Petr OSSOVSKY June 17, 2003 0 25(500) Date: 17-06-2003 Petr OSSOVSKY The island has two completely different faces. You see one of them when you swim up to the pier. Here everything is as it should be in Russia: a church with a small grove around it, standing on a high bank; little chapel

Peter I the Great Russian Emperor Russian Tsar from 1682 (reigned from 1689), first Russian emperor since 1721. The youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. Carried out reforms government controlled(the Senate, colleges, bodies of higher state control and

PETER POROSHENKO Born on September 26, 1965 in Bolgrad, Ukrainian SSR. Ukrainian State and political figure, businessman. According to the latest Forbes estimates (March 2014), he ranks 7th among the Ukrainian rich (a fortune of $1.3 billion). People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VII convocation,

(b. 1831 - d. 1898)

Russian entrepreneur, owner of the largest distillery in Russia and a network of trading establishments selling alcoholic beverages. The creator of the famous Smirnov vodka and many other popular alcoholic beverages. A supplier of alcohol to the court of the Russian emperor, as well as the monarchs of Spain, Sweden and Norway.

During his lifetime, he was called "the king of Russian vodka." He enjoyed high ranks and orders from many countries, had a prestigious house in the center of Moscow, a rich crew and a large family: five sons and eight daughters. The former peasant Pyotr Arsenyevich Smirnov started as a clerk in a wine cellar, and for a long time his name did not say anything to the layman. Then no one knew that this name would become known to the whole world. Smirnov managed not only to break into the people, but became the richest man in Russia, a commerce adviser and a hereditary honorary citizen of Moscow.

The future famous entrepreneur was born on January 9, 1831 in the village of Kayurovo, Myshkinsky district, Yaroslavl province, in the family of serfs Arseny Alekseevich and Matrena Grigorievna Alekseev. Since the time of the war with Napoleon, their large family has been engaged in fishing for the “tasting” of Kizlyar and “Rensky” (Rhine) wines, which allowed them to save money, buy free and move to live in Moscow. Having become free people, the Alekseevs received permission to bear the surname Smirnov, one of the most common on the Upper Volga.

Little Petya began his career at the age of 10. He was given by his father "in the service" of his brother, Ivan Alekseevich, who was engaged in the sale of vodka, liqueurs and tinctures. When in 1860 Arseny Smirnov opened his own wine cellar in Zamoskvorechye, Peter began working as a clerk for his father. There were at least a dime a dozen competitors in this sector of the market - there were more than 200 taverns in Moscow alone. Nevertheless, the Smirnovs managed to stay afloat. Soon Arseniy realized that at the age of 60 he could not manage affairs with the same energy, and transferred the powers of the manager to his son.

By the end of 1861, Peter Smirnov became a merchant of the third guild. And after a while, he decided not only to trade, but also to start his own "fabrication of wines". For the rest of his life, he remembered the words once said by his father about poor quality vodka: "It's time to make your own, Smirnoff!" In addition, at that time, the necessary legal prerequisites for a new business were created in the country. Everyone was allowed to engage not only in the aging and sale of Rhine wines, but also in the preparation of "higher drinks" from alcohol. The production activity of the young merchant began in 1864 in a small Moscow house "near the Cast Iron Bridge". There was the main office, a small vodka factory, which employed only 9 hired workers, and a store - the “Rensky cellar”.

At first, all the products of the new enterprise easily fit in several barrels. But, thanks to the diligence of the founder of the company, his conscientious attitude to business and attention to the interests of the consumer, the business progressed noticeably in a short time. Over time, it became possible to expand the range of products and increase the number of workers up to 25 people.

Gradually, production became more complicated and expanded. By the beginning of the 1870s. the factory already employed about seventy workers, and its output was doubling every year. Not the last role in such a rapid take-off was played by the original approach of the owner of the company to marketing.

The artist Nikolai Zhukov wrote in his diary: “Smirnov hired agents and sent them around the city so that they everywhere in the taverns demanded only Smirnoff vodka and scolded the owners: why don’t you have such a respectful drink.”

In 1871 Pyotr Arsenievich joined the first guild. He was rich, belonged to the elite of the Moscow merchants, had a beautiful house, a promising factory, huge warehouses and trade relations with many cities of the country. But competitors did not doze off. They also tried to make their drinks better to win over the market, and they were a real threat. There is an urgent need to confirm its primacy by recognizing not only ordinary consumers, but also specialists. Therefore, in 1873, the products of the Smirnov plant went to the International Industrial Exhibition in Vienna. By the decision of the arbitrators, she was awarded the Honorary Diploma and the medal of the participant of the competition. This was the first official recognition of professionals. Since then, almost every year the company has received the highest world and domestic awards.

