Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of
San Donato (; 5 April OS: 24 March 1813 – 29 April 1870) was a Russian
industrialist
A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...
,
diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
,
active state councillor
Active State Councillor (, deystvitelnyi statskiy sovetnik) was a civil position (class) in the Russian Empire, according to the Table of Ranks introduced by Peter the Great in 1722. That was a civil rank of the 4th class and equal to those of M ...
, and arts patron of the
Demidov
The Demidov family (Russian: Деми́довы), also known as Demidoff or Dimidov, is a prominent Russian nobility, Russian noble family that rose to immense wealth and influence during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Demidovs became a wealth ...
family.
Early life
Born in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
or
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, he was the second surviving son of Count
Nikolai Nikitich Demidov and Baroness
Elisabeta Alexandrovna Stroganova
Baroness Elizaveta Alexandrovna Demidova (née Stroganova; 3/5 February 1779, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire – 8 April 1818, Paris; ) was a Russian aristocrat of the Stroganov family. She was the hostess of an aristocratic salon, known for ...
. He grew up in Paris, where his father was ambassador.
His paternal grandparents were
Nikita Akinfiyevich Demidov
Nikita Akinfiyevich Demidov () (7 September 1724 – 7 May 1789) was a Russian Empire, Russian industrialist and arts patron.
Life
He was the younger son of Akinfiy Demidov, brother of Prokofi Demidov and father of Nikolai Demidov.
He was m ...
and, his third wife, Alexandra Evtikhievna Safonova.
His maternal grandparents were Baron Alexander Nikolaevich
Stroganov
The Stroganov family (Russian: Стро́гановы, Стро́гоновы; French: Stroganoff) emerged as a preeminent Russian noble family renowned for their roles as merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen. By the reign of Iv ...
and Elizaveta Alexandrovna (a daughter of Chief General A. A. Zagryazhsky).
Career
He served briefly as a diplomat himself in Paris living in the
hôtel built by
Charles de Wailly
Charles de Wailly () (9 November 1730 – 2 November 1798) was a French architect and urbanist, and furniture designer, one of the principals in the Neoclassical revival of the Antique. His major work was the Théâtre de l'Odéon for the Coméd ...
for the sculptor
Augustin Pajou
Augustin Pajou (; 19 September 1730 – 8 May 1809) was a French sculpture, sculptor, born in Paris. At eighteen he won the Prix de Rome, and at thirty exhibited his ''Pluton tenant Cerbère enchaîné'' (now in the Louvre).
Selected works
Paj ...
, at 87
rue de la Pépinière, now the
rue La Boétie
The Rue La Boétie is a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, running from the Rue d'Astorg to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It is named in honour of Étienne de La Boétie (1530–1563), friend of moralist Michel de Montaigne.
History
F ...
, Rome and
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
.
Upon his father's death in 1828, Anatole settled for good in Western Europe, returning to Russia as little as possible. This attitude alienated him from tsar
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...
, who always had an antipathy towards him.
Scholarly endeavours
In 1837–38, he organised a scientific expedition of 22 scholars, writers and artists, of which
Auguste Raffet
Denis Auguste Marie Raffet (2 March 180416 February 1860) was a French illustrator and lithographer. He was a student of Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, and was a retrospective painter of the First French Empire, Empire.
Biography
Raffet was ...
and the critic
Jules Janin
Jules Gabriel Janin (; 16 February 1804 – 19 June 1874) was a French writer and critic.
Life and career
Born in Saint-Étienne (Loire), Janin's father was a lawyer, and he was educated first at St. Étienne, and then at the lycée Louis-le-Gr ...
became Demidov's friends, to southern Russia and the
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
, headed up by
Frédéric Le Play
Frédéric and Frédérick are the French versions of the common male given name Frederick. They may refer to:
In artistry:
* Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator
* Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor
* Frédéric Bazille, Impressio ...
. It cost 500,000 francs and its results were published as ''Voyage dans la Russie méridionale et la Crimée'' (4 vol., 1840–1842), with 100 original lithographs by
Raffet and dedicated to the tsar despite his not having taken any interest in the book, irritated by that most of the expedition's members had been French.
