Nikolay Demidov
Encyclopedia
Saint Petersburg Governorate
Saint Petersburg Governorate , or Government of Saint Petersburg, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1708–1927....
- 22 April 1828, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
) was a Russian industrialist, collector and arts patron of the Demidov
Demidov
The Demidov family, also Demidoff, were an influential Russian merchant, industrialist and later chivalry family, possibly second only to the Tsar himself in wealth during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.-History:...
family.
Life
Nikita Akinfiyevich Demidov
Nikita Akinfiyevich Demidov was a Russian industrialist and arts patron.He was the younger son of Akinfiy Demidov, brother of Prokofi Demidov and father of Nikolai Demidov....
(1724-1786) and his third wife Alexandra Safonova, Nicolay Demidov inherited his father's industrial empire aged only 15 and began to spend so recklessly that the government had to send in the receivers. In September 1795 at Saint Petersburg he married Baroness Elisabeta Alexandrovna Stroganova
Elisabeta Alexandrovna Stroganova
Baroness Elisabeta Alexandrovna Stroganova was a Russian aristocrat of the Stroganov family....
(1779-1818). They had two sons - Pavel Nikolaievich (1798-1840) and Anatoly (1812-1869). Nicolay entered the diplomatic service and the young couple moved to Paris, becoming ardent supporters of Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
and setting up home in the hôtel de Brancas-Lauragais, at the corner of rue Taitbout and boulevard des Italiens
Boulevard des Italiens
The boulevard des Italiens is one of the four 'grands boulevards' in Paris, a chain running east west and also including boulevard de la Madeleine, Boulevard des Capucines and boulevard Montmartre...
. However, rising Franco-Russian tensions forced his recall and they moved back to Russia via Italy, arriving in Russia in 1812. He fought with distinction in the Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812) and at the start of the French invasion of Russia
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
he financed the creation of an infantry regiment (including his son Pavel as one of its officers, which he then commanded against Napoleon's forces, fighting at Oravais
Battle of Oravais
The Battle of Oravais is sometimes regarded as the turning point of the Finnish War: the last chance for Sweden to turn the war to her advantage...
and .
In 1813 he gave his important collections to the mineralogical museum of Moscow (founded by his uncle Pavel Grigoryevich
Pavel Grigoryevich Demidov
Pavel Grigoryevich Demidov was a Russian traveller and patron of scientific education. He was from the Demidov family.-Life:A grandson of Nikita Demidov, in 1755 he created the mineralogical museum in Moscow , in 1803 the Demidov Lyceum at Yaroslavl, and in 1805 the Demidov Scientific...
) to replace those lost in the burning of the city, giving art to Moscow University in the same vein. He also financed the construction of 4 bridges 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...
. With age, he also became wiser industrialist, modernising his factories' infrastructure and doubling his fortune. He gave his home over to many industries and public utility services, perfecting the exploitation of mines and raising his income to 5 million. He also acclimatised Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
and Champagne vines and Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
olive trees to the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
.
Nicolay Demidov served as chamberlain to the Tsar, a Hereditary Commander of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem
Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller
The Russian Tradition of the The Hospitaller Knights emerged when the Mediterranean stronghold of Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798 when he made his expedition to Egypt...
, and member of the privy council. In 1819 he was made Russian ambassador to the court of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. After divorcing his wife, who moved back to France, he lived his last years in France and Italy among scholars, financing the creation of schools, hospitals and other charitable institutions in Tuscany. He bought 42 acres (169,968.1 m²) of marshland north of Florence from the Catholic Church and there built the Villa San Donato
Villa San Donato
The Villa San Donato is a Palladian palace built by Russian industrialist Nikolay Demidov on 42 hectares of marshland to the north of Florence at Polverosa which he had bought from the Catholic church, after he was made Russia's ambassador to the court of Tuscany. The first stone was laid on 27...
from 1827 to 1831 (now destroyed), where he set up richly-decorated private rooms, a suite of 14 rooms housing his enormous art collection
Demidov collection
The Demidov collection was a collection of artworks gathered by the Russian industrialist Nikolay Demidov and considerably expanded by his second son Anatole. It was mainly on show at their Villa San Donato near Florence, in which a private museum of 14 rooms was devoted to them...
, a theatre and a foreign languages academy. That collection, reputed to be the most important in Europe and divided between his residences in San Donato, Saint-Petersburg, Paris and Moscow, included works by Flemish and Italian masters, decorative art objects and a famous collection of weapons now in the Wallace Collection
Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London, with a world-famous range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with large holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms & armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries.It was established in...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures is now at the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
. By decree of Leopold II of Tuscany, on 23 February 1827 Demidov was made "count of San Donato" for the services he had rendered to Tuscany by setting up a silk factory and there is a monument to him by Lorenzo Bartolini
Lorenzo Bartolini
Lorenzo Bartolini was an Italian sculptor who infused his neoclassicism with a strain of sentimental piety and naturalistic detail which led him furthermore in the future, while he drew inspiration from the sculpture of the Florentine Renaissance rather than the overpowering influence of Antonio...
on "Piazza Demidoff" beside the river Arno in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
.