gallery. A total of 83 paintings were handed over, including works by Gauguin, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Munch, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Perov. Kramskoy, Repin, Benois, Levitan and others). Margarita financed the work of the publishing house "The Way", which until 1919 published about fifty books, mainly on the topic of religion and philosophy. Thanks to the philanthropist, the journal "Questions of Philosophy" and the socio-political newspaper "Moscow Weekly" were published. In her estate Mikhailovskoye in the Kaluga province, Morozova transferred part of the land to the teacher Shatsky, who organized the first children's colony here. And the landowner supported this institution financially. And during the First World War, Morozova turned her house into a hospital for the wounded. The revolution shattered both her life and her family. The son and two daughters ended up in exile, only Mikhail remained in Russia, the same Mika Morozov, whose portrait was painted by Serov. The manufacturer herself lived out her days in poverty at a summer cottage in Lianozovo. A private pensioner Margarita Kirillovna Morozova received a separate room in a new building from the state a few years before her death.

Savva Timofeevich Morozov (1862-1905). This philanthropist donated about 500 thousand rubles. Morozov managed to become a model of a modern businessman - he studied chemistry at Cambridge, and studied textile production in Liverpool and Manchester. Returning from Europe to Russia, Savva Morozov headed the Nikolskaya Manufactory Partnership, named after him. The industrialist's mother, Maria Fedorovna, whose capital was 30 million rubles, remained the managing director and main shareholder of this enterprise. Morozov's advanced thinking suggested that thanks to the revolution, Russia would be able to catch up and overtake Europe. He even drew up his own program of social and political reforms, which aimed at the transition of the country to a constitutional regime of government. Morozov insured himself for the amount of 100 thousand rubles, and issued the policy to the bearer, transferring it to his beloved actress Andreeva. There, in turn, she transferred most of the funds to the revolutionaries. Because of his love for Andreeva, Morozov supported the Art Theater, he was paid a 12-year lease on the premises in Kamergersky Lane. At the same time, the contribution of the patron was equal to the contributions of the main shareholders, which included the owner of the gold-gutter manufactory Alekseev, known as Stanislavsky. The restructuring of the theater building cost Morozov 300 thousand rubles - a huge amount for those times. And this is despite the fact that the architect Fyodor Shekhtel, the author of the Moscow Art Theater Seagull, made the project completely free of charge. Thanks to Morozov's money, the most modern stage equipment was ordered abroad. In general, lighting equipment in the Russian theater first appeared here. In total, the philanthropist spent about 500 thousand rubles on the building of the Moscow Art Theater with a bronze bas-relief on the facade in the form of a drowning swimmer. As already mentioned, Morozov sympathized with the revolutionaries. Among his friends was Maxim Gorky, Nikolai Bauman was hiding in the industrialist's palace on Spiridonovka. Morozov helped to deliver illegal literature to the factory, where the future People's Commissar Leonid Krasin served as an engineer. After a wave of revolutionary uprisings in 1905, the industrialist demanded that his mother transfer the factories to his complete subordination. However, she achieved the removal of the obstinate son from business and sent him with his wife and personal doctor to the Cote d'Azur. There, Savva Morozov committed suicide, however, the circumstances of his death turned out to be strange.

I. Kramskoy "Portrait of P.M. Tretyakov"

Domestic patronage is a unique phenomenon. And if we take into account that Russia is now going through difficult times, then the issue of patronage can be considered relevant.

Nowadays, culture is in a difficult position, not only provincial libraries and theaters need support, but even famous, world-famous museums and other cultural institutions.

Patrons founded factories, built railways, opened schools, hospitals, orphanages... To tell in detail about everyone, we need the format of not an article, but a whole book, and not just one. We will only focus on a few names.

But first, about the term "patronage" itself. The Russian synonym is the concept of "charity". But where did borrowing come from?

The history of the term "philanthropy"

Maecenas- a person who, on a gratuitous basis, helps the development of science and art, provides them with material assistance from personal funds. The common name "philanthropist" comes from the name of the Roman Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (Mekenat), who was the patron of the arts under the emperor Octavian Augustus.

Bust of the Maecenas in one of the parks of Ireland

Gaius Zilniy Maecenas(about 70 BC - 8 BC) - an ancient Roman statesman and patron of the arts. A personal friend of Octavian Augustus and a kind of minister of culture under him. The name of Maecenas as a fan of the fine arts and patron of poets became a household name.

During the civil war in the Roman Empire, he arranged for the reconciliation of the warring parties, and after the end of the war, during the absence of Octavian, he conducted state affairs, was free from cringing and fawning, boldly expressed his views, and sometimes even kept Octavian from issuing death sentences. The poets of that time found in him a patron: he helped Virgil return the estate taken from him, and gave Horace his estate. He died mourned by all the people, not just by his friends.

F. Bronnikov "Horace reads his poems to Maecenas"

However, charity in Russia is not such a rare thing. This donation system began to take shape already with the adoption of Christianity in Rus': after all, the first almshouses and hospitals began to be built at monasteries, and most patrons of the 19th century came from the merchant Old Believer milieu. P. A. Buryshkin, a researcher of the Moscow merchants, believed that merchants “We looked not only as a source of profit, but as a task, a kind of mission assigned by God or fate. They said about wealth that God gave it for use and would require a report on it, which was partly expressed in the fact that it was in the merchant environment that both charity and collecting were unusually developed, which they looked at as the fulfillment of some kind of over-appointed business. ». Period XVIII-XIX centuries. gave Russia so many benefactors that it is called the "golden" age of patronage. There are especially many such monuments to human mercy in Moscow. For example, the Golitsyn hospital.

Golitsyn Hospital

City Clinical Hospital No. 1 im. N.I. Pirogov

Golitsyn Hospital was opened in Moscow in 1802 as a "hospital for the poor." Currently, it is the Golitsyn building of the First City Clinical Hospital.

The Golitsyn hospital was built according to the project of the architect Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov with funds that were bequeathed by Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn "for the construction of an institution in the capital city of Moscow that is pleasing to God and useful to people." When developing the project, Kazakov used the principle of a city estate. The prince's cousin, real privy councilor, chief chamberlain Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn, was directly involved in the construction.

Opened in 1802, it became the third civil hospital in Moscow. Representatives of all segments of the population, except for serfs, were taken to the Golitsyn hospital for free treatment - "... both Russians and foreigners, of any gender, rank, religion and nationality."

In 1802, the hospital had 50 beds, and in 1805 - already 100. Additionally, in 1803, an almshouse for terminally ill patients with 30 beds was opened at the hospital. Khristian Ivanovich Zinger served as the manager of the hospital for many years. During the Patriotic War of 1812, when Napoleon's troops occupied Moscow, he remained alone in the hospital and managed to prevent its looting, and also saved the hospital money left for him. For conscientious service, Christian Ivanovich Zinger received the title of hereditary nobleman.

And now a little about whose funds this hospital was built.

Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn (1721-1793)

A. Brown "Portrait of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn"

prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn- Russian officer and diplomat from the Golitsyn family. In 1760-1761. acted as ambassador in Paris, and then was sent as ambassador to Vienna, where he played a big role in improving relations between the Russian court and Emperor Joseph II. One of the first among Russians, he became interested in collecting paintings by old masters (artists Western Europe active until the beginning of the 18th century).

D. M. Golitsyn was a well-known benefactor. 850 thousand rubles, income from two estates of 2 thousand souls and his own art gallery he bequeathed to the arrangement and maintenance of a hospital in Moscow. His will was carried out by his cousin, Prince A.M. Golitsyn. Until 1917, the hospital was maintained at the expense of the princes Golitsyn, and then the will of D.M. Golitsyn was violated by subsequent heirs - the sale of his gallery.

He died in Vienna, but his body, at the request of his relatives and with the highest permission, was transported to Moscow in 1802, where he was buried in a crypt under the church of the Golitsyn hospital.

True patrons have never sought to advertise their activities, rather, on the contrary. Often, when performing a major charity event, they concealed their names. It is known that Savva Morozov, for example, provided great assistance in founding the Art Theater, but at the same time he made a condition that his name should not be mentioned anywhere. Our next story is about Savva Timofeevich Morozov.

Savva Timofeevich Morozov (1862-1905)

Savva Timofeevich Morozov

Descended from the Old Believers merchant family. He graduated from the gymnasium, and then the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University and received a diploma in chemistry. Communicated with D. Mendeleev and wrote a research paper on dyes himself. He also studied at the University of Cambridge, where he studied chemistry, and then in Manchester - textile business. He was the director of the Association of the Nikolskaya manufactory "Savva Morozov's son and Co.". He owned cotton fields in Turkestan and several other partnerships, where he was a shareholder or director. He was constantly engaged in charity: in his factories, he introduced payment for pregnancy and childbirth to working women, allocated scholarships to young people who studied at home and abroad. It is known that the workers at his enterprises were more literate and educated. He also helped needy students of Moscow University.

In 1898, he became a member of the Association for the Establishment of a Theater in Moscow and regularly made large donations for the construction and development of the Moscow Art Theater, initiated the construction of a new theater building. Abroad, with his money, the most modern devices for the stage were ordered (lighting equipment in the domestic theater first appeared here). Savva Morozov spent about half a million rubles on the building of the Moscow Art Theater with a bronze bas-relief on the facade in the form of a drowning swimmer.

Unfortunately, connections with the revolutionary movement, as well as personal circumstances, led S.T. Morozov to premature death.

The Bakhrushin family was called "professional philanthropists" in Moscow. In 1882, the Bakhrushins donated 450,000 rubles to the city for the construction of a hospital. This action marked the beginning of a whole series of similar charities. And the total donations of the family (only large ones) amounted to more than 3.5 million rubles.

The Bakhrushins family had a tradition at the end of the year, if it was financially prosperous, to allocate a certain amount to help the poor, the sick, and students. They carried out charitable activities both in Zaraysk, where their parents were from, and in Moscow. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the Bakhrushins family never gravitated towards luxury. A free hospital with two hundred beds for terminally ill patients, a city orphanage and a shelter for rural children from poor families, a free house where needy widows with children and student girls lived, kindergartens, schools, free canteens and hostels for female students - this is far from complete list of their accomplishments. Vasily Alekseevich wrote a will, according to which five universities (Moscow University, the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, the Academy of Commercial Sciences and the Men's Gymnasium) received money for scholarships for students. Four theatres, including the Korsh Theatre, were built partly with the money of the Bakhrushins.

Alexey Alexandrovich Bakhrushin (1865-1929)

Alexey Alexandrovich Bakhrushin

Merchant, philanthropist, well-known collector, founder of the famous theater museum, which in 1913 he presented to the Academy of Sciences.