The best “work” of Smirnov was recognized by the international jury as “white wine”, which possessed pristine purity and originality. Before the revolution, white table wine was called a drink, which is now called vodka. And the term "vodka" was then applied to colored bitters: pepper, juniper, lemon, etc. The success of the original Smirnovka technology consisted in a careful selection of the best raw materials and a strictly controlled filtration process.

Already in 1876, Smirnovskaya vodka received a Grand Medal at the World Industrial Exhibition in Philadelphia. As a result of this competition, the Ministry of Finance in St. Petersburg awarded Peter Smirnov the right to depict the coat of arms of the Russian Empire on his products. This sign of guaranteed quality immediately distinguished his company from the competition and made it a leader in the vodka industry and wine trade.

Two years later, at the World Exhibition in Paris, the Smirnov plant was awarded two gold medals at once: for “refined table wine”, liqueurs, liqueurs, and also for aging grape wines. In 1882, at the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition, the company received the right to re-image the State Emblem of Russia on its products, and the owner himself was awarded the gold medal "For Diligence" on the ribbon of St. Andrew the First-Called. At the Nizhny Novgorod fair, held in 1886, Smirnov vodka greeted visitors with dancing bears, unobtrusively offering everyone who wanted to try it. Everything was very impressive, and the culmination of the fair was the appearance of Emperor Alexander III, with a glass of excellent Smirnovka in his hands.

Soon, by the highest order, Pyotr Arsenyevich was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav of the III degree, and his company was declared the official and sole supplier of vodka to the table of the Russian monarch: “The Moscow merchant Pyotr Smirnov has been graciously granted the title of Supplier of the Supreme Court. Gatchina, November 22, 1886. It was the moment of the highest happiness, the merchant went to this cherished goal for many years. In this regard, a few days later, in all Moscow newspapers, an appeal was published by the main office of the wine trade P.A. firms." Following this, the image of the third State Emblem of the Russian Empire appeared on the corks and seals that closed the bottles with the best Smirnoff "works".

Since that time, the surname "Smirnov" has become a universal trademark, personifying guaranteed quality. Soon, vodka from the Moscow factory "At the Chugunny Most" became the favorite drink of the King of Sweden and Norway, Oscar II. And in 1888, the products of the Smirnovsky enterprise were so liked at the World Exhibition in Barcelona that the King of Spain awarded the owner of the plant with the Order of St. Isabella. In his homeland, Smirnov, already quite favored by fate and power, was awarded the title of commerce adviser by a nominal imperial decree “with His Majesty's own signature”. The following year, at the World Exhibition in Paris, he first demonstrated the Nezhinskaya Rowan tincture to the European public and received a Grand Gold Medal for it.

The opening of its wine trade branches in Paris, London, Harbin, Shanghai and other major cities of the world contributed to even greater fame of the enterprise of P. A. Smirnov.

Already by the beginning of the 1890s. The Smirnov distillery was equipped with steam engines and had electric lighting. It employed up to 1.5 thousand people. The following figures testify to the scale of this production: its main turnover was 17 million rubles, of which 9 million rubles were paid to the state in excise duty for refined table wine and alcohol. The plant annually produced up to 45 million "dishes" (bottles). Up to 180,000 poods of charcoal per year were used to purify table wine. Smirnov's firm leased 7 glass factories producing annually up to 7 million bottles of various shapes and sizes. Four printing houses printed more than 60 million labels and labels on her order, and more than 120 thousand rubles a year were spent on the purchase of corks. Only for the transportation of products of the vodka plant within Moscow, 120 carts were hired daily.

By this time, Pyotr Smirnov had long surpassed his main and most powerful competitors - the Beckman and Stritter plants in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Along with the systematic increase in production, the range of products was also expanded. The sale of cheap grape wine in wooden barrels, which was in great demand among the peasants, increased sharply. They refused to take bottled alcohol for fear of breaking it on the way. This is how the activity of the enterprise was characterized in the “History of Russian Winemaking”: “The largest wine trade in Moscow was carried out by the firm of Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov. More than half a million buckets of wine were stored in its cellars, and for lack of space in the cellars in the yard, there were another 3,000 forty-bucket barrels of Kizlyar wine.

The overwhelming success of the business was not so much due to the increase in the scale of production and sales, but due to the relentless improvement of products. After all, the basic principle of Pyotr Arsenyevich, in his own words, was to "give the best, develop products from first-class Russian material and spare no expense and expense on the most advanced production apparatus."

Possessing a special commercial flair and the gift of foresight, constantly studying the forgotten recipes of Russian antiquity and the latest achievements of European winemakers, Smirnov created his own original wine and vodka products. He boldly introduced into the factory production various sweet tinctures and home-made liqueurs: raspberry, chocolate, nut, etc., the best of which was still Nezhinskaya Rowan.

Year after year, the popularity of the company grew. Smirnov did not get tired of surprising the public with his novelties, which the newspapers reported under the heading "Remarkable News". So, Zubrovka, Travnichek, Sukharnichek, Limonnichek, English Bitter, Little Russian Casserole, Spotykach, Fresh Cherry (a tincture of outstanding dignity), Leaflet ”, “Mamura” (liqueur from the berries of northern Russia), “Erofeich” (on twenty herbs), etc.

But Table Wine No. 21 was in special demand at 40 kopecks per bottle. This drink (belonging to the cheapest 4th grade) "gained the right of citizenship everywhere: in officers' canteens, soldiers' tea rooms, as well as in the Russian Navy and in special "ladies' buffets", at wakes and weddings, and even at celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in 1896 in Moscow. Thanks to the "drinking softness" of this variety of table wine, its affordable price, it has become essentially a "folk" strong drink.

In the 1890s The assortment of Smirnov's stores consisted of more than four hundred items, not counting hundreds of foreign ones from the best trading houses around the world. Smirnov ordered competitors' products from abroad on principle, giving the buyer the opportunity to compare whose wines and liqueurs are better. Now its stocks were already located on the territory of 15 huge warehouses, and the number of people employed in the production and trade of alcoholic beverages reached 25 thousand people.

Pyotr Arsenievich received his last gold medal, as reported by World Illustration, at an exhibition in 1897 in Stockholm for the high quality of refined table wine, berry liqueurs and liquors. The Smirnov plant exhibited almost its entire range there. The pavilion was designed in the form of a spacious wine cellar, which was personally visited by Oscar II with Crown Prince Gustav and Prince Carl. Three representatives of the royal dynasty were satisfied with the Smirnov drinks, which they tasted themselves, not entrusting such a responsible event to the retinue.

Possessing a huge fortune of 15 million at that time, Pyotr Arsenievich never forgot about the needs of society. Beginning in April 1870, he was "an agent of the Committee on beggars in the Pyatnitskaya part" of the city of Moscow, taking a personal part in the fate of disadvantaged people. Since 1873, he was an honorary member of the Council of Orphanages under the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, he made his "special personal contribution to the care of homeless and homeless children." At his own expense, he built one of the buildings of the Alexander-Mariinsky Women's School and repeatedly allocated money for its needs.

In the sphere of his constant charitable activities were the Moscow Eye and Alekseevskaya Psychiatric Hospitals; the Moscow Department of the Guardianship of the Blind and the Society of Military Doctors with its own free hospital; Iberian Community of Sisters of Mercy and the Society for Assistance to Needy Siberians and Siberian Women Studying in Educational Institutions; elementary school of the Moscow Palace Office and the Guardianship of insufficient students of the Elizabethan Women's Gymnasium.

But Pyotr Arsenievich showed special love and participation in the “beautification” of churches. Large nominal contributions were made by him for the arrangement and restoration of the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin. And in the Annunciation and Verkhospassky Cathedrals, he even was the headman and psalmist. About the parish church built at the expense of P. A. Smirnov in the Yaroslavl province, in the “small homeland” of his ancestors, Archbishop John of Yaroslavl and Rostov said: “The sacrifice for the church is enormous.” Indeed, this five-domed stone temple could become an ornament of any large city.

Anticipating a family split and the division of property after his death, trying to somehow protect the business in which he had invested his whole life from collapse, Pyotr Arsenyevich filed a petition with the office of the Moscow Governor-General to approve the Charter of the new enterprise. So, at the beginning of 1894, the "Association of a vodka factory, warehouses of wine, alcohol and Russian and foreign wines of P. A. Smirnov in Moscow" was founded. The sons of the founder, Peter (1868–1910), Vladimir (1875–1934) and Nikolai (1873–1937), took an active part in the activities of the new company. The authorized capital of the Partnership amounted to 3 million rubles.

However, a year later the government decided to introduce a vodka monopoly. Its tasks were to transfer the production and trade of vodka in the country from private to state hands, while achieving the elimination of clandestine moonshining, to instill in the people a culture of vodka consumption, and to raise the quality standard of the Russian alcoholic beverage. Vodka could now only be produced at state-owned factories and sold in shops owned by the state. So Smirnov's enterprise lost its main trump card - "Table Wine No. 21". At first, an experienced entrepreneur found a way out. He began to expand the production of wine, liquor and other drinks, but they could no longer compare in popularity with vodka. The production volumes of the Partnership fell 15 times.

