Alexei Fedorovich Turchaninov (russian: Алексей Фёдорович Турчанинов; born Alexei Fedorovich Vasilyev; 1704/1705 – March 21, 1787) was a business magnate in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, grandfather of

Pavel Pavel (Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel ...

and Dmitry Solomirsky, the member of the wealthy Turchaninov family.

Biography

Alexei Vasilyev served the Turchaninov family since childhood. His origin is unknown. He proved himself a capable salesman and eventually got more important tasks to perform. In 1737 he married the daughter of Michail Turchaninov, Fedosya, and took his wife's surname. He took control of their fortune when he was about 20 years old. He placed high emphasis on metallurgy at the Troitsky Copper Smelting Plant, constantly seeking to improve the product quality. He supplied high-quality copper cookware to the court and gained favour with the

Empress Elizabeth Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...

. In 1758 he used his connections at the court and became the owner of the three plants in the

Ural Ural may refer to: *Ural (region), in Russia and Kazakhstan *Ural Mountains, in Russia and Kazakhstan *Ural (river), in Russia and Kazakhstan * Ual (tool), a mortar tool used by the Bodo people of India *Ural Federal District, in Russia *Ural econ ...

region. He was permitted to purchase the Gumyoshevsky mine along with the

Polevskoy Copper Smelting Plant The Polevskoy Copper Smelting Plant ( rus, Полевской медеплавильный завод, Polevskoj medeplavilnyj zavod), also known as Polevaya or Poleva, was one of the major metallurgical facilities located in Polevskoy, in Sverdl ...

Seversky Pipe Plant The Seversky Pipe Plant ( rus, Северский трубный завод), also known as Severna, was one of the major manufacturing plants located in Polevskoy, Sverdlovsk Oblast of Russia. It is one of the oldest Russian plants at the Ura ...

and

Sysert Sysert (russian: Сысе́рть) is a town and the administrative center of Sysertsky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Sysert River ( Ob basin, right tributary of the Iset), south of Yekaterinburg. Population: Histo ...

sky Plant for 145,5 thousand rubles. These factories represented the so-called Sysert Mining District ( rus, Сысертский горнозаводской округ, Sysertskij gornozavodskoj okrug, links=no). They were extremely profitable. Turchaninov reorganized the production process and changed the focus from producing metal only to making other products, such as flat iron, roofing iron, household items and so on. The Mining Commission that supervised the plants in 1766 was very satisfied with the result. They said in their report that Turchaninov multiplied the performance capabilities of the plants. Turchaninov engaged in philanthropy. He was known for caring about his workers. He ordered to give away timber, poles, firewood to local populace for free. Once a year the workers had a month's holiday, fully paid. Medicines, health care and schooling were free as well. Turchaninov built the zoo, the botanical garden, two museums, and the library in

. He founded several settlements in the Ural region. He started the mining of

malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures ...

and managed to create a high demand for the product. During

Pugachev's Rebellion Pugachev's Rebellion (, ''Vosstaniye Pugachyova''; also called the Peasants' War 1773–1775 or Cossack Rebellion) of 1773–1775 was the principal revolt in a series of popular rebellions that took place in the Russian Empire after Catherine ...

(1773—1775) he organized the defences and led the people himself. Turchaninov managed to repel all the attacks by the rebel forces, preventing them from advancing further to

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

. Mostly due to these acts of bravery

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

granted him nobility in 1783. His new

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

included "a silver heron holding a stone". The image of a heron was used as a brand of the metallurgical plants in the Sysert Mining District till the 20th century.

Children

In 1763 Turchaninov's first wife Fedosya died, leaving him with no heirs. He remarried Filatseta Stepanovna, a woman of common birth. They had 8 children together. * Alexey (1766—1839), is notable for his marriage to Aleksandra Yermolaeva ( 1775—?). She was the first Russian woman to perform a balloon flight (over Moscow in 1804). The marriage ended with a divorce. * Pyotr (1769—1815) * Alexander (1772—1796), Colonel. * Yekaterina, married to Alexander Kokoshkin in 1784. They had a son Sergey (1785—1861), the infantry general; a daughter Varvara (died in 1842) was married to

Pyotr Kleinmichel Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel (russian: Пётр Андре́евич Клейнми́хель, tr. ), also known by German name Peter von Kleinmichel (30 November 1789 – 3 February 1869), was Minister of Transport of Imperial Russia ...

. * Natalya Koltovskaya (1773—1834), married Nikolay Koltovsky in 1789. Had two sons

and

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

from liaison with

Dmitry Tatishchev Dmitry Pavlovich Tatischev or Tatistcheff (russian: Дмитрий Павлович Татищев; born 1767, died 16 September 1845 in Vienna) was a Russian diplomat and art collector, and an intimate friend of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Of Ruri ...

. Their successors ran the plants till 1912. * Yelizaveta Titova (1774—1827), married Alexey Titov. With her sisters Natalya and Nadezhda, Yelizaveta was the co-heiress of her father's business. * Nadezhda (1778—1850), married Mark Ivelich, Russian diplomat and the lieutenant general of Serbian descent, in 1798. He later became a member of the

Governing Senate The Governing Senate (russian: Правительствующий сенат, Pravitelstvuyushchiy senat) was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of the Russian Emperors, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and last ...

. One of their sons Nicholai Ivelich (1797-1875) became a count. * Anna (1780—1849), married Nikolay Zubov in 1796.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turchaninov, Alexei 1704 births 1787 deaths Businesspeople from the Russian Empire Nobility from the Russian Empire 18th-century businesspeople from the Russian Empire Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)