A. Bakhrushin graduated from a private gymnasium and took up a family business - “The Association of Leather and Cloth Manufactory Alexei Bakhrushin and Sons”. But gradually he became interested in collecting and retired. Under the influence of his cousin, Alexei Petrovich Bakhrushin, he became a collector, and it was not immediately that he became interested in theatrical antiquity. Posters, programs of performances, photo portraits of actors, sketches of costumes, personal belongings of artists - all this was collected in Bakhrushin's house and became his passion. His son recalled that they laughed at Bakhrushin: “The people around looked at it as a whim of a rich tyrant, mocked him, offered to buy a button from Mochalov’s trousers or Shchepkin’s boots.” But this passion gradually took shape in a serious hobby, and on October 29, 1894, Bakhrushin presented a whole exhibition to the public. It was this day that Bakhrushin considered the founding day of the Moscow Literary and Theater Museum. He tried to most fully present the history of the Russian theater from its very inception. He organized "Bakhrushin Saturdays", which were very popular with actors and theatergoers. A. Yuzhin, A. Lensky, M. Ermolova, G. Fedotova, F. Chaliapin, L. Sobinov, K. Stanislavsky, V. Nemirovich-Danchenko visited him. Soon there was a tradition to come not empty-handed. For example, the star of the Maly Theater Glikeria Nikolaevna Fedotova presented Bakhrushin with all the gifts that she had accumulated over the years of her stage life. In his collection, which gradually became extensive and diverse, there were three sections - literary, dramatic and musical.

Over time, A.A. Bakhrushin began to think about the fate of his wealth. He really wanted all of Moscow to have access to them. But when he proposed to transfer his museum to the ownership of the Moscow city government, the city leaders, having only heard about it, began to dismiss it in every possible way: “What are you doing?! We, together with the Tretyakov and Soldiers' meetings, have had enough of grief. And here you are with yours! Dismiss, for Christ's sake! .. "

His son, Yu.A. Bakhrushin recalled: “Father was in despair - a huge collection, already worth hundreds of thousands, offered free of charge to state institutions, turned out to be useless to anyone. It was impossible to break the bureaucratic inertia.” Only the Academy of Sciences became interested in the unique collection. It took four years to settle the formalities, and only in November 1913 did the transfer of the museum to the Academy of Sciences take place.

Theater Museum named after A.A. Bakhrushin

Russian philanthropists were educated people, so they tried to develop the priority branches of domestic science, open galleries and museums to educate the country's population, help in the construction of theaters...

In this regard, we can recall the Tretyakov Gallery, the Shchukin and Morozov collections of modern French painting, the Moscow private opera S.I. Mamontov, Moscow private opera S.I. Zimin, the Moscow Art Theater already mentioned by us, the Museum of Fine Arts, for the construction of which the breeder, large landowner Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov spent more than 2 million rubles, the Philosophical and Archaeological Institutes, the Morozov Clinics, the Commercial Institute, the Alekseev and Morozov Trade Schools, etc. Let's take a look at at least one example.

Moscow Private Russian Opera (Mammoth Opera)

Savva Mamontov supported this undertaking financially and morally. At first, the troupe of a private opera consisted of Italian and Russian singers, among whom were F. Chaliapin and N. Zabela, and the scenery and costumes were created by M. Vrubel. During the years of Chaliapin's performances at the Mammoth Opera (he was a soloist for four seasons - from 1896 to 1899), his artistic career took off. Chaliapin himself noted the importance of this time: “From Mamontov I received the repertoire that gave me the opportunity to develop all the main features of my artistic nature, my temperament”. The patronage of Mamontov made it possible for Chaliapin's talent to reveal itself to the fullest. The singer himself said: “S.I. Mamontov told me: “Fedenka, you can do whatever you want in this theater! If you need costumes, tell me, and there will be costumes. If you need to put new opera Let's put on an opera! All this dressed my soul in holiday clothes, and for the first time in my life I felt free, strong, able to overcome all obstacles.

Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (1841-1918)

I. Repin "Portrait of S.I. Mamontov"

S.I. Mamontov was born into a wealthy merchant family. He graduated from high school, and then entered St. Petersburg University, later transferred to Moscow University, where he studied at the Faculty of Law. Mamontov's father was engaged in the construction of railways, but his son was not attracted to this occupation, he was more interested in theater, although at the insistence of his father he had to delve into the family business, the construction of railways, and after the death of his father, take the post of director of the Moscow-Yaroslavl Railway Society. At the same time, he actively supported various types of creative activity, made new acquaintances with artists, helped cultural organizations, and staged home performances. In 1870, Mamontov and his wife bought the estate of the writer S.T. Aksakov in Abramtsevo, it later becomes the center of the artistic life of Russia.

Manor Abramtsevo

Russian artists I.E. lived and worked here for a long time. Repin, M.M. Antokolsky, V.M. Vasnetsov, V. A. Serov, M. A. Vrubel, M. V. Nesterov, V. D. Polenov and E. D. Polenova, K. A. Korovin, as well as musicians (F. I. Chaliapin and others) . Mamontov provided significant support to many artists, including financial support, but did not engage in collecting activities.

However, in the 1890s, Savva Mamontov became bankrupt. Of course, not without the “help” of the state and the intrigues of interested parties (Director of the International Bank A. Yu. Rotshtein and Minister of Justice N. V. Muravyov). Mamontov was arrested and imprisoned in the Taganka prison, his property was described. Despite all the efforts of Mamontov's friends and the positive opinion of the workers, he spent several months in prison. The release of Savva Mamontov was deliberately prevented by Muravyov N.V., who purposefully searched for information about Mamontov's abuses, but could not find anything.

In prison, Mamontov sculpted sculptures of guards from memory. The well-known lawyer F.N. Plevako defended Savva Mamontov in court, the witnesses spoke only good things about him, the investigation found that he did not embezzle money. The jury acquitted him, after which the courtroom exploded with applause.

Yaroslavl. Opening of the monument to Savva Mamontov

The property of S. Mamontov was sold out almost completely, many valuable works went into private hands. The railway went into state ownership at a cost significantly lower than the market value, part of the shares went to other entrepreneurs, including Witte's relatives.

All debts were paid off. But Mamontov lost money and reputation and was no longer able to engage in entrepreneurial activities. Until the end of his life, he retained his love for art and the love of his old friends - artists and musicians.

Savva Ivanovich Mamontov died in April 1918 and was buried in Abramtsevo.

Varvara Alekseevna Morozova (Khludova) (1848-1918)

Varvara Alekseevna Morozova

In memory of her husband Abram Abramovich Morozov, she built a psychiatric clinic on Devichye Pole, which, together with the purchased plot of land, she transferred to Moscow University, initiating the creation of the Clinical City on Devichye Pole. The cost of building and equipping the clinic amounted to more than 500,000 rubles, a huge amount of money at that time. The construction of the clinic was one of her first charity events. Somewhat earlier, during the lifetime of her first husband, Varvara Alekseevna had organized an elementary school and craft classes with them. Initially, the school was located in the house of A. A. Morozov on Bolshaya Alekseevskaya Street, but later moved to a new, special building built for it, on a site specially acquired for it in 1899, donated in 1901 to the city. This school was one of the first vocational schools in Moscow. At the expense of V. A. Morozova, the buildings of the Rogozhsky women's and men's primary schools were also built.

V. A. Morozova made a great contribution to the creation of educational institutions: Prechistensky working courses and the City People's University. A. L. Shanyavsky. He received 50 thousand rubles from V. A. Morozova. Thanks to her participation and active assistance, a hostel was built for students of the Imperial Technical School. In 1885, V. A. Morozova founded the first free public reading room in Moscow. I. S. Turgenev, designed for 100 readers and had a rich book fund. Significant funds were donated by her to the needs of Moscow University. At her factory there was a hospital, a maternity shelter, a trading school for young workers.

Mikhail Abramovich Morozov (1870-1903)

V. Serov "Portrait of M.A. Morozov"

The largest philanthropist of his time. At his expense, the Institute of Malignant Tumors was established (currently the building houses the P. A. Herzen Moscow Research Oncological Institute), the hall of Greek sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts. Various amounts were allocated to the Conservatory, the Stroganov School to support young artists, performers and musicians. In the collection of M.A. Morozov read 60 icons, 10 sculptures and about 100 paintings, including works by contemporary French and Russian artists.

M.A. Morozov is the successor of the Morozov dynasty of patrons, merchant, entrepreneur, collector of Western European and Russian painting and sculpture. He is the eldest son of the famous Moscow merchant Abram Abramovich Morozov and Varvara Alekseevna Morozov (Khludova), the elder brother of the collector and philanthropist Ivan Abramovich Morozov, the husband of the famous philanthropist and hostess of the Moscow literary and musical salon Margarita Kirillovna Morozov, the father of Mikhail Mikhailovich Morozov (Miki Morozov), a scientist - Shakespeare scholar and pianist Maria Mikhailovna Morozova (Fiedler). Hereditary honorary citizen. Director of the Partnership of Tver Manufactory, Vowel of the Moscow City Duma, Honorary Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the Merchants' Assembly, Collegiate Assessor. Director of the Russian Musical Society.

Ivan Abramovich Morozov (1871-1921)

V. Serov "Portrait of I.A. Morozov"

He replenished the M.A., who passed after his brother. Morozov has a large collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. After the revolution, the collection was nationalized and on its basis the II Museum of the New Western art(I Museum was the Shchukin collection). In 1940, the collection was partly disbanded into the Museum fine arts, partly in the Hermitage. For example, in his collection there was the famous painting by P. Picasso “Girl on a ball ».

P. Picasso "Girl on the ball"

Pyotr Ivanovich Shchukin (1857-1912)

Petr Ivanovich Schukin

Gathered and donated to the state a collection that formed the basis of the collection Historical Museum. Until the end of his life, he remained the curator of the museum and continued to bear all the expenses, pay salaries to employees and replenish the museum's funds.

Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin (1854-1936)

D. Melnikov "Portrait of S.I. Schukin"

Moscow merchant and art collector, whose collection laid the foundation for the collections of French modernist painting in the Hermitage and State Museum fine arts them. A.S. Pushkin.

He collected the richest collection of paintings of modern Western painting, recognized years later as masterpieces of world art. According to his will, he donated his collection to the state.

E. Degas "Blue Dancers"

Shchukin bought paintings to his taste, preferring the Impressionists, and then the Post-Impressionists. Shchukin managed to collect the best examples of contemporary French art. He confessed to his daughter: “If, after seeing a painting, you experience a psychological shock, buy it”. In the collection of S.I. Shchukin was, for example, a painting by E. Degas "Blue Dancers", as well as paintings by Monet, Picasso, Gauguin, Cezanne.