In 1898, Pyotr Arsenievich fell ill. According to relatives, for about six months he mostly lay on the couch and did not talk to anyone. Unable to withstand the blow inflicted on his empire by the introduction of the state alcohol monopoly, the “king of Russian vodka” died on December 12, 1898, having bequeathed to his relatives not only the largest fortune in Russia, but also a mandate: never put personal interests above the interests of family and business.

After the death of Smirnov, his widow Maria Nikolaevna remained the heirs of the business (Peter Arsenievich's first wife died a year after the next birth, and after a while he married a second time) and five sons from both marriages. According to the will, the inheritance shares allocated to them were to be in the cash desk of the Partnership until the sons reached the age of 35, but for now they could only receive dividends on them. In the name of each of the eight daughters, 30 thousand rubles were put in the State and Moscow merchant banks, the interest on which they could use for life, and these amounts themselves were assigned to their children.

A well-written will for several years reliably protected the capital of P. A. Smirnov from fragmentation, which largely determined the stable operation of the plant. However, in 1899 Maria Nikolaevna died suddenly. There were rumors that her death was violent, and her stepdaughters were suspected of this. The share of the widow's inheritance passed to the younger sons - Vladimir, Sergei and Alexei. The balance provided for by the will was upset, which created such a situation in the family business in which joint ownership became impossible. The situation was also aggravated by the fact that the older and younger Smirnov brothers were stepbrothers. It got to the point that the guardians of the younger brothers Sergei and Alexei - the children of Maria Nikolaevna, hid them from their elders, changing their addresses.

In 1902, the "P. A. Smirnov Partnership" was liquidated, and with the funds received as a result of this operation, the older brothers "repurchased at a discount" all the movable and immovable property of the company. It was transferred to the immediately established new Trading House "Peter, Nikolai and Vladimir Petrovich Smirnov, trading under the firm of P. A. Smirnov in Moscow." However, soon Nikolai, who led a wasteful lifestyle, and Vladimir, who was only interested in breeding horses, left the family business, selling their shares to their brother.

Until his sudden death in 1910, Petr Petrovich Smirnov remained the sole legal owner of the enterprise and trademark. Then the management of the famous firm passed to his widow, Evgenia Ilyinichna (née Morozova). But the state of wine and vodka production was of little interest to her. She spent a lot of time abroad, and in 1917 she stayed there forever, having married the Italian consul De La Valle-Richi. During its “management”, Smirnov’s company began to lose its creditworthiness, and it no longer had the title of Supplier of the Highest Court. After the revolution, the plant worked for no more than a year and was forced to stop production.

Then the company was nationalized, and one of the Smirnov brothers - Vladimir Petrovich - ended up abroad. There he managed to sell his rights to the famous trademark for the second time to an emigrant from Russia, Rudolf Kunett, who planned to organize the sale of vodka in America and Canada. This entrepreneur clearly foresaw the consequences of the repeal of Prohibition in the United States and, having calculated the rise in alcohol consumption, was already counting the profits. However, after the liberalization of the alcohol trade, Americans rushed to drink whiskey, cocktails and gin. They simply didn't know anything about vodka. As a result, the company was on the verge of collapse.

Kunett turned to the president of Huebline Inc. for help. John Martin. He also had no idea what vodka was, but Smirnoff bought the license for the production and sale, for which the board of directors almost fired him from his job. And then the company decided on a kind of experiment. 2 thousand boxes of vodka were made with a stamp on the cork "Smirnoff Whiskey". This product was marketed in South Carolina as "flavorless white whiskey" and quickly won the hearts of local consumers.

So since 1939, Smirnovskaya vodka received American citizenship, and since the late 1940s. has already taken root so much that it began to replace gin in the recipes of the most popular cocktails. Today, the whole world recognizes Smirnoff, not only by its taste, but also by its memorable bottle and label. More than 500 thousand bottles of this drink are sold daily in 140 countries, including Russia and Ukraine.

In February 1991, the great-grandson of the famous Russian businessman Boris Alekseevich Smirnov and his father registered a small enterprise “P. A. Smirnov and descendants in Moscow. With him began the revival of the company. The heirs not only restored the ancestral home at the Chugunny Bridge, but also resumed the trade in alcoholic beverages, both of their own production and foreign under the family trademark "Smirnov".

Now, slowly but surely, the same surname divides the world in half for itself. And each of the participants in the competitive struggle considers only himself the sole owner of the famous name. Litigation on this issue has not subsided for many years. True, they affect only the marketing side of the business, and as for technology, the Americans are silent here. The fact that "Smirnoff" has nothing to do with "Smirnov" has been proven as a result of numerous laboratory studies. And it doesn’t even matter whether Boris Smirnov actually possesses the prescription secrets of his eminent ancestor, which he inherited. The consumer "feels the difference", he can no longer be deceived by a beautiful sticker, and he will make his own choice.

