Nikolai Antonovich Kristofari (russian: Николай Антонович Кристофари) (1802 - March 9, 1881)) was a duke, honorary guardian of the Saint Petersburg Board of Trustees, assistant director of the expedition of the Saint Petersburg Loan Treasury, owner of the first passbook in the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He held

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

rank.

Biography

200px, Statue of Kristofari near the headquarters of Sberbank He was born into a family of an artist from Italian origin. In 1820, after graduating from

The Second Saint Petersburg Gymnasium The Second Saint Petersburg Gymnasium is one of the oldest schools in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was founded in 1805 by Emperor Alexander I. The Gymnasium is located in the Admiralteysky District of Saint Petersburg. Many of the students are ...

, he entered the service of the Loan Treasury and in 1823 was appointed assistant director. In the 1830s, he compiled a collection of regulations relating to the loan treasury, from the time of its establishment in 1772 to 1833. The Decree of Emperor Nicholas I of October 30 (November 11), 1841 "On the Establishment of Savings Banks" laid the foundation for the first savings banks in Russia, created at Educational Homes for Orphans and Illegitimate Children. The first government savings bank was opened on March 1 (13), 1842 in the building of the board of trustees at the safe treasury of Saint Petersburg. Savings book No. 1 was issued to Kristofari, who made a contribution in the amount of ten rubles. In the 1850s, he was entrusted with the revision of documents and deposits of the loan treasury. Since 1855, he was in charge of the office of the board of trustees. In 1859, he was a member of the commission to draw up a draft general charter for a loan bank and on a commission to consider proposals for financial measures to make it easier for

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s to buy land; in 1860 he was sent abroad to study the management of

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

and charitable institutions. In 1866, he was appointed an honorary guardian and received the Card Factory under his management, where he did a lot to improve the life of the workers, arranged vast buildings of cheap apartments for workers, schools for boys (in 1867), for girls (in 1868) and a maternity clinic and a shelter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristofari, Nikolai 1802 births 1881 deaths Bankers from the Russian Empire People from Saint Petersburg ru:Кристофари, Николай Антонович

Biography

See also

References