Fyodor Pavlovich Ryabushinsky (1886–1910)

F. Chumakov "Portrait of F.P. Ryabushinsky"

From a family of Russian industrialists and bankers. He was a passionate traveler, became interested in geography, interest in which led him to the idea of organizing a scientific expedition to Kamchatka. With his plan, F. P. Ryabushinsky turned to several scientific institutions in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but did not find support from them. Only the Russian Geographical Society agreed to participate in its implementation.

At his expense, the expedition was carried out in 1908–1910. and named after him.

The organizational issues of the expedition were resolved by F. P. Ryabushinsky with scientists: oceanographer Yu. M. Shokalsky and cartographer P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky. The expedition was financed by F. P. Ryabushinsky. He himself wanted to participate in it, but illness did not allow him to do this. In 1910, he died of tuberculosis, but bequeathed to his relatives to bring the expedition to an end.

Yuri Stepanovich Nechaev-Maltsov (1834–1913)

I. Kramskoy "Portrait of Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov"

At the age of 46, Nechaev-Maltsov unexpectedly became the owner of an empire of glass factories, having received it by will. His uncle, diplomat Ivan Maltsov, was the only one in Tehran who survived the events in the Russian embassy in Tehran, when poet-diplomat Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov died. Maltsov left diplomacy and continued the family business: glass production in the town of Gus. He brought back the secret of colored glass from Europe and began producing profitable window glass. All this crystal-glass empire, along with two mansions in the capital, painted by Vasnetsov and Aivazovsky, was given to an elderly bachelor official Nechaev, and with them a double surname.

Professor Ivan Tsvetaev (Marina Tsvetaeva's father), who organized the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, met him and convinced him to give 3 million to complete the Museum.

Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov not only did not want to be known, but for the entire 10 years while the Museum was being created, he remained anonymous. 300 workers hired by Nechaev-Maltsov mined white marble of special frost resistance in the Urals, and when it turned out that it was impossible to make 10-meter columns for a portico in Russia, he chartered a steamer in Norway. From Italy, he ordered skillful stonemasons.

With his money, the Technical School in Vladimir, the almshouse on Shabolovka and the church in memory of those killed on the Kulikovo field were founded.

Entrance to St. George's Cathedral, donated by Yu. S. Nechaev-Maltsov to the city of Gus-Khrustalny

We decided to compare the scale of pre-revolutionary and today's charity and find out, with facts and figures in hand, who is bigger, better, stronger?

The truly grandiose charitable activities that Russian entrepreneurs, industrialists and merchants were engaged in are widely known. turn of XIX-XX centuries. It is no coincidence that the time since the early 1860s. and until the First World War is called the "golden age of Russian patronage." However, today's largest entrepreneurs, including those who are commonly called "oligarchs", are more and more engaged in charitable activities. We decided to compare the features and scale of that and today's charitable activities of the largest domestic entrepreneurs and find out with figures and facts who is bigger, better, stronger?

As Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky wrote, “in order for art to flourish, not only artists are needed, but also patrons.” He knew what he was talking about, since he himself was not only a great theater director and theater reformer, but also came from the Alekseev merchant family, who was related to S.I. Mamontov and the Tretyakov brothers. Also, for example, the famous Moscow mayor and philanthropist N.A. Alekseev was a cousin of Stanislavsky.

Only some of the most

In order to exhaustively present all the charitable deeds of pre-revolutionary patrons, it is necessary to write more than one doctoral dissertation. We will list here only some of the brightest and largest blessings that allowed more than a hundred years ago the intensive development of Russian art, medicine, science and education.

We will only make a reservation that we, firstly, will say about the largest acts of charity, but not about its lower and middle layers. After all, in a sense, already at the very heights, it will be possible to get an idea of the ratio of the scale of charity today and then.

Secondly, we, of course, will only talk about what, in principle, we can know. Charity, mercy ideally should be performed in secret, so that no one knows about it. Let left hand doesn't know what the right one is doing. Therefore, we readily admit that we may not know much about the secret benefits of today's entrepreneurs. But after all, we also do not know this about pre-revolutionary patrons. So, as they say, “ceteris paribus”, the comparison we conceived seems quite justified and logical.

Medicine

The investments of pre-revolutionary patrons in medicine were truly grandiose. In Moscow alone, 3 entire medical campuses were completely built with private capital!

One was located near the Novodevichy Convent on the Maiden's Field. There on funds Morozov, Khludov, Shelaputin and others, 13 clinics were built. The second, huge medical complex was built in Sokolniki at the expense of philanthropists Bakhrushins, Fighting and Alekseevs.

The third town was built next to the Kaluga outpost. The current 1st and 2nd Gradskaya hospitals, the children's Morozovskaya hospital (it was built at the expense of the merchant of the first guild E.V. Morozov, hence its name) - all of them were built with private capital. The same is the current 5th city, or the hospital of Tsarevich Alexy (formerly Medvednikovskaya).

It was created with the money of the widow of a Siberian gold miner Alexandra Medvednikova. According to her will, 1 million rubles. was intended for the construction of a hospital with 150 beds for terminally ill "Christian denominations, without distinction of rank, sex and age" and 300 thousand rubles. to an almshouse for 30 old men and 30 old women. Medvednikova ordered in her will to arrange churches at the hospital and the almshouse, so that there would be an "eternal commemoration of the donor and the persons indicated by her in the will."

Also, for example, the famous Kashchenko or "Kanatchikov's Dacha", she is also the 1st Moscow Psychiatric Hospital No. ON THE. Alekseeva was built in 1894 at the expense of patrons. Fundraising was initiated by the mayor of Moscow N.A. Alekseev (the same cousin of K.S. Stanislavsky). There is a legend about her. One of the merchants said to Alekseev: “Bow at your feet in front of everyone - I will give a million to the hospital (according to other sources - “only” 300,000 rubles). Alekseev bowed - and received the money.

Among other metropolitan hospitals, we will mention, firstly, the children's hospital named after St. Vladimir in Moscow, founded by a philanthropist and benefactor Pavel Grigorievich von Derviz. His children died in infancy, the oldest of them was named Vladimir, and it is to his memory that the current children's hospital owes its existence. Secondly, the Botkin Hospital, for the creation of which a merchant, collector and publisher, philanthropist donated 2 million rubles. Kozma Terentievich Soldatenkov(1818–1901). In 1991, in front of the building of the Botkin hospital, a bust of K.T. Soldatenkov was erected as a token of gratitude.

Art

No less grandiose was the activity of Russian patrons in the field of arts.

Railway builder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov(1841-1918) created the Private Russian Opera ("Mammoth Opera"), thanks to which, in particular, the brilliant Chaliapin was discovered. IN opera troupe he invested a lot of money. As the great singer recalled, “S.I. Mamontov told me: - Fedenka, you can do whatever you want in this theater! If you need costumes, tell me, and there will be costumes. If you need to stage a new opera, we will stage an opera! All this dressed my soul in festive clothes, and for the first time in my life I felt free, strong, able to overcome all obstacles.

Thanks to Mamontov, the concept of a theater artist appeared in Russia, who becomes a full member of the troupe. For productions financed by him, M. Vasnetsov and K. Korovin drew sketches of costumes and scenery, and the scenery itself.

The famous estate of Abramtsevo Mamontov became at that time truly the center of the artistic life of Russia. The great Russian artists I. E. Repin, V. Vasnetsov, V. Serov, M. Vrubel, M. Nesterov, V. Polenov and others stayed here for a long time, lived and worked. Mamontov provided significant support to many artists, including financial .

Savva Timofeevich Morozov(1862-1905) provided tremendous assistance to the famous Moscow Art Theater. He constantly donated huge amounts of money for the construction and development of the Art Theater, for some time he even managed its financial part. Here is what one of the founders and leaders of the Moscow Art Theater, K.S. Stanislavsky, once said to him: “The work you have contributed seems to me a feat, and the elegant building that has grown on the ruins of a brothel seems to be a dream come true ... I am glad that the Russian theater has found its Morozov like that how art waited for its Tretyakov ... "

Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov(1832–1898) founded the famous Tretyakov Art Gallery. Back in the 1850s. he begins to collect a collection of Russian art. Already in 1860, Tretyakov decided to transfer his magnificent collection to the city. For the collected collection in 1874, he built a gallery, which opened to the public in 1881. Later, Pavel Tretyakov transferred his entire collection, together with the gallery building, to the ownership of the Moscow City Duma. By the way, his last words before his death to his relatives were: "Take care of the gallery and be healthy."

Among other things, Pavel Tretyakov, together with his brother, was a trustee of the Arnold School for Deaf and Dumb Children. To do this, he bought a large stone house with a garden for one hundred and fifty pupils, fully provided for this school and its pupils.

The largest Russian philanthropist and philanthropist (1826-1901) built a theater in Moscow on the street. Bolshaya Dmitrovka (now the Operetta Theatre) also donated 200,000 rubles to the Moscow Conservatory.

In connection with pre-revolutionary patronage in art, we can also recall the creation Alexey Alexandrovich Bakhrushin(1865–1929) the first theater museum in Russia, and the foundation by a timber merchant and a merchant Mitrofan Petrovich Belyaev(1836-1903) of the so-called Belyaevsky circle, which brought together many outstanding musicians, and much, much more.

Education

gold miner Alfons Leonovich Shanyavsky(1837-1905) in 1905 bequeathed all his funds to the creation of the People's University in Moscow, accessible to everyone regardless of gender, nationality, religion at the most moderate fee. In 1905–1908 at his expense, the funds of his wife Lidia Alekseevna, as well as a large group of Moscow patrons, the Moscow City People's University named after A.L. Shanyavsky was created, which played a huge role in pre-revolutionary education. Now the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) is located in its building on Miusskaya Square.

In 1907, the first institute in Russia that graduates businessmen with higher education, the Commercial Institute, was established in Moscow. Now it is the famous Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics. Its foundation was essentially the beginning of the creation of a system of higher economic and commercial education in Russia. Most of the funds for the construction were private donations from Moscow merchants and industrialists, collected on the initiative of the merchant of the first guild Alexey Semenovich Vishnyakov. Also contributed to the creation of the future "Plekhanovka" Konovalov, Morozov, Ryabushinsky, Chetverikov, Sorokoumovsky, Abrikosov and etc.

