Mammoth was a real philanthropist. Savva Mamontov - biography of the largest industrialist in Russia
Savva Mamontov is a famous Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist of the 19th century. very interesting and rich. Contemporaries knew him as an excellent singer, talented sculptor and artist. It was his estate that at one time became the center artistic life.
Brief biography of Savva Mamontov
Savva Ivanovich Mamontov was born into a merchant family on October 15, 1841. His father was involved in railroad construction. The family lived richly, and receptions and balls were often held in their house. After completing his studies at the Faculty of Law, the son continued his father’s business and made a fortune from it. The name of Savva Mamontov is associated with the construction of the largest railway lines. However, he gained wide fame and memory from his descendants (the biography of Savva Mamontov is known to more than one generation) thanks to his selfless service to art. “Moscow Medici”, “Savva the Magnificent” - this is how grateful contemporaries spoke of him, it was under these nicknames that he entered the history of Russian culture.
Education
There were four sons in the Mamontov family. Their education was handled by a tutor specially hired for this purpose. He taught children European manners and foreign languages. The biography of Savva Mamontov might have been completely different, but everything changed after the death of his mother in 1852. The father and children had to move to a more modest estate than they had previously occupied. The father of the family was grieving the death of his wife. It was at this time that he decided to abandon home education and send his children to the Moscow gymnasium, and two years later he transported them to St. Petersburg and enrolled them in the Institute of Civil Engineers. However, Savva was unable to study here and returned to Moscow, to his native gymnasium. One of the reasons for his return was scarlet fever, which he contracted. Studying was not easy for him. IN educational institutions At that time there were strict rules: