Baron Alexander von Stieglitz (1814–1884) was a Russian

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 philanthropist and financier. He was the first governor of the State Bank of the Russian Empire

State Bank of the Russian Empire

The State Bank of the Russian Empire was the main bank of the Russian Empire from 1860 to 1917. This bank is considered to be the predecessor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.- History :...

, the predecessor organization to today's Central Bank of the Russian Federation

Central Bank of the Russian Federation

The Bank of Russia or the Central Bank of The Russian Federation is the central bank of The Russian Federation. Its functions are described in the Russian constitution and in the special Federal law...

.

Early life and education

Stieglitz was born in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 to banker Baron Ludwig von Stieglitz

Ludwig von Stieglitz

Ludwig Stieglitz, was Jewish Russian commersant and founder of banking house Stieglitz & Company. He was born as youngest of three sons of Waldeck county's court Jewish banker Hirsch Bernhard Stieglitz and his wife Edel Elisabeth...

 who was a founder of the banking-house "Stieglitz and Co". After completing his education at the University of Dorpat

University of Tartu

The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...

 in what is now Tartu

Tartu

Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...

, Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

, he entered the state services as a member of the Manufacture council of the Ministry of Finances of the Russian Empire.

Businessman and civil servant

After the death of his father, Stieglitz inherited the banking-house and succeeded as a banker of the Emperor. In 1840–1850 he successfully sold six 4% government loan

Loan

A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....

s to finance the contsruction of the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway and secured a significant foreign loan at the height of the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

. Stieglitz also owned manufacturing enterprises in Narva

Narva

Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...

 and in Catherinehof

Catherinehof

Ekaterinhof or Catherinehof is a historic district in the south-west of St Petersburg, Russia. Its name originated in 1711, when Peter the Great presented the Ekanerinhof Island and adjacent lands along the Ekateringofka River to his wife Catherine, whose name they memorialize.The emperor...

.

In 1846 Stieglitz was elected the chairman of the Exchange's committee. At that post he took part in all financial operation of the Government of the Russian Empire

Russian Council of Ministers

The Russian Council of Ministers is an executive governmental body that brings together the principal officers of the Executive Branch of the Russian government.- Committee of Ministers :...

. In 1857 he co-founded the Society of the Russian Railways. In 1860 Stieglitz liquidated all his commercial enterprises and voluntarily withdrew from the post of the chairman of the Exchange's committee.

On 31 May 1860 Emperor Alexander II

Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...

 established the State Bank of the Russian Empire and Stieglitz became its first governor. In 1866 he left the state service.

Philanthropy

In 1878 he donated funds to build a museum

Stieglitz Museum of Applied Arts

The Stieglitz Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts ranks among the most significant museums in Saint Petersburg, Russia.The project had its beginnings in 1878 when Baron Alexander von Stieglitz , a millionaire philanthropist, donated funds to build a museum for the benefit of students of the...

 for the benefit of students of the Central School of Technical Drawing, which had been established by him earlier.

Awards

Stieglitz received numerous awards, including the Order of St. Stanislav of the 3rd degree, the Order of St. Vladimir

Order of St. Vladimir

The Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....

 of the 4th degree and the Order of St. Anna

Order of St. Anna

The Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...

of the 2nd degree.