In the “golden age of Russian patronage”, a lot of secondary specialized scientific institutions were opened: the Maltsev Vocational School at the expense of Nechaev-Maltsev, Dulevo two-class rural school at the porcelain factory of the Association of M.S. Kuznetsov and others. Also V.A. Morozova opened one of the first vocational schools in Russia (Morozov School). At the same time, she donated large sums to the People's University. Shanyavsky, Moscow University and other universities.

The science

Pre-revolutionary entrepreneurs-philanthropists took a great part in the development of Russian science. Very many research institutes were created and financed at that time with private funds. Let's give some examples.

Moscow millionaire Vasily Fyodorovich Arshinov(1854–1942) a merchant of the 1st guild and the owner of a cloth factory in Zamoskvorechye built and equipped with the latest equipment the first private research institute in Russia, Lithogaea (Stone Earth), which became, under the leadership of his son Vladimir, the Russian scientific center of petrography and mineralogy.

Major Vologda businessman Khristofor Semenovich Ledentsov(1842–1907) bequeathed all his capital to the development of the natural sciences in Russia. Thanks to him, the famous physiological laboratory of I.P. Pavlov was built at the Institute of Experimental Medicine. He also financed the work of the great Russian scientists P.N. Lebedev, N.E. Zhukovsky, V.I. Vernadsky, N.D. Zelinsky and many others.

Dmitry Pavlovich Ryabushinsky(1882-1962) with the assistance of the "father of Russian aviation" N.E. Zhukovsky in his estate Kuchino (now it is a microdistrict of the city of Zheleznodorozhny near Moscow) in 1905 built the world's first aerodynamic institute "for the practical implementation of the dynamic method of flying ...". He played a very important role in the development of aviation science in Russia and the world.

social activities

Pre-revolutionary patrons-entrepreneurs were actively engaged in social activities, helping the poor. So Alexander Alekseevich Bakhrushin(1823–1916) donated 1 million 300 thousand rubles to the Moscow City Public Administration. Another family Bakhrushins maintained in Moscow the "House of free apartments for widows with many children and poor female students" on Bolotnaya Square in the very center of the capital, where 2,000 people lived free of charge. Residents of the house used the infirmary, reading rooms and library, two kindergartens for free. School, etc.

The Bakhrushins opened in fact the first hospice in Russia - a house for incurable patients (today it is hospital No. 14 in Sokolniki, the former 33rd Ostroumovskaya hospital). Also, the Bakhrushin family created and maintained the first family-type orphanage in Russia, where 150 children lived, a vocational school for boys, a retirement home for artists, etc. The brothers also built 10 churches, systematically helped 17 churches and 3 monasteries.

Flor Yakovlevich Ermakov(1815–1895), the owner of a real textile empire, after the death of his parents, wife and two sons, he sold all his factories and factories, and built shelters and hospitals for the poor with the money received. In total, he donated over 3 million rubles to charity. With his money, two huge almshouses for 1,500 people were built in the capital. With his own money, the Ermakovskaya department for 100 people was created in the Alekseevsky psychiatric hospital. He also, for example, opened a free canteen for 500 people. He fed about 1,000 people daily.

already mentioned Varvara Alekseevna Morozova built a whole residential complex for the workers of her factory with hospitals, a school, a theater, an almshouse, a library. She also founded zemstvo hospitals and schools in different provinces. Morozova also constantly helped victims of famine, disease, natural disasters, etc.

How much did pre-revolutionary patrons spend on charity

The Bakhrushins spent almost 6.5 million rubles on philanthropy, cultural and social charity, including the needs of the Church. At the same time, by 1917, the real estate of the company was estimated at 5 million 215 thousand rubles.

The Tretyakov brothers had a capital of 8 million rubles, and donated in aggregate to various charitable projects more than 3 million rubles. At least half of the profits they received was spent on charity in the field of culture, education, medicine, and social charity. As Pavel Tretyakov said, “my idea was to make money from a very young age so that what was acquired from society would also return to society in some useful institutions; This thought never left me all my life.

Also the largest Russian philanthropist and philanthropist mentioned above Gavrila Gavrilovich Solodovnikov(1826-1901) left only 815 thousand rubles to his sons and relatives. At the same time, he bequeathed more than 20 million rubles to various charitable projects: the creation of schools and vocational schools in the northern provinces of Russia, a maternity hospital in Serpukhov and cheap apartment houses in Moscow.

Moscow manufacturer and homeowner Ivan Grigorievich Prostyakov(1843–1915), who had 21 children, left them a legacy of 1.5 million rubles. At the same time, he spent about 1 million rubles on charity: to create shelters, schools, hospitals for ordinary people.

Today's benefactors

Now, from the "golden age of Russian philanthropy", when a hundred flowers truly bloomed, let's move on to today's much more modest landscape of charity. Let's make a reservation that we will only talk about the largest entrepreneurs, about the richest people in Russia, those who are called "oligarchs".

Today's largest Russian entrepreneurs have created special charitable foundations for charity, through which they provide sponsorship and philanthropic support to various social and cultural undertakings.

The largest private charitable foundations include:

Charitable Foundation of Vladimir Potanin created in 1999. The fund's budget is formed from deductions from Interros and personal funds Vladimir Potanin(the sole owner of this largest holding).

The figure of Vladimir Potanin is especially indicative for us because he is one of the "flagmen" of today's charity, so to speak. It is no coincidence that for many years he has headed the Commission for the Development of Charity and Volunteering of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, and his deputy in this commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation is Larisa Zelskova, General Director of the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation.

So, the main activity of the Potanin Foundation is the distribution of scholarships and grants among students and teachers of leading state universities in Russia, as well as support for museums (4 grant programs). The following figures speak of the scale of its activities. For example, in the past academic year, the amount of scholarships for the Foundation's scholarship competition for students was 5,000 rubles per month. 1,200 students from 57 universities of the country became scholarship holders (in total, 72 million rubles, or about 2 million 300 thousand US dollars, were spent on this program this year).

The annual grant fund of the most extensive program - "Museum in a Changing World" - is 20 million rubles, the amount of one grant is up to 2 million rubles.

In total, the total budget of the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation is 10 million US dollars per year. True, back in 2010, Vladimir Potanin spoke of his intention to spend $250 million on charity over the next 10 years ($25 million a year). At the same time, he became the first Russian to join the Giving Pledge initiative. V. Potanin said that he would spend most of his fortune on charity, without specifying either the exact amount or the timing of when this would happen.

Today, Potanin is the sole owner of the Interros company, the market value of whose assets is currently estimated at 12-13 billion US dollars. With a personal fortune of 17.8 billion US dollars, Potanin in 2011 took 4th place in the list of 200 richest businessmen in Russia (according to Forbes magazine). Also, for example, in 2011, only the net profit of Norilsk Nickel, one of the main enterprises of Interros, amounted to 3.626 billion US dollars.

Fund " free business» established in 1998 and formed from personal funds Oleg Deripaska and deductions from the company "Basel". The Foundation implements programs to support science and youth, financial support for schools, restoration of monasteries and temples, etc. The foundation's largest program, Temples of Russia, costs about $7 million annually.

"Volnoe delo" spends on charity amounts comparable to those of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation. In 2010, the total amount of funding for the Fund's program amounted to 420 million rubles (slightly less than 12 million US dollars). In 2009 - 287 million rubles.

At the same time, Oleg Deripaska, having a personal fortune of $8.5 billion according to Forbes magazine, took 16th place in the list of 200 richest businessmen in Russia in 2013 (also according to Forbes magazine).

Fund " Dynasty» created in 2001 at the expense of the founder of VimpelCom (Beeline trademark) Dmitry Zimin and members of his family. “Dynasty aims to support fundamental science and education in Russia, running 20 programs and projects. These include programs to support young physicists and mathematicians, support teachers and gifted students, public lectures by famous scientists, etc. Very interesting project fund - a popular science site about fundamental science site "Elements".

The planned budget for programs and projects of the Dynasty Foundation in 2013 is 328 million rubles. In 2012, the fund's budget amounted to 314 million rubles.

Charitable Foundation for Cultural Initiatives (Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation) established in 2004 Mikhail Prokhorov to support projects in science, education, sports, as well as artistic initiatives and theater projects. At first, the fund's programs operated mainly in the industrial Norilsk region, but now it also operates in the Central Federal District, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Urals, Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts.

The Prokhorov Foundation is active at the regional level, especially in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, as well as in the field of contemporary art. For example, the foundation is the general partner of the Lev Dodin Maly Drama Theatre, the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, etc.

At the time of the Fund's creation, its annual budget was US$1 million. In 2011, the total budget of the fund amounted to 322 million 450 thousand rubles, in 2010 - 321 million rubles.

According to Forbes magazine, Prokhorov's personal fortune for 2013 was estimated at $13 billion. Among other things, Prokhorov owns the American basketball team New Jersey Nets, two 96-meter yachts Palladium and Solemar, as well as Gulfstream and Falcon aircraft.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of ZAO Renova Viktor Vekselberg in 2004 established the fund " Connection of times”, which was supposed to deal with the return to Russia of historically significant works of art located abroad. by the most famous project fund was the acquisition of the famous collection of Faberge eggs, which was spent 100 million US dollars.

Also among the projects of the Link of Times Foundation:

return of the bells of the St. Danilov Monastery from the USA,
the return in 2006 of the archive of the Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin to Russia,
restoration of the Vrubel Hall in the Tretyakov Gallery,
restoration of the historical monument of Fort Ross (California, USA).

According to Forbes magazine, Viktor Vekselberg's personal fortune in 2013 is estimated at $15.7 billion.

There are, of course, other large charitable foundations that do charity work. Thus, according to the Donor Forum, in 2012 the total total budget of the 70 largest foundations exceeded 13 billion rubles (about $439 million).

Differences

First, of course, the scale. The share of funds allocated for charity from pre-revolutionary patrons and the current "oligarchs" is simply incomparable. Of course, there are pleasant exceptions among the current ones, but we are talking about a general trend. It is enough to look, on the one hand, at the ratio between the budget of the Potanin Charitable Foundation (10 million US dollars) and the profit of Norilsk Nickel in 2011 - 3.626 billion US dollars. On the other hand, we can recall that, for example, the Tretyakov brothers spent at least half of their profits on charity.

Secondly, despite the many useful undertakings, the activities of today's patrons are not of a system-forming nature, while pre-revolutionary patrons of art provided real infrastructural support to culture, art and science, contributed to the rise of entire cultural and scientific industries. It is no coincidence that if the first part of our material was divided into the areas of "science", "art", "social activity", etc., then this cannot be done in the second part - for lack of at least some more or less solid factual base. At the same time, without the “golden age of Russian patronage”, we would not have had the masterpieces of K. Bryullov and A. Ivanov, I. Repin and V. Perov, such heights of national culture as the Tretyakov Gallery, the Moscow Art Theater, the Abramtsevo estate, Russian opera with the great F. Chaliapin.