Demidov also financed a trip to Russia by André Durand in order to identify landscapes, which were published under the title ''Voyage pittoresque et archéologique en Russie'' in 1839. In 1840, Demidov himself published a series of articles on Russia in the ''
Journal des Débats
The ''Journal des débats'' (, ''Journal of Debates'') was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the outbreak ...
'' – these were collected as ''Lettres sur l’Empire de Russie'' in 1840 with the aim of fighting certain received French ideas about Russia. Nevertheless, these works irritated Nicholas I due to their description of Russia's feudal system. In 1847 Demidov made a trip to Spain with Raffet, publishing an account of it later as ''Etapes maritimes sur les côtes d’Espagne'' in 1858. In 1842, he was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...
.
Art collector

He also considerably expanded the
Demidov collection assembled by his father at the
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 ...
near
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
, being particularly interested in
Romantic art
Romanticism in the visual arts, originating in the 1760s, marked a shift towards depicting wild landscapes and dramatic scenes, reflecting a departure from classical artistic norms. This movement emphasized the sublime beauty of nature, the inte ...
. In the
Paris Salon of 1834 he acquired
Paul Delaroche
Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (; Paris, 17 July 1797 – Paris, 4 November 1856) was a French painter who achieved his greater successes painting historical scenes. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subje ...
's ''
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey
''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...
'', at the present in the
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
. In 1833, he bought
François Marius Granet
François Marius Granet (17 December 1775 – 21 November 1849) was a French painter.
Biography
François Marius Granet was born on 17 December 1775 in Aix-en-Provence; his father was a small builder. As a boy his strong desires led his parents ...
's ''The Death of Poussin'', which caused a sensation at the
1834 Salon.
He commissioned paintings from
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...
and watercolours from
Richard Parkes Bonington
Richard Parkes Bonington (25 October 1802 – 23 September 1828) was an English Romantic landscape painter. He moved to France at the age of 14 and can also be considered as a French artist, and an intermediary bringing aspects of English styl ...
and
Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is '' The Raft of the Medusa''. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romanti ...
, as well as Briullov's ''
The Last Day of Pompeii''. His collection was split up in public sales in Paris in 1863 and shortly before the prince's death in 1870.
The family owned copper and
malachite
Malachite () is a copper Carbonate mineral, carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the chemical formula, formula Basic copper carbonate, Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often for ...
mines in the
Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan. and Demidov was known as "the king of Malachite". In 1835 he presented Tsar
Nicholas I with the amazing malachite Rotunda which is now on display in the Fore Hall before the Nicholas Hall of the Hermitage in St Petersburg.
Later he donated 15 tons of malachite for columns in
St Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral () is a large architectural landmark cathedral that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Gre ...
, and his mines supplied the material for the
Malachite Room in the
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...
, constructed after the fire of 1837.
Marriage and separation
Like his parents, Demidov was a great admirer of
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
. He built a museum below the house of San Martino on
Elba
Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...
, where Napoleon had lived during his first exile, and he caused a mass to be sung at
Portoferraio
Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest town. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny h ...
every 5 May (which is still sung today). In 1839, he was introduced by
Jules Janin
Jules Gabriel Janin (; 16 February 1804 – 19 June 1874) was a French writer and critic.
Life and career
Born in Saint-Étienne (Loire), Janin's father was a lawyer, and he was educated first at St. Étienne, and then at the lycée Louis-le-Gr ...
into the circle of
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon, Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), Kingdom of Westphalia, King of Westphal ...
, former king of Westphalia, who was living in exile at the
Villa di Quarto in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
.
A plan to marry Jérôme's daughter princess
Mathilde-Létizia Bonaparte to Demidov was quickly formed. It was agreed that she would receive a dowry of 50,000 francs in jewels (bought by Demidov for 1 million francs from Jérôme, always short of money) and 240,000 francs in money, payable in instalments. A decree of 20 October 1840 also made Demidov the
Prince of San Donato to allow the princess to hold onto her title, though Demidov's princely title was never recognised in Russia. The marriage took place in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
or
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
on 1 November 1840.
In March 1841, the couple went to Saint Petersburg, where the Tsar was full of attention for his first cousin Mathilde, through her mother, and losing no opportunity to humiliate Demidov by any means possible. In spite of this, Anatole began his own infidelities. On 17 August 1841, the couple arrived in Paris, where they lived at
hôtel Demidoff at 109
rue Saint-Dominique
The Rue Saint-Dominique is a street in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is crossed by the Esplanade Les Invalides, des Invalides.