In Moscow, beautiful legends about mansions are very fond of. And even if his true story is known to many, it is still distorted for the sake of a beautiful lie.
Tverskoy Boulevard cannot boast large quantity buildings in modern style. And this mansion, which stands almost in its middle, attracts the special attention of the walkers.


The gaze of passers-by always stops at the balcony with a bizarre forged ornament, reminiscent of a ship sailing on the waves. True, now the lattice of this balcony is covered by the ugly letters of the Empire restaurant. For many years, local historians have been fond of telling that this mansion was presented to his mistress by vodka Petr Petrovich Smirnov. And none of them like to tell the truth. But his history has nothing to do with this fiction, slander, erected for the sake of a red word, on good man, a caring family man, for a woman with a difficult fate, like everyone else at that time.

At the mansion interesting story. Back in the 1760s, it was mentioned as belonging to the horse guard captain Vasily Vasilyevich Istlentyev. In 1763, the house passed to the chamberlain lieutenant-general Alexander Grigoryevich Petrovo-Solovo.
After the fire, it belonged to Count Vladimir Grigoryevich Orlov.
In the 19th century it had many owners and many rebuildings.
The result was a solid "Empire mansion", which in its internal structure has preserved traces of different eras with different levels of the floor, a labyrinth of rooms and services.

And on November 28, 1900, the merchant Petr Petrovich Smirnov bought this mansion from the hereditary honorary citizen Nikolai Petrovich Malyutin for 299 thousand rubles for his family. He had already been happily married to Yevgenia Ilyinichna Morozova for seven years by that time. They raised three children: Tatyana, Arseny and Alexei. In 1900, another daughter, Olga, was born.

Pyotr Petrovich was the son of Pyotr Arsenyevich Smirnov, the creator of the famous Moscow vodka factory in Sadovniki, and his second wife, Natalya Alexandrovna Tarakanova.
Petr Petrovich himself, in his youth, was engaged in the tea trade in St. Petersburg and moved to Moscow only in 1893 at the insistence of his father, who sought to involve his son in the family business.
The following year (1894), the “Partnership of a vodka factory, warehouses of wine, spirits and Russian and foreign wines P.A. Smirnov" in Moscow with a fixed capital of 3 million rubles, where Petr Petrovich became one of the directors. His family was growing, there was not enough space for all of them in the parental house on Pyatnitskaya, and Peter decided to buy a new house for them.



He invited the then famous Fyodor Shekhtel as an architect. The Smirnovs were already familiar with him. He built for their family. Petr Petrovich set him the task of creating a decent and beautiful home for the family while maintaining the multi-level bizarre internal structure of the mansion. But Smirnov wanted his house to become an adornment of the boulevard and stand out from the rest of the building. Therefore, Shekhtel paid a lot of attention to the street facade, while his courtyard facade was extremely simple.


The dominant feature of the boulevard facade was, of course, a large forged balcony-ship, as if floating above the passers-by. It opened into the front hall.


The second dominant feature was a high attic with elongated stained-glass windows and a cartouche with the owner's monogram. The first floor was the utility floor, and on the second, Shekhtel made a magnificent suite of front rooms and living rooms for Evgenia Ilyinichna and Pyotr Petrovich. The children's half was located in the attic. Servants lived in the courtyard buildings, there was a stable that overlooked Maly Gnezdnikovsky Lane.

The main staircase was made of white marble, its balustrade resembled an oncoming wave - a favorite technique of the master. On the second floor of the stairs, a huge window with faceted glass was made, which shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow in sunny weather. In the lobby, guests were greeted by large ceremonial portraits of the owners of the mansion. All the halls of the front suite were made in different styles. The son of Peter Petrovich later recalled that he studied history and art history in these halls.



The grand dining room was Romanesque, with wood-paneled walls, a barrel-vaulted ceiling, and a massive fireplace with two squat columns. Light entered the dining room through a triple lancet stained-glass window.

The large living room, where the hosts held large receptions, musical and theatrical evenings, was made in a classical style, richly decorated with stucco, painted in greenish color. In the painting of the ceiling, Shekhtel placed the monogram-monogram of the SPR - Smirnovs Peter and Evgenia.

A special front room was the huge Egyptian Hall, for which a special extension was even made from the courtyard. The hall was decorated with drawings from papyri in golden beige tones.



Two powerful Egyptian columns separated the hall from the corridor. This hall was built specifically for art exhibitions.