The activities in the field of charity of today's largest entrepreneurs are often predominantly of a PR nature, focused in many respects only on the entertainment component. It seems that it is calculated more on how it will be perceived, rather than based on a real desire to help. For example, in the field of education, they help leading metropolitan universities, which are already doing relatively well, compared with the rest of the country. This is also why today's Russian oligarchs spend much more money on high-performance sports and the purchase of expensive foreign sports clubs than, for example, on supporting mass children's sports in our country.

A philanthropist is a person who contributes to the development of science and art on a voluntary and gratuitous basis, providing them with material assistance from personal funds. The name comes from the name of the Egyptian Gaius Cylnius Maecenas, who was the patron of the arts under Emperor Augustus.

“His name became a household name for a reason - for the first time in history, a powerful state policy was implemented, the conductor of which was the Maecenas. With the support of the emperor, Patron sent a significant share of the funds accumulated by the Roman Empire to encourage and support the creative industry. Thus, a system of state financial support for culture or the world of arts was created.

With the help of investments in art, the political tasks of great Rome were solved, the position and power of the Roman Empire and its power were strengthened. Therefore, it cannot be considered that a philanthropist is an unmercenary who does good to people for free. A philanthropist is one who, by supporting art, develops the spirituality of society as a necessary condition for the realization of the tasks facing it.” (Magazine "World of Arts")

The word "charity" in the old days meant compassion for one's neighbor, mercy. For the needy, various charitable institutions were built - hospitals, shelters, schools, colleges, almshouses. Charity was one of the main virtues of Christianity.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, charity was usually not included in government programs to help the poor, it was done by private individuals and societies for helping the needy. State assistance was designated by the term "charity" (public charity). Charity was widespread in the state and public life Russia.

The 19th century is the heyday of philanthropy in Russia. The rapid growth of the economy has led to the emergence of a large number of rich people. Among them were those who possessed not only big money, but also amazing spiritual qualities - generosity, a sense of compassion and, at the same time, an understanding of beauty.

Who are they - the most famous patrons in the history of Russia?

In modern Russia, the same names are always heard: Tretyakov, Mamontov, Morozov. But there were other philanthropists, whose names are undeservedly forgotten. This article is dedicated to them.

Sergei Grigorievich Stroganov

Sergei Stroganov (1794-1882) - count, statesman, archaeologist, general, Moscow governor.

All his life he was in military service, showed considerable courage in the Battle of Borodino, took part in the Crimean War. However, the most striking and fruitful was his activity in a purely civilian field. Russian enlightenment owes a lot to him. In addition, Sergei Grigorievich was also a great benefactor.

Despite the fact that he was in the rank of adjutant general and held high positions, Stroganov was indifferent to his career. He was distinguished by a strong and independent character, he knew how to firmly defend his convictions, even if they contradicted the opinion of the highest officials in the state.

Thanks to his spiritual qualities and deep education, Sergei Grigorievich was chosen as the educator of the emperor's sons, Grand Dukes Nikolai, Alexander, Vladimir and Alexei Alexandrovich.

He managed to do a lot for the fatherland. He founded the first free drawing school in Russia. It was available to all talented children, regardless of their class origin. The “School of Drawing in Relation to Arts and Crafts” (now the Moscow State Art Academy named after S.G. Stroganov) was opened in Moscow on October 31, 1825. The Stroganov family continued to finance the school until 1917.

From 1835 to 1847 he was a trustee of the Moscow educational district and Moscow University. This period was called by contemporaries "Stroganov's time". In 1840, Stroganov showed all his characteristic hardness of character and progressive thinking, sharply protesting against a secret government circular recommending that representatives of the lower classes be limited access to university education.

For more than 37 years, Count S. G. Stroganov was the chairman of the Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities, founded at Moscow University. Every year he equipped with his own money scientific archaeological expeditions to the south of Russia. The result of these excavations in the Crimea were rich Kerch treasures and "Scythian gold", now stored in the Hermitage.

In 1859 he founded the Moscow Archaeological Society. He was the chairman of the Imperial Archaeological Commission, located in his St. Petersburg palace for 23 years. On the highest order, the count supervised the multi-volume edition of Antiquities of the Russian State, which was published in 1837-1874. At the expense of the count, the Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir was restored. Stroganov was the author of a number of published works on the history ancient Russian architecture and archaeology.

He was a member of the commission for the construction of the Cathedral of the Savior in Moscow.

He was engaged in numismatics, left rich collections of Russian coins and ancient icons.

The son of Sergei Grigorievich, Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov, was also fond of history and archeology, was a member of the St. Petersburg Archaeological Society and was a famous numismatist. His collection of 35,000 medieval European coins is now in the Hermitage. And the breeding stud farm founded by him is still operating and is known as the "Pskov stud farm".

Unfortunately, fate has prepared a bitter fate for this noble and illustrious family. Today there is no one left of the Stroganov family, except for Helen Stroganova. Baroness Helene de Ludinghausen is the only representative of this glorious and ancient family. She is the great-grandniece of Count Sergei Grigoryevich Stroganov.

Helen was born on August 20, 1942 in Paris. Her grandmother, Princess Sophia Vasilchikova (daughter of Olga Stroganova, granddaughter of Sergei Grigorievich) left Russia at the end of 1917 with her four daughters. In 1942, one of the daughters of Xenia and Baron Andrei de Ludinghausen, a descendant of Russified Germans (who lived in Russia in the 16th century), had a daughter, Helen.

For many years she worked for Yves Saint Laurent as the director of his Fashion House. Now retired. Lives in France, in Paris. Engaged in a large social and charitable activities.

Alexander Ludwigovich Stieglitz

Alexander Ludwigovich Stieglitz at various times held senior positions in the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire.

Talented financier, banker, entrepreneur, Baron A.L. Stieglitz was the richest man in Russia in late XIX century, one of the founders of the Main Society of Russian Railways, as well as the director of the State Bank. The baron built the Nikolaev, Peterhof and Baltic railways.

He inherited his capital and the title of court banker from his father, through whose mediation Nicholas I concluded agreements on foreign loans for more than 300 million rubles, for which the Russified German received the title of baron. With an annual income of 3 million, he remained just as unsociable (the hairdresser who cut his hair for a quarter of a century never heard the voice of his client) and painfully modest.

His father, a millionaire and a zealot for education, intended his son to the scientific field, to which he felt an inclination. Having received an excellent classical education at home, Stieglitz graduated from Dorpat University, where he showed great ability in science. He was fond of ancient languages, painting, literature. After graduating from the university, the young man traveled a lot around Europe, and when he returned to Russia, he entered public service to the Ministry of Finance.

Alexander Lyudvigovich dealt with financial issues all his life, but understanding the problems of ordinary people was not alien to him. During the Crimean War, he donated large sums for the needs of the Russian army: in 1853 - in favor of the Chesme military almshouse and in 1855 - in favor of naval officers who lost their property in Sevastopol. Considerable funds were also spent on education, on the maintenance of pupils of educational institutions, on maintaining the shelter in Kolomna, founded by his father.

January 1 (13), 1853, on the day of the celebration of the 50th anniversary trading house Stieglitz & Co., the young owner of the company, generously rewarded and provided for the future of all his employees, and no one was forgotten, including artel workers and watchmen.

In 1858, simultaneously with a donation for the construction of a monument to Emperor Nicholas I in the exchange hall, Stieglitz contributed a significant amount to the maintenance of pupils in educational institutions capital in memory of the late emperor.

After taking office as Governor of the State Bank, Stieglitz took care of the needs of his colleagues. With his closest assistance, in 1862, a savings and loan bank for employees was established in the State Bank, then for 3 years he supported the funds of the cash desk with donations (leaving part of his salary in her favor). In the 1880s, the deputy meeting of the cash desk gave this amount the name "capital named after Baron A. L. Stieglitz." From its percentage, benefits were annually given to widows and orphans of members of the fund.

In addition to the listed institutions, Stieglitz at various times also benefited many others, including the orphanage in Kolomna, founded by his father, continued to exist on his donations.

Undoubtedly, Alexander Ludwigovich loved the beautiful, although all his life he was engaged only in making money. And if his son-in-law Alexander Polovtsov, the husband of his adopted daughter, had not convinced him that the Russian industry could not survive without “scientific draftsmen”, we would not have had either the Stieglitz School or the first Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts in Russia (the best part of the collections of which later went to the Hermitage) .

“Russia will be happy when merchants donate money for teaching and educational purposes without the hope of getting a medal around their neck,” said A. A. Polovtsov, state secretary of Emperor Alexander III.

In 1876, the baron presented his most valuable gift to St. Petersburg and Russia, giving 1 million rubles. to create in his hometown a school of industrial design - the Central School of Technical Drawing (St. Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy named after A.L. Stieglitz, from 1953 to 1994 the institute was called the Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial School named after V.I. Mukhina, "Mukhinskoye school"). Thus, a building in the Neo-Renaissance style appeared in Solyany Lane, erected according to the project of architects R.A. Gedike and A.I. Krakau, which in itself was already a work of art.

An integral part of the St. Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy is the Museum of Applied Arts. The halls of the museum became the cultural, educational, educational and exhibition center of the academy.

The fact is that the industrialist Stieglitz gathered in these halls the best examples of applied art from around the world, for which he spent a fortune. Antique furniture, household items, tapestries were bought up at auctions all over Europe. The baron exhibited all the masterpieces in the halls of the museum so that future artists could study only the best examples of art of all times and peoples, thus adopting the experience of recognized masters. Almost all historical eras and styles are reflected in the artistic decoration of thirty-two halls of the museum.

Now the St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Industry. A.L. Stieglitz is one of the most famous art universities in the country. The Academy has graduated from many artists who have made a significant contribution to the art and culture of Russia and other countries. Among the famous graduates are Adrian Vladimirovich Kaplun, Anna Petrovna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin.

Baron Stieglitz until the end of his days regularly allocated funds for the maintenance of the school and after his death bequeathed a large sum of money for its needs, which contributed to its further development.

On October 24 (November 5), 1884, Stieglitz died of pneumonia and was buried, according to own will, in Ivangorod in the Church of the Holy Trinity, personally built by him over the grave of his wife, for the spiritual needs of the local factory population.

The testament left by Stieglitz, in general, is an example of caring for the institutions he created and the persons who were in any more or less close relationship with him.