Origin of the name
It was formerly known as the Chemin de la Longue Raye (1355), Chemin des Treilles (1433), Ch ...
until June 1842, when they moved to spend a year in Saint Petersburg before finally setting up home at the Villa San Donato. Their relationship soon soured, with Demidov refusing to give up his mistress
Valentine de Sainte-Aldegonde Marie ''Valentine'' Joséphine de Sainte-Aldegonde, Duchess of Dino (29 May 182023 September 1891) was the wife of Alexandre Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, 3rd Duke of Dino, and mistress of Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato.
...
, duchesse de Dino, following the princess taking Count
Émilien de Nieuwerkerke
Émilien is a French masculine given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from ...
as her lover.
Mathilde made a violent scene with Valentine during a costume ball in 1845 and in reply Demidov slapped her face twice in public. Separated since 1843, in September 1846 Mathilde fled to Paris to take refuge with Nieuwerkerke, taking with her the jewels from her dowry. Even so, Demidov was condemned by a tribunal in Saint Petersburg to send Mathilde an annual pension of 200,000 francs and was never able to recover his jewels.
In many ways, Demidov felt he deserved such punishment, and their separation was authorised in 1847 by a personal decision of tsar Nicholas I. Demidov's many other mistresses included
Maria Calergis, considered one of the most beautiful women of her era, Ernestine Duverger, and Fanny de la Rochefoucauld (daughter of
François, 8th Duke of La Rochefoucauld, with whom he had an illegitimate son.
Later life

Demidov tried to repair the damage the separation had done to his social standing by increasing his charitable donations. He created hospitals, orphanages and started an international committee to aid prisoners of the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
, as well as giving 1 million roubles to finance that war for which tsar
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Grand Du ...
made him chamberlain and Councillor of state. In 1860, he, the
duc de Morny
Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, 1st Duc de Morny (; 15/16 September 181110 March 1865) was a French statesman.
Biography
Morny was born in Switzerland, and was the extra-marital son of Hortense de Beauharnais (the wife of Louis Bonaparte ...
and doctor Oliffe made up the consortium of investors which founded the bathing resort at
Deauville
Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...
, and he took part in the famous
Carnival de Paris
The Paris Carnival () is an annual festival held in Paris, France. The carnival occurs after the Feast of Fools and has been held since the 16th century or earlier, with a long 20th century interregnum.
History
The Carnival of Paris is a fes ...
, a painting at the
musée Carnavalet
The Musée Carnavalet () in Paris is dedicated to the History of Paris, history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, ...
shows his team taking part.
A bon viveur, two chicken dishes were named after him, including Chicken Demidoff—elaborately stuffed, smothered, trussed, and garnished, and the Demidoff name is also applied to dishes of rissoles and red snapper. He died in 1870 of a pulmonary congestion in his hotel on rue Saint-Dominique in Paris. Dying without legitimate issue, his title of Prince of San Donato passed to his nephew
Pavel Pavlovitch Demidov.
Works
* Anatolīĭ Demidov (principe di San Donato),
André Durand,
Denis Auguste Marie Raffet: ''Voyage pittoresque et archéologique en Russie par le Hâvre, Hambourg, Lubeck, Saint-Petersbourg, Moscou, Nijni-Novgorod, Yaroslaw et Kasan, exécutée en 1839 sous la direction de M. Anatole de Démidoff.'' Paris, Gihaut frères,
840-1848re
descriptionby
Christie’s
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owne ...
(2011)
References
External links
*
*
Princedom of San Donato
The Principality of San Donato was created by Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, for the Italophile member of the Russian nobility, Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov in 1840, so that Demidov could marry Mathilde Bonaparte, niece of Napoleon, withou ...
*
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 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demidov, Anatoly
1813 births
1870 deaths
Diplomats from Saint Petersburg
Diplomats of the Russian Empire
Art collectors from the Russian Empire
Industrialists from the Russian Empire
Businesspeople from Saint Petersburg
Nobility from Saint Petersburg
Anatole
Princes of San Donato
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Knights of the Order of Saint Joseph