Industrialist Akinfiy Nikitich Demidov (1678-1745) was the son of Nikita Demidov - the founder of the largest dynasty of entrepreneurs of the Russian Empire. He developed the work of his father and opened many factories that have become an important part of the domestic economy.
Character
Akinfiy Nikitich was born in Tula in 1678 (the exact date of his birth is unknown). The homeland of the Demidovs has long been famous for its artisans and blacksmiths. In Tula, the Akinfiy family owned a cast iron smelting plant, as well as a firearms factory. At the turn of the XVII and XVIII centuries. Demidov’s affairs went uphill. Nikita met Peter I and became his main supplier of weapons during the Northern War.
In 1702, the Demidovs received the first plots of land in the Urals, where they became pioneers of domestic industry. Akinfiy moved closer to the "Stone Belt" after his father. The heir of the industrialist personally participated in the construction and arrangement of new plants. He inherited from his father not only enterprise, but also the ability to protect his interests before high-ranking state nobles. For example, Demidov Akinfiy Nikitich received the rank of a real state adviser and had a patron in the person of the favorite of the Empress Anna Biron.
In a dialogue with the authorities, Akinfiy relied on the support of other important officials. Among his friends was the president of the Commerce College, Peter Shafirov, as well as Ivan Cherkasov, cabinet secretary of Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna. It was these people who contributed to the fact that Akinfiy Nikitich Demidov calmly felt himself the master in business related to his business for twenty years.
At the head of the family business
Nikita Demidov died in 1725. The eldest son immediately began to manage his father's empire. He developed factory infrastructure, paved roads, built new enterprises. Over twenty years, the assets held by Akinfy Demidov have tripled. Under him, the first plants for the extraction and processing of asbestos, malachite and other valuable breeds and minerals appeared in the Urals.
In total, Akinfiy Demidov built 17 iron and copper smelters. The main project of his life was the Nizhny Tagil plant. In terms of its qualities, this object was in no way inferior to Western European competitors. The company received the latest equipment for that time. It is symbolic that it continues to work today. A blast furnace was opened at the Nizhny Tagil plant, which became the largest in the world. Step by step Demidov Akinfiy Nikitich increased the production of pig iron by five times. By the end of his life, he was the owner of 25 factories, where 23 thousand people worked.
After the Nizhny Tagil plant, which began work in 1725, the Shaitansky plant (in 1727 on the Shaitanka - a Chusovaya tributary), Chernoistochensky (in 1728 on the Cherny Istok river - a tributary of Tagil) and Utkinsky (in 1729 on the Utka river - Chusovaya tributary).
New enterprises
Even Nikita Demidov received the right to develop a convenient place on the Revda River near the Wolf Mountain. The founder of the dynasty did not manage to carry out the project. Akinfiy was engaged in construction. First, auxiliary Nizhnechugunsky, Verkhnechugunsky and Korelsky plants were erected (they were put into operation in 1730). And only after that the construction of the main enterprise began. The Revdinsky iron processing plant was built in 1734.
Nikita and Akinfiy Demidov never forgot about their old assets. The son completely renewed the Vyisky plant that appeared with his father. The number of furnaces on it increased to ten. In 1729, a fire occurred at the plant, due to which it stood idle for some time. There was another problem. Its ore contained too much iron and was of low quality. In this regard, Akinfiy reorganized the enterprise. First, the plant began to process copper semi-finished products obtained at other mines. Then blast furnaces appeared on it.
In 1729, by the decree of the Berg College, another Akinfiy Demidov plant was built - the Suksunsky smelter. It is located 45 miles from the city of Kungur. A place for the plant was chosen on the banks of the Sukusun River, a small tributary of Sylva. Its stone dam was 120 fathoms long. It was a major building. Ore was delivered to the plant from the Bym river basin. The investment was not the most successful. Since the ores were nesting, no one could accurately estimate the scale of the reserves of raw materials. It turned out that it was only enough for a few years of work. Since mid 1730 Suksunsky plant was engaged in the cleaning of copper semi-finished product.
Under pressure from the investigation
The most difficult period in the life of Akinfiy Nikitich was 1733-1735. For several years, the Demidovs were involved in a high-profile case initiated by the “investigation of particular plants”. In 1733, Empress Anna Ioannovna instructed to complete an audit of the financial statements of all metal producers in the country. The process was conducted by the Commerce Board. Auditors came to the Demidov factories . For several months they collected documentation and interviewed employees.
After checking, more than 500 notebooks of reports were brought to St. Petersburg. The facts of tax evasion and abuse were revealed. Many of the information was false. They envied Demidov, and Akinfius, as the head of the family, became the object of denunciations. Several ships passed. Akinfiy had to pay huge fines and arrears. For some time he was even forbidden to leave the capital, where the official proceedings took place. In the end, the Demidovs managed to fight back. The most important pain point was Altai plants. However, their Akinfiy saved.
In Altai
Industrialist Akinfiy Demidov, whose biography speaks of him as a man of the most serious ambitions, was the first of his dynasty to begin expansion in Western Siberia. From his youth, he was interested in the wealth of the Altai Territory, where from time to time he sent expeditions to search for ore. First, copper was found there.
However, most of all, Akinfius wanted to find silver. Nikita Demidov promised to start the extraction of this precious metal to Peter I. The great autocrat was waiting for good news from Altai, but he did not wait. Akinfiy received the first samples of silver in 1726. However, an analysis by experts showed that the ore is too lean for industrial production. But even after this Demidov did not give up.