So, by the way, in favor of employees of the State Bank, they were bequeathed 30,000 rubles; his personal employees were not forgotten either: his favorite valet, for example, received 5,000 rubles. The total amount distributed according to Stieglitz's will among different persons and institutions was rumored to reach 100 million rubles (excluding real estate), but in reality it was more modest - about 38 million rubles.

It is curious to note that, being a completely independent person, whose capitals were willingly accepted in all countries, Stieglitz placed his huge fortune almost exclusively in Russian funds and once remarked to a skeptical remark of one financier about the imprudence of such trust in Russian finances:

“My father and I have amassed our entire fortune in Russia; if she turns out to be insolvent, then I am ready to lose all my fortune with her.

Solodovnikov Gavrila Gavrilovich

Gavrila Gavrilovich Solodovnikov (1826, Serpukhov - May 21, 1901, Moscow) - one of the richest Moscow merchants and homeowners, multimillionaire, owner of a shop and theater in Moscow, philanthropist; donated more than 20 million rubles to charity. With his funds, a theater on Bolshaya Dmitrovka (later the Moscow Operetta Theater), a clinic at the medical faculty of Moscow State University, a number of houses for the poor in Moscow, an orphanage, and several schools in four provinces of Russia were built.

The son of a paper merchant, due to lack of time, he learned to write poorly and express his thoughts in a coherent way. At 20 he became a merchant of the first guild, at 40 he became a millionaire. He was famous for his frugality and prudence (he ate yesterday's buckwheat and rode in a carriage, on which only the rear wheels were shod with rubber). He did not always conduct business honestly, but he made up for it with his will, writing off almost all millions to charity.

He was the first to make a contribution to the construction of the Moscow Conservatory: a luxurious marble staircase was built with his 200 thousand rubles. He built on Bolshaya Dmitrovka a "concert hall with a theater stage for extravaganzas and ballets" (the current Operetta Theatre), in which the Private Opera of Savva Mamontov settled. It was here that the young Fyodor Chaliapin, who had already established himself in provincial operas, performed for the first time in Moscow. Since 1961 this house has been known as the Moscow Operetta Theatre.

In the same years, Gavrila Gavrilovich decided to become a nobleman. For a person with such a state as Solodovnikov had, it was not difficult. Everyone knew very well how it was done. Those who wished to come to the city government and directly asked how he could help the city. He was given a task, he carried it out, and the city wrote a petition to the highest name, and this petition was usually granted. So did Solodovnikov.

Appearing in 1894 at the council, he declared that he would like to build some useful institution for the city. There were people with a sense of humour. They explained to the merchant that the city now needed nothing more than a venereal hospital. The subtlety of the situation was that, according to the tradition of that time, an object donated to the city was given the name of the donor. Consequently, the hospital built by Gavrila Gavrilovich should have been called "Clinic of skin and venereal diseases of the merchant Solodovnikov". The millionaire immediately realized what the fun was, and refused the offer. Three more times he applied to the council, and each time he was offered the same thing.

It ended with the fact that the desire to go to the aristocrats won. The clinic was built and equipped according to the latest science and technology of the time. In return, Gavrila Gavrilovich graciously asked the authorities not to name the hospital after him. The authorities agreed.

After some time, Solodovnikov received an order around his neck for a gift to the city and was registered in the noble book. Now it is the Clinic of Skin and Venereal Diseases at the 1st Moscow Medical Institute; since 1990, the institute has a different status and a different name - the Moscow Medical Academy named after I.M. Sechenov. Since nothing else was built in all subsequent years, the case of Gavrila Gavrilovich Solodovnikov exists to this day.

He died on May 21, 1901, after a long illness. After the death at the beginning of the last century of the richest of Russian millionaires and after the announcement of his will, the artist Mikhail Lentovsky recalled: “I asked him, after all:“ Well, where are you going to put your millions, old man? What are you going to do with them?” And he told me: “When I die, Moscow will find out who Gavrila Gavrilovich Solodovnikov was! The whole empire will talk about me"

At the time of his death, his fortune was estimated at 20,977,700 rubles. Of these, he bequeathed 830,000 rubles to his relatives.

Most of all, 300,000, was received by the eldest son and executor, member of the board of directors of the Nizhny Novgorod-Samara Land Bank Pyotr Gavrilovich, and the least of all - the dress and underwear of the deceased - the youngest son, ensign of the tsarist army Andrei. So the father punished his son for refusing to go "on the commercial line."

It is worth saying that in his will the merchant did not forget about anyone. Sister Lyudmila was allocated 50,000 rubles, cousin Lyubov Shapirova - 20,000, her daughters - 50,000 each, Passage's artel worker Stepan Rodionov - 10,000, the same amount for clerk Mikhail Vladchenko. In addition, a huge number of relatives, friends, acquaintances and even just countrymen of the merchant were mentioned in the will, and each was marked with a rather large amount.

However, the real sensation was the second part of the will. Gavrila Gavrilovich ordered the remaining 20,147,700 rubles (about $200 million in today's account) to be divided into three equal parts. He ordered the first part to be spent on "developing zemstvo women's schools in the Tver, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Vyatka provinces."

The second - "to give to the device of vocational schools in the Serpukhov district for the training of children of all classes and ... to the device there and the maintenance of a shelter for homeless children." The third part should have been released "for the construction of houses of cheap apartments for poor people, single and family." Solodovnikov wrote in his will: "The majority of these poor people are the working class, living by honest labor and having the inalienable right to protection from the injustice of fate."

The eldest son, Pyotr Gavrilovich Solodovnikov, was appointed manager.

The Moscow City Council undertook to fulfill the will of the deceased. Houses for the lonely and the poor gradually nevertheless began to be built - in the area of \u200b\u200bthe 2nd Meshchanskaya. The first home for singles, called "Free Citizen", opened on May 5, 1909, and two days later - a home for families - "Red Diamond".

House of cheap apartments. Solodovnikov "Free Citizen"

The first had 1152 apartments, the second - 183. The houses were a complete sample of the commune: each of them had a developed infrastructure with a shop, a canteen, a bathhouse, a laundry, a library, and a summer shower. In the house for families on the ground floor there were a nursery and a kindergarten. All rooms were already furnished. Both houses were lit by electricity, which the residents had the right to use right up to 11 pm.

Moreover, the houses had elevators, which at that time was considered almost fantastic. And housing was really unthinkably cheap: a one-room apartment in the "Grazhdanin" cost 1 ruble 25 kopecks a week, and in "Rhombus" - 2 rubles 50 kopecks. This despite the fact that the average Moscow worker then earned 1 ruble 48 kopecks a day.

In the Solodovnikovsky family house there were 183 pre-furnished one-room apartments, each with an area of 16 to 21 square meters; on the floor there were 4 kitchens with cold and hot water, with separate tables for each family, with cold pantries, a Russian stove, rooms for drying outerwear, and a room for servants who cleaned the house; the tenants used the common library, nursery, consumer shop.

It is known that, in accordance with the Russian tradition, officials were the first to enter the “houses for the poor”. True, quite soon the turn came to the ordinary inhabitants - the working people: workers, teachers, etc.

It must be said that Pyotr Gavrilovich himself was in no hurry and did not show any zeal to say goodbye to his father's millions. His polite correspondence with the Moscow authorities about the legacy he left was long, many years old and did not stop until 1917.

In 1918, houses and bank accounts were nationalized and Solodovnikov's charitable millions were dissolved in the general money supply of the young revolutionary state. Soviet and public organizations entered the houses of cheap apartments of the merchant Solodovnikov. In the 1930s, the Red Diamond was occupied by Rospotrebsoyuz. There was a very cheap and high-quality dining room, but ordinary people were not allowed into it.

Yuri Stepanovich Nechaev-Maltsov

Portrait of Yuri Stepanovich Nechaev-Maltsev. 1885 Painter Kramskoy II

Yuri Stepanovich Nechaev-Maltsov (October 11 (23), 1834 - 1913) - Russian philanthropist, manufacturer, diplomat, owner of glass factories, honorary citizen of the city of Vladimir (1901), honorary member of the Moscow Archaeological Society, honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1902). Civil rank - secret adviser.

In 1880, at the age of 49, Yu. S. Nechaev received an inheritance from his uncle Ivan Sergeevich Maltsov (1807-1880), which included several factories and factories in various provinces of Russia, the largest of which was the Gusev Crystal Factory in the Vladimir Region. Entering into inheritance rights, Yu. S. Nechaev also took on the surname of his uncle (mother's brother) and became Nechaev-Maltsov.

Uncle-diplomat Ivan Maltsov was the only one who survived during the massacre perpetrated in the Russian embassy in Tehran, during which the diplomat-poet Alexander Griboyedov died. Having hated diplomacy, the diplomat Maltsov continued the family business, setting up glass factories in the town of Gus: he brought the secret of colored glass from Europe and began to produce profitable window glass. All this crystal-glass empire, along with two mansions in the capital, painted by Vasnetsov and Aivazovsky, was received by an elderly bachelor official Nechaev.

The years lived in poverty left their mark: Nechaev-Maltsov was unusually stingy, but at the same time a terrible gourmet and deli. Professor Ivan Tsvetaev (Marina Tsvetaeva’s father) struck up a friendship with him (eating delicacies at receptions, he regretfully calculated how many building materials he could buy with the money spent on lunch), and then convinced him to give about 3 million, which are missing for the completion of the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts (The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts) By the way - a million royal rubles - a little less than one and a half billion modern dollars!

Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov, I. I. Rerberg, R. I. Klein and I. V. Tsvetaev at the construction of the museum. August 2, 1901

Fourteen years of construction and orders for casts in different countries were a true epic in the life of I.V. Tsvetaev and his associate - a major entrepreneur and philanthropist Yu.S. for the transportation of expensive casts from Europe to Russia. Suffice it to say that Ural white marble, Italian marble from Carrara, dark pink marble from Hungary, light green marble from Belgium, black Norwegian marble, Finnish granite and other valuable colored rocks, extraction and delivery which were resignedly paid for by Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov.

“... It was mostly craftsmen commissioned from Italy who worked on marble. On granite - our Tver. Imagine this Babylon. Light, sky-colored eyes, so you can drown, Tver residents, Vladimirians, and dark-skinned Italians with black eyes ... ”Valery Tsvetaeva.

In 1901 alone, 90 wagons of marble were delivered from the Urals to Moscow, and another 100 wagons were supposed to be sent from there the following year. A glass manufacturer, a wealthy donor to the museum, Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov, unbeknownst to himself, became the main builder of the museum and a supplier of expensive casts to the museum. Today it real role in the creation of the museum, it turns out according to the published extensive correspondence with I.V. Tsvetaev. If there were no Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov, the museum would remain an empty dream of the university professor I.V. Tsvetaev.

Surprisingly, the completion of the construction of the museum was also the beginning of the end of its creators: in September 1913, I.V. Tsvetaev died, and forty days after him, Y.S. Nechaev-Maltsov. Having fulfilled their vital duty, they summed up the whole era when the idea, barely born, found a real embodiment in the grandiose museum building that adorned Moscow.

Grand opening of the museum. Nicholas II with family. 1912

“... And there was a quiet triumph of joy: it’s not the powers that be giving something to dad now, but he gives everyone who is here now, all of Russia, the museum he created! ..” (A. Tsvetaeva).

Apart from the museum (for which the sponsor received the title of chief chamberlain and the Order of Alexander Nevsky with diamonds), the I.S. ).

During the construction of the building of the Historical Museum in Vladimir, he donated glass for the manufacture of museum showcases.

He erected in the center of the city of Gus, which became known under him as Gus-Khrustalny, the majestic church of St. George, and in the village of Berezovka - the church of Dmitry Thessalonica in memory of the soldiers who fell in the Battle of Kulikovo. The temples were painted by V. M. Vasnetsov. Following the temples-monuments in Gus-Khrustalny, an almshouse named after I.S. Maltsov was built, and in Moscow, on Shabolovka 33, in 1906 a complex of a noble almshouse named after Yu.S. Nechaev-Maltsov was built.

In St. Petersburg, Yuri Stepanovich patronized the Maritime Charitable Society, the Nikolaev Women's Hospital, the Sergius Orthodox Brotherhood, helped the House of Charity and the Handicraft Education of Poor Children, and from 1910 was a trustee of the School of the Imperial Women's Patriotic Society named after Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna.

For a long time he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sisters of the Red Cross, on the basis of which in 1893, under the auspices of Princess E. M. Oldenburg, the Community of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Eugenia arose. Becoming vice-president of the Community, he donated money for the construction under its auspices of two hospital pavilions and the building of the Refuge for the Elderly Sisters of Mercy named after Emperor Alexander III. He financed the activities of medical institutions.

Nechaev-Maltsov was Vice-Chairman of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and subsidized the Artistic Treasures of Russia magazine, which was edited by Alexander Benois and Adrian Prakhov. Currently, in the St. Petersburg house of Yu. S. Nechaev-Maltsov, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the North-Western Federal District is located.

According to the will of the childless Yu. S. Nechaev, his fortune in 1914 passed to his distant relative, Count P. N. Ignatiev. In 1918 the enterprises were nationalized.

Soldatenkov Kozma Terentyevich

Soldatenkov Kozma is an entrepreneur, one of the largest Russian philanthropists. According to official figures, donated more than 5 million rubles.

Soldatenkov belonged to a dynasty of textile manufacturers, immigrants from the village of Prokunino, Kolomna (later Bogorodsky) district, Moscow province.

Charitable activities Kozma Soldatenkov began in the 1850s. By his order, in the village of Prokunino, in memory of grandfather and grandmother, they began to give out benefits: until 1917, every girl who got married and every recruit received 50 rubles. With this money, a rural girl could arrange a wedding for 20 people and prepare a dowry: a bed, bed linen, three or four dresses. And the family of a soldier, in the absence of a breadwinner son, had the opportunity to spend the allowance on material needs - to repair a hut, buy a horse or a cow.

In 1866, the Almshouse of Commerce of adviser K.T. Soldatenkov in memory of February 19, 1861. Being a descendant of serfs who bought themselves free, Soldatenkov in the name of the almshouse immortalized the most important historical event- the day of the abolition of serfdom. The merchant built the establishment at his own expense and maintained it for 30 years. In a two-story stone building (construction cost 60 thousand rubles), 100 people found shelter. Preference, according to the Charter, was given "permanent residents of the city and visitors of all classes and confessions, but mainly from former courtyard people." Soldatenkov bequeathed 285 thousand rubles for the maintenance of the institution.

Almshouse of Commerce Councilor K.T. Soldatenkov in memory of February 19, 1861

In 1870-1882, Soldatenkov donated 1000 rubles annually. for the maintenance of the Nikolaev charity house for widows and orphans of the merchant class. With this money, the residents were provided with improved nutrition: poultry, game, veal, red fish. In 1889-1900 he donated 10 thousand rubles. for the construction of the Alekseevskaya psychiatric hospital and 5 thousand rubles. for the construction of an almshouse for the city guardianship of the poor in the Yauza part.

Soldatenkov is known not only as a businessman, but also as a book publisher. For 45 years, more than 200 historical and artistic works have been released at his expense. The newspaper Russkoye Slovo (May 20, 1901) noted that the merchant "spent big money on the publication of major works."

Soldatenkov's great passion was collecting paintings. His collection consisted of 269 paintings by Russian and European artists, among them paintings by Vasily Tropinin, Alexander Ivanov, Nikolai Ge, Sylvester Shchedrin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Pavel Fedotov. The merchant bequeathed the collection to the Rumyantsev Museum on the condition that it be placed "in a separate room with the name ... "Soldatenkovskaya"". For decades, the generous philanthropist has invested in the development of the Rumyantsev Museum and Moscow University.

Kozma Soldatenkov died in 1901. The newspaper Russkoye Slovo wrote: “The whole of Moscow knew the good-natured figure of an old man white as a harrier with softly glowing intelligent eyes.”

From the Kuntsevo estate (in the 1860s, Soldatenkov bought it from the Naryshkins) to the Rogozhsky cemetery, the peasants carried the coffin in their hands, having traveled ten kilometers. The funeral was attended by Moscow University professors Ivan Tsvetaev and Sergei Muromtsev, Russkiye Vedomosti editor Vasily Sobolevsky, deputies of the Moscow City Duma from eminent merchant class Savva Morozov, Pyotr Botkin, Vladimir Sapozhnikov. The Iskra weekly noted:

“The deceased was known as an ideological publisher, an outstanding financier and, above all, as remarkable in his moral qualities Human".

The philanthropist bequeathed a significant part of his fortune to charitable purposes. So, 1.3 million rubles. Soldatenkov left the Moscow merchant society to create a vocational school "For free education in it, male children, without distinction of their condition and religion, various crafts related to technical production. 300 thousand went to the construction of the building, and 1 million rubles. amounted to inviolable capital, on the interest from which the educational institution was maintained.

The school with electrical engineering and foundry departments for 320 students opened on November 1, 1909 in a three-story mansion on Donskaya Street (now in the building of the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Ecology of the A.N. Kosygin Moscow State Textile Institute). The term of study was five years: the first two years were taught general education subjects, the next three - special ones.

More than 2 million rubles. Soldatenkov donated to the construction of a free hospital for the poor "without distinction of ranks, estates and religions." The Soldatenkovskaya Hospital, as Muscovites called it, was opened on December 23, 1910.

Also, the philanthropist left 100 thousand rubles. Almshouse at the Rogozhsky cemetery, 20 thousand rubles. Arnold School for the Deaf and Dumb, 85 thousand rubles. for scholarships and tuition fees for poor students of Moscow University, 40 thousand rubles. on scholarships for students of Moscow gymnasiums, 20 thousand rubles. for scientific awards of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In total, the will mentions about 20 charitable, educational and medical institutions - recipients of assistance. The amount of donations amounted to 600 thousand rubles.

Buried at the Rogozhsky cemetery. In the Soviet years, the grave of Kozma Terentyevich Soldatenkov, as well as the large burial vault of the Old Believer merchants Soldatenkov, were destroyed.

In 1901, according to Soldatenkov's will, his library (8 thousand volumes of books and 15 thousand copies of magazines), as well as a collection of Russian paintings (258 paintings and 17 sculptures) passed to the Rumyantsev Museum and, as a national treasure, was stored in a separate room with the name "Soldatenkovskaya". After the closure of the Rumyantsev Museum in 1924, they replenished the funds Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum. Part of the icons from his collection was bequeathed to the Pokrovsky Cathedral of the Rogozhsky cemetery.

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Patronage... The word is not quite familiar to us. Everyone has heard it at least once in their life, but not everyone can correctly explain the essence of this term. And this is sad, because Russia has always been famous for the fact that charity and patronage were an integral part of its long traditions.

What is patronage?

If you ask anyone you meet what patronage is, few people will be able to give an intelligible answer like this, right off the bat. Yes, everyone has heard of wealthy people providing financial assistance to museums, children's children's sports organizations, emerging artists, musicians and poets. But is all the assistance provided philanthropy? There is also charity and sponsorship. How to distinguish these concepts from each other? This article will help to understand these difficult questions.

Patronage is a material or other gratuitous support of individuals provided to organizations, as well as representatives of culture and art.

The history of the term

The word owes its origin to a real historical person. Gaius Tsilny Maecenas - that's whose name has become a household name. A noble Roman nobleman, an ally of Emperor Octavian, became famous for helping talented poets and writers persecuted by the authorities. He saved from death the author of the immortal "Aeneid" Virgil and many other cultural figures whose lives were threatened for political reasons.

There were other patrons of art in Rome, besides Gaius Maecenas. Why exactly did his name become a household name and turned into a modern term? The fact is that all other wealthy benefactors would refuse to intercede for a disgraced poet or artist because of fear of the emperor. But Guy Maecenas had a very strong influence on Octavian Augustus, and was not afraid to go against his will and desire. He saved Virgil. The poet supported the emperor's political opponents and fell out of favor because of this. And the only one who came to his aid was the Maecenas. Therefore, the name of the rest of the benefactors was lost in the centuries, and he forever remained in the memory of those whom he unselfishly helped all his life.

History of patronage

It is impossible to name the exact date of the appearance of patronage. The only undeniable fact is that there has always been a need for assistance to representatives of art from people endowed with power and wealth. The reasons for providing such assistance varied. Someone really loved art and sincerely tried to help poets, artists and musicians. For other rich people, this was either a tribute to fashion, or a desire to show themselves as a generous giver and patron in the eyes of the rest of society. The authorities tried to provide patronage to representatives of art in order to keep them in subjection.

Thus, philanthropy appeared in the period after the emergence of the state. Both in the era of antiquity and in the Middle Ages, poets and artists were in a dependent position from representatives of the authorities. It was practically domestic slavery. This situation continued until the collapse of the feudal system.

During the period of absolute monarchy, patronage takes the form of pensions, awards, honorary titles, and court positions.

Charity and patronage - is there a difference?