The owners preferred realistic painting, which did not go well with the Egyptian decor of the hall, according to Ilya Repin. For Pyotr Petrovich, Shekhtel made an office in the Gothic style, and for Evgenia Ilyinichna, an elegant boudoir.



The dominant feature of the boudoir was the sailing ceiling, all decorated with stucco ornaments of roses.
In the design of the pink living room, Fyodor Shekhtel applied a then-new lighting technique - light bulbs in the form of blooming buds were inserted into the stucco molding of the ceiling with floral motifs around the perimeter.


In this stucco molding, graceful female figures in tunics were depicted from two corners.

In all rooms there was beautiful furniture, paintings and other little things dear to the heart. A large winter garden was made with outlandish plants and a small menagerie.


Tatyana Smirnova in the Winter Garden.
Children's rooms were decorated based on Russian fairy tales. The house had English batteries, water heating with its own boiler room. There was forced ventilation.

In this mansion, Petr Petrovich and Evgenia Ilyinichna in 1902 had their last child, their son Anatoly. And in 1910, after a short illness, quite young, Pyotr Petrovich Smirnov suddenly passed away. He had a banal follicular tonsillitis, complicated by edema and suffocation. There were no antibiotics then and the heart could not stand this disease. Evgenia Ilyinichna was left alone with five children. She had to continue her husband's trading business and raise children. Their financial situation became much more complicated with the introduction of Prohibition and the state monopoly on vodka. But contrary to all rumors and later fabrications, the family of Evgenia Ilyinichna lived in this mansion until the revolution.
They didn’t rent it to any club and she didn’t want to open any cinematograph here. The eldest daughter and son by that time had created their own families and lived in a house on Pyatnitskaya. Evgenia Ilyinichna met the revolution in this house with three younger children. The house was occupied by the junkers, who were firing from the house at the hands of the Red Army soldiers who were storming the neighboring mansion of the city administration.
The post-revolutionary fate of the family is very sad. Evgenia Ilyinichna, trying to save her family, married an Italian business partner of the Smirnovs and left with him for Japan. But they were not allowed to take the children, and they remained in Russia. Alexei and Anatoly died in the 1920s. Tatyana and her daughter managed to leave for Paris in 1926. Son Arseny wandered a lot Central Asia where he died in the middle of the 20th century.
AT Soviet time in the mansion there were a people's court and a military prosecutor's office, court sessions were held in the Roman Hall. In the 1990s, most of the mansion was given to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. In 1994, it was pushed aside by placing the Melodiya company here, which was urgently evicted from the Anglican church of St. Andrew's Church in Voznesensky lane 8 (it was then occupied by Melodiya). Now in the right wing of the building and in the courtyards there is the Moscow branch of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. And the main halls, restored in 2006 by a construction company, are occupied by restaurants replacing each other every year. Last year it was the "Shekhtel club", now the restaurant (house of receptions and celebrations) "Empire" ...
Which disfigured the OKN balcony.

Content 1 Notable speakers 1.1 A 1.2 B 1.3 ... Wikipedia

Wikipedia has articles about other people with that surname, see Smirnov. Pyotr Smirnov: Smirnov, Pyotr Aleksandrovich (1897 1939) Soviet military figure, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st convocation. Smirnov, Pyotr Arsenyevich (1831 1898) ... ... Wikipedia

Wikipedia has articles about other people named Vladimir Smirnov. V. P. Smirnov Vladimir Petrovich Smirnov ... Wikipedia

Smirnov Pyotr Aleksandrovich (1897 1939) Soviet military figure, army commissar of the 1st rank. Smirnov Pyotr Arsenyevich Russian entrepreneur, vodka king of Russia, founder of the Smirnoff distillery ... Wikipedia

Vodka Founded: 1860(?) ... Wikipedia

- ... Wikipedia

The Stalin Prize for outstanding inventions and fundamental improvements in production methods is a form of encouragement for citizens of the USSR for significant achievements in the technical development of Soviet industry, the development of new technologies, modernization ... ... Wikipedia

Contents 1 1941 2 1942 3 1943 4 1946 4.1 Awards ... Wikipedia

Contents 1 1980 2 1981 3 1982 4 1983 5 1984 6 1985 ... Wikipedia

List of laureates Contents 1 1967 2 1968 3 1969 4 1970 5 1971 6 ... Wikipedia

Books

• Smirnovs. Vodka business of Russian merchants, Vladimir Smirnov. In the 19th century, one of the most popular Russian goods in the world was the famous Smirnovskaya vodka. The beginning of a grandiose business was laid by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov, a native of Yaroslavl ... electronic book
• Heart diseases and their spa treatment, E. A. Smirnov-Kamensky. Economic progress in our country has led to the elimination of many diseases and a sharp reduction in child mortality. The average human life expectancy has exceeded 70 years. However…

Vodka has long become one of the national drinks of Russia - and not so much because of people's love, but thanks to the efforts of entrepreneurs. One of the largest producers of Russian vodka - - was first of all a talented seller. The primordially Russian drink in the form in which we know it was created largely thanks to its skillful marketing. continues a series of publications about businessmen of the Russian Empire.