Silver rush
Trying to solve the dilemma, Akinfiy Nikitich turned to the services of foreign experts. The first of these was Philip Treiger. This Saxon already had experience working with silver. In 1733, he was engaged in reconnaissance on the Bear Island in the White Sea. This time the German did not succeed.
Failure only enraged the industrialist. Akinfiy Demidov, whose biography testifies to the strength of the character of this person, has long been accustomed to trials and risks. After the expiration of the Treiger contract, he hired other foreign specialists: Johann Junggans and Johann Hristiani. Europeans received insanely large salaries of 600 and 400 rubles. Demidov did not skimp, demanding only the result, and finally got it.
Empress audience
In 1744, Akinfiy received Altai silver. He immediately went to Moscow, where at that time there was temporarily the court of Elizabeth Petrovna. At an audience, the industrialist presented the Empress with a bar of Altai silver. The gift was on time. The treasury was just lacking precious metal. Having demonstrated his happy discovery, the entrepreneur immediately gained the right to build factories in Altai. In addition, he persuaded the empress to subordinate her enterprises directly to the Imperial cabinet (that is, the head of state), and not to numerous colleges and officials.
The fate of the Tula plant
Towards the end of his life, Akinfiy Nikitich, with the help of Altai and Ural mines, provided his family with a carefree future. However, there was a fly in the ointment in this barrel of honey. Gradually agonized Tula Plant - the very first enterprise of the Demidovs. His slow death was due to a shortage of coal, due to which the use of the domain became useless. In addition, in Tula, the industrialist had serious competition in the form of state-owned weapons production.
For twenty years of independent management of family affairs, Akinfy has not built a single plant in central Russia. He was increasingly drawn to the east - to the Urals and Altai. In these circumstances, supporting unprofitable Tula production did not make sense. In 1744, Demidov stopped the only blast furnace of the plant there, erected by his father.
Church building
It is known that Father Akinfius knew the Scriptures by heart. The son was also a devout man. In his native Tula, he built two churches at his own expense. Nikolo-Zaretskaya was two-story and brick. It housed the tomb of the Demidovs and the grave of Akinfiy Demidov herself. The temple was consecrated in 1735; history did not preserve the name of its architect. Another church (also in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker) Akinfiy built in Chulkovo settlement, in the vicinity of Tula. The first wife of the industrialist Evdokia Tarasovna was buried here.
Akinfius and the schismatics
In 1730 the authorities of the Russian Empire launched another campaign against the Old Believers. The Urals was a region where their number was especially large. Old Believers fled there back in the 17th century after a split in the Russian Orthodox Church caused by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon. Nikita Demidov actively involved Kerzhakov in his factories. Akinfiy did the same.
With respect to the Demidovs to the schismatics, there was a sober calculation. An additional cheap labor resource made it possible to make big profits and reduce costs. The state, on the other hand, sought to identify schismatics in order to add them to special lists and, according to the law, to impose an additional tax. Demidov covered the Old Believers. The question remains whether he was a schismatic himself. The fact is that in the 17th century, Tula, native to a family of industrialists, was considered the center of attraction for people fleeing repressions of the church. However, historians have not found any exact evidence that Akinfiy Demidov, whose personal life remained a secret, was an Old Believer.
Death
Most of Akinfiy Nikitich’s life was spent on the road. As a rule, he was in the Urals, in Tula or in St. Petersburg. The last time the head of the family visited his homeland in 1745. From there he went to the Urals. On the way, Akinfiy stopped in the Nizhny Novgorod patrimony. His further path ran through the Kama basin. Here Akinfiy Nikitich felt bad. He died on August 5, 1745, and never reached his plants.
Biographers consider the village of Yatskoye Ustye to be the death place of the industrialist. The head of the dynasty was buried in Tula. Akinfiy was the seventieth year of life. He was a strong, strong-willed and enterprising man, who gave birth to no less legends and mysteries than his famous father.
Personal life
The industrialist played a wedding twice (for the first time at Evdokia Korobkova, the second time in 1723 - at Efmya Paltseva). The wives of Akinfiy Demidov gave birth to two children each. From the marriage with Eudokia, there remained the sons of Procopius and Gregory, from the marriage with Efimia - the son of Nikita and the daughter of Euthymius.
Like his father, Akinfy Demidov was the sole owner of the family business. In an effort to preserve the assets in integrity, shortly before his death, he made a will, according to which almost all the property was to be transferred to the youngest son Nikita. Two other heirs - Prokofiy and Gregory - got modest possessions and mines in European provinces. This will was compiled by Akinfiy under the influence of his second wife Yefimya.
The heirs
Prokofy and Grigory, dissatisfied with their own share, after the death of their father, filed a petition in the name of Elizabeth Petrovna. The Empress granted a fair complaint. The authorities re-evaluated the property and divided it into three equal parts. Prokofiy received the Nevyansk and Nizhny Novgorod factories, Gregory - the enterprises of Tula and the Urals, Nikita - the Nizhny Tagil industry.
So the children of Akinfiy Demidov previously divided the single complex that belonged to their grandfather and father. In addition, part of the property was transferred to the state. Altai mines became treasury. Nevertheless, the heirs of Akinfius preserved and increased what was left in their hands. The Demidov dynasty remained one of the richest in Russia for many years.