There is some confusion with the terminology and concepts of patronage, charity and sponsorship. All of them involve the provision of assistance, but the difference between them is still quite significant, and it would be a mistake to draw an equal sign. It is worth considering the issue of terminology in more detail. Of all three concepts, sponsorship and patronage are the most different from each other. The first term means providing assistance on certain conditions, or investing in a cause. For example, support for an artist may be subject to the creation of a portrait of the sponsor or the mention of his name in the media. Simply put, sponsorship involves receiving some kind of benefit. Patronage is a disinterested and gratuitous aid to art and culture. The philanthropist does not prioritize obtaining additional benefits for himself.

The next topic is charity. It is very close to the concept of patronage, and the difference between them is barely noticeable. This is helping those in need, and the main motive here is compassion. The concept of charity is very broad, and patronage acts as its specific type.

Why do people philanthropy?

Russian philanthropists and patrons have always differed from Western ones in their approach to the issue of helping artists. If we talk about Russia, here philanthropy is material support, which is provided out of a sense of compassion, a desire to help without deriving any benefit for oneself. In the West, however, there was a moment of benefiting from charity in the form of tax cuts or exemptions. Therefore, it is impossible to speak of complete disinterestedness here.

Why, since the 18th century, Russian philanthropists are increasingly patronizing art and science, building libraries, museums and theaters?

Home driving force the following reasons acted here - high morality, morality and religiosity of patrons. Public opinion actively supported the ideas of compassion and mercy. Correct traditions and religious education led to such a striking phenomenon in the history of Russia as the flourishing of patronage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Patronage in Russia. The history of the emergence and attitude of the state to this kind of activity

Charity and patronage in Russia have long and deep traditions. They are associated primarily with the time of the appearance of Christianity in Kievan Rus. At that time, charity existed as a personal aid to those in need. First of all, the church was engaged in such activities, opening hospices for the elderly, the disabled and the infirm, and hospitals. The beginning of charity was laid by Prince Vladimir, who officially obliged the church and monasteries to engage in public charity.

The next rulers of Russia, eradicating professional begging, at the same time continued to take care of the truly needy. Hospitals, almshouses, orphanages for the illegitimate and the mentally ill continued to be built.

Charity in Russia has successfully developed thanks to women. Empresses Catherine I, Maria Feodorovna and Elizaveta Alekseevna were especially distinguished in helping those in need.

The history of patronage in Russia begins at the end of the 18th century, when it becomes one of the forms of charity.

The first Russian patrons

The first patron of the arts was Count Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov. One of the largest landowners in the country, the count is best known as a generous philanthropist and collector. Traveling a lot, Stroganov became interested in compiling a collection of paintings, stones and coins. The count devoted a lot of time, money and effort to the development of culture and art, provided assistance and support to such famous poets as Gavriil Derzhavin and Ivan Krylov.

Until the end of his life, Count Stroganov was the permanent president of the Imperial Academy of Arts. At the same time, he oversaw the Imperial Public Library and was its director. It was on his initiative that the construction of the Kazan Cathedral began with the involvement of not foreign, but Russian architects.

People like Stroganov paved the way for subsequent patrons who unselfishly and sincerely help the development of culture and art in Russia.

The famous Demidov dynasty, the founders of the metallurgical industry in Russia, is known not only for its huge contribution to the development of the country's industry, but also for its charity. Representatives of the dynasty patronized Moscow University and founded a scholarship for students from them. They opened the first commercial school for merchant children. The Demidovs constantly helped the Orphanage. At the same time they were engaged in the collection of art collections. It has become the largest private collection in the world.

Another famous patron and patron of the XVIII century - Count He was a real connoisseur of art, especially theatrical.

At one time he was infamous for marrying his own serf, an actress home theater Praskovya Zhemchugova. She died early and bequeathed to her husband not to give up the cause of charity. Count Sheremetev complied with her request. He spent part of the capital to help artisans and dowry brides. On his initiative, the construction of the Hospice House in Moscow began. He also invested in the construction of theaters and temples.

The special contribution of the merchants to the development of patronage

Many now have a completely wrong opinion about the Russian merchants of the XIX-XX centuries. It was formed under the influence of Soviet films and literary works, in which the aforementioned layer of society was exposed in the most unattractive way. All merchants without exception look poorly educated, focused solely on making a profit in any way by people, while completely devoid of compassion and mercy for their neighbors. This is a fundamental misconception. Of course, there are always exceptions and there will be, but for the most part, merchants were the most educated and informative part of the population, not counting, of course, the nobility.

But among the representatives of noble families, benefactors and patrons could be counted on the fingers. Charity in Russia is entirely the merit of the merchant class.

It has already been briefly mentioned above, for what reason people began to engage in patronage. For most merchants and manufacturers, charity has become almost a way of life, has become an integral character trait. The fact that many wealthy merchants and bankers were descendants of the Old Believers, who were characterized by a special attitude towards money and wealth, played a role here. And the attitude of Russian entrepreneurs to their activities was somewhat different than, for example, in the West. For them, wealth is not a fetish, trade is not a source of profit, but rather a certain duty imposed by God.

Brought up on deep religious traditions, Russian entrepreneurs-philanthropists believed that wealth is given by God, which means that one must be responsible for it. In fact, they believed that they were obliged to engage in the provision of assistance. But it wasn't coercion. Everything was done according to the call of the soul.

Famous Russian patrons of the 19th century

This period is considered the heyday of charity in Russia. The rapid economic growth that began led to the astounding scope and generosity of the wealthy.

Well-known patrons of the XIX-XX centuries - entirely representatives of the merchant class. The brightest representatives are Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov and his lesser-known brother Sergei Mikhailovich.

It must be said that the Tretyakov merchants did not possess significant wealth. But this did not stop them from carefully collecting pictures. famous masters spending a lot of money on them. Sergei Mikhailovich was more interested in Western European painting. After his death, the collection bequeathed to his brother was included in the collection of paintings by Pavel Mikhailovich. The art gallery that appeared in 1893 bore the name of both remarkable Russian patrons. If we talk only about the collection of paintings by Pavel Mikhailovich, then in his entire life the philanthropist Tretyakov spent about a million rubles on it. An incredible sum for the time.

Tretyakov began to collect his collection of Russian paintings in his youth. Even then, he had a well-defined goal - to open a national public gallery, so that anyone could visit it for free and join the masterpieces of Russian fine art.

We owe the Tretyakov brothers a magnificent monument to Russian patronage - the Tretyakov Gallery.

Patron Tretyakov was not the only patron of art in Russia. Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, a representative of a famous dynasty, is the founder and builder of the largest railway lines in Russia. He did not strive for fame and was completely indifferent to awards. His only passion was the love of art. Savva Ivanovich himself was a deeply creative person, and entrepreneurship was very burdensome for him. According to contemporaries, he himself could become a great opera singer (he was even offered to perform on the stage of the Italian opera house), and a sculptor.

He turned his Abramtsevo estate into a hospitable home for Russian artists. Vrubel, Repin, Vasnetsov, Serov, and also Chaliapin were constantly here. Mamontov provided financial assistance and patronage to all of them. But the philanthropist provided the greatest support to theatrical art.

Mamontov was considered by his relatives and business partners to be a stupid whim, but this did not stop him. At the end of his life, Savva Ivanovich was ruined and barely escaped prison. He was fully justified, but he could no longer engage in entrepreneurship. Until the end of his life, he was supported by all those whom he had selflessly helped in his time.

Savva Timofeevich Morozov is an amazingly modest philanthropist who helped Art Theater on the condition that his name not be mentioned in the newspapers on this occasion. And other representatives of this dynasty provided invaluable assistance in the development of culture and art. Sergey Timofeevich Morozov was fond of Russian arts and crafts, the collection he collected made up the center of the Handicraft Museum in Moscow. Ivan Abramovich was the patron of the then unknown Marc Chagall.

Modernity

The revolution and subsequent events interrupted the wonderful traditions of Russian patronage. And after the collapse Soviet Union a lot of time passed before new patrons of modern Russia appeared. For them patronage is a professionally organized part of their activity. Unfortunately, the topic of charity, which is becoming more and more popular in Russia from year to year, is extremely sparingly covered in the media. Only isolated cases become known to the general public, and most of the work of sponsors, patrons and charitable foundations passes by the population. If you now ask anyone you meet: "What modern patrons do you know?", it is unlikely that anyone will answer this question. And meanwhile such people need to know.

Among the Russian entrepreneurs who are actively involved in charity, first of all, it is worth noting the president of the Interros holding, Vladimir Potanin, who in 2013 announced that he would bequeath his entire fortune to charitable purposes. This was a truly stunning statement. He founded the foundation that bears his name, which is engaged in large projects in the field of education and culture. As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hermitage, he has already donated 5 million rubles to it.

Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska, one of the most influential and richest entrepreneurs in Russia, is the founder of the Volnoe Delo charitable foundation, which is financed from the personal funds of a businessman. The Fund has carried out more than 400 programs, the total budget of which amounted to almost 7 billion rubles. Deripaska's charitable organization is engaged in activities in the field of education, science and culture, and sports. The Foundation also provides assistance to the Hermitage, many theatres, monasteries and educational centers throughout our country.

The role of patrons in modern Russia can be played not only by big businessmen, but also by officials and commercial structures. Charity is carried out by JSC "Gazprom", JSC "Lukoil", CB "Alfa Bank" and many other companies and banks.

I would especially like to mention Dmitry Borisovich Zimin, the founder of OJSC Vympel-Communications. Since 2001, having achieved a steady profitability of the company, he retired and devoted himself entirely to charity. He founded the Enlightener Prize and the Dynasty Foundation. According to Zimin himself, he donated all his capital to charity for free. The foundation he created is engaged in supporting the fundamental science of Russia.

Of course, modern patronage has not reached the level that was observed in the "golden" years of the XIX century. Now it is fragmentary, while the benefactors of the past centuries provided systematic support to culture and science.

Does philanthropy have a future in Russia?

On April 13, a wonderful holiday is celebrated - the Day of the Philanthropist and Patron in Russia. The date is timed to coincide with the birthday of Gaius Maecenas, the Roman patron of poets and artists, whose name has become the common word "philanthropist". The initiator of the holiday was the Hermitage, represented by its director M. Piotrovsky. This day also received a second name - Thank You Day. It was first noted in 2005, and I would like to hope that in the future it will not lose its relevance.

Now there is an ambiguous attitude towards patronage. One of the main reasons for this is the ambiguous attitude towards wealthy people in the current conditions of an increasingly strong stratification of society. No one disputes the fact that wealth is often acquired in ways that are not entirely acceptable to the majority of the population. But among the rich people there are those who donate millions to the development and maintenance of science and culture and other charitable purposes. And it would be great if the state took care that the names of modern Russian patrons of art become known to a wide range of the population.

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