Nephew of the most honest rules

At the beginning of the 20th century, a wave of strikes swept Russia. Revolutionary ideas gained extreme popularity, offering to throw off the oppression of capital and take away the factories from the bourgeoisie. At the enterprises of Morozov and Putilov, strikes were organized, but there were companies whose employees did not take part in the riots and worked as if nothing had happened.

Such enterprises included factories and warehouses of the Smirnov family - the heirs of the vodka king Peter Arsenyevich Smirnov. There was nothing for the workers of the Smirnov factories to strike: the rule “a happy worker is an efficient worker”, introduced by the founder of the company, was carried out even after his death.

The liquor tycoon's factories paid well, workers had good housing and hospitals, and fines for misconduct were low (although other manufacturers often punished their employees harshly). So not a single strike has happened in the entire history of the Smirnovs' business.

The history of the famous brand began with the fact that in 1811, the brothers Arseniy and Yakov Alekseev (that is, the sons of Alexei) from the village of Kayurovo, Myshkinsky district, Yaroslavl province, entered the service of the Moscow merchant Korchashkin, who traded overseas wines. They were serfs and in this way worked out quitrent for their master. According to the decree of Peter I of 1718, the household tax was replaced by a poll tax. Since then, the so-called otkhodnichestvo has spread - the peasants left the villages and villages for the city in order to earn cash for their landowner.

In 1816, two Alekseevs were added and younger brother Ivan. It was thanks to his commercial streak that the brothers not only worked out dues for the landowner, but also began to earn money for themselves. 11 years after Ivan's arrival, the Alekseev brothers were already trading independently, and in 1837 they bought themselves and their relatives from the landowner. Together with the freedom, they received the right to the surname Smirnov. Ivan Alekseevich was the most talented in the family and managed the family business.

In 1840, he bought from his distant relative, the merchant Yakovlev, a Rens cellar (that is, a shop selling Rhine wines) on Varvarka. Two years later, brother Arseniy asked to take his 16-year-old son Yakov to the shop, and four years later, his youngest son Peter, who was only 15 years old, moved to Moscow. Having hired his younger nephew, the merchant of the first guild Smirnov from Varvarka, as he was called, did not assume that he was training a dangerous competitor. Working for his uncle, Petr Arsenievich thoroughly studied the characteristics of wines, grape varieties, the secrets of storage and, of course, the art of selling.

In 1860, at the initiative of Peter, who was already 29, his father Arseny Alekseevich left the family business and opened his own shop. Partner brothers turn into rival brothers: from Varvarka against Arseny Smirnov from the Chugunny Bridge.

pure product

As for vodka itself, its production as a separate business is the merit of Peter Smirnov. In the 18th century, vodka was exclusively homemade. The landowners made their own strong drinks - each according to his own recipe, since 1716 distillation was an exclusively noble privilege. The distillation of alcohol, which had been used in Europe since the 14th century, was unknown to Russians. Vodka was purified with natural animal proteins. According to the culinary historian William Pokhlebkin, "six buckets of vodka of the first race relied on at least one bucket of milk or half a bucket of egg whites." Moreover, vodkas were only flavored - with the addition of herbs, berries, fruits or seeds.

In the 19th century, technologies for the production of alcohol based on potato raw materials penetrated into Russia. This significantly reduced the cost of production and became a threat to Russian vodka. Just in the 60s years XIX century, when Arseniy and Peter Smirnov were just starting the business, in the western provinces they began to switch from grain vodka to potato vodka. But cheap potato swill was of poor quality and contained a lot of fusel oils and impurities. Once, after tasting such bad vodka, Arseny said: "It's time to make your own, Smirnoff!" His son Peter dedicated his life to this.

From January 1, 1863, the tax-paying system for the sale of alcohol, which caused discontent and led to "tavern riots", was replaced by an excise tax. The excise tax was collected from the volume, quantity, quality of alcohol smoked and for trade. In the same year, Pyotr Arsenyevich opened his first vodka shop on Ovchinnikovskaya embankment. Initially, nine people worked there, who produced only a dozen barrels. The vodka was called "Smirnovskaya".

The first thing Smirnov paid attention to was the quality of products, but he did not forget to increase client base. For example, he paid extra to the regulars of taverns to ask the owners if there was a “smirnovka”. And since the client is interested, it means that it is necessary to buy. A few months later, 25 people had to be hired, but even they could not cope with the orders. Growth was too fast. Workers persuaded Smirnov to increase sales by slightly lowering the requirements for technology, but the owner was adamant: he was not allowed to reduce quality under any circumstances.

Like the best houses

During the expansion of production, Petr Arsenievich literally lived at the plant. He bought a house on Pyatnitskaya, which overlooked Ovchinnikovskaya embankment, there was a store on its ground floor - thus the owner's housing, production and sales were concentrated in one place. Soon this house near the Chugunny Bridge was labeled "smirnovka" so that any illiterate peasant could figure out where to buy vodka. Turnovers grew, vodka was objectively the best on the market, and in 1869 Smirnov filed a petition to recognize his company as a supplier of His Court. Imperial Majesty. Such a step regarding the young merchant was considered impudence at court, and the petition was rejected.

To establish himself, the entrepreneur took up social activities: became an agent of the Committee on begging for alms in the Pyatnitskaya part. It was a state body formed to combat begging and vagrancy. Among his goals were "finding funds for a secure place and a possible allowance for the first and active measures to convert the latter from idleness to honest and useful work," as well as the care and education of homeless children.

As a result of commercial efforts and, as it is now called, socially responsible behavior, Petr Smirnov becomes famous person. In 1871, he was a merchant of the first guild (albeit much later than his competitor, Uncle Ivan). Following the example of Smirnov, other producers also began to produce personalized vodka. In 1873, Pyotr Arsenievich sent his vodka to the international industrial exhibition in Vienna. It looked as impudent as the petition to be recognized as a supplier to the royal court, but the “smirnovka” was not smashed to pieces there, but on the contrary, they were awarded a medal and an honorary diploma. Its quality has become internationally recognized.

Then Smirnov's vodka received the highest award at an exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, and two years later made a splash in Paris. After the Philadelphia exhibition, he allowed Smirnov to place on the labels the state emblem - the double-headed eagle - as a sign of the highest achievement of Russian industry.

By the end of the 70s, the proceeds from sales of "smirnovka" exceeded 3 million rubles a year - a figure that no one could ever approach until the revolution itself. In 1882, Pyotr Smirnov's products were recognized as the best at the All-Russian Exhibition, where tasters tried drinks blindly, without knowing the manufacturer.

In 1885, Peter again applied for the status of the tsar's supplier. After a whole year of paperwork and consideration, a positive response was received. Alexander III not only awarded the merchant's enterprise the status of a supplier of the Court, but also awarded him the Order of Stanislav III degree, which also meant a noble title with the right to pass it on by inheritance. Pyotr Smirnov also received other royal awards for the quality of his products - from the Swedish and Spanish kings.

At the same time, Pyotr Arsenievich never lost control over his production, he even personally took part in the development of the shape of bottles for different types vodka. In the 80s, up to two thousand workers already worked for him, more than 45 million bottles a year were bottled at his factories. The excise taxes of the Smirnov plant brought 5 million rubles to the treasury annually; by the end of the 90s, he controlled 60 percent of the empire's alcohol market.

The entrepreneur continued to be actively involved in charity work: the Alexander-Mariinsky Women's School, the Moscow Eye Hospital, the Alekseevskaya Psychiatric Hospital, the Moscow Department of Guardianship of the Blind, the Society of Military Doctors, the community of sisters of mercy and other charitable institutions were built and maintained with his money.

Vodka and power

Vodka is a very marginal product. The cost and sale price differ tenfold, so for the state it has always been a powerful means of attracting money to the budget. But if earlier the authorities were satisfied with the collection of excises, then in the early 90s of the century before last, Finance Minister Sergei Yulievich Witte decided to introduce a state monopoly on the purification of alcohol and the sale of strong drinks.

In 1894, the government patented a product that came to be considered Russian vodka: grain alcohol, then rebuilt and diluted with water to exactly 40-degree strength. This "state vodka" or "kazenka" was cheap, and "branded" vodkas were heavily taxed. As a result, sales of Smirnov's products fell 15 times.

After the introduction of the state monopoly, Petr Arsenievich lived for another four years. The family business was inherited by his sons - Peter, Nikolai, Vladimir, Sergey and Alexei. But things didn't go so well for them. Then Petr Petrovich Smirnov, who turned out to be a rather successful leader, became the head of the company. He died in 1910, leaving the business to his wife.

In 1914, prohibition was introduced, and the company had to switch to the production of soft drinks. And then the Bolshevik revolution took place, and in 1918 all enterprises came under state control. The Smirnovs emigrated, and in the 1930s the trademark was sold to foreign businessmen. And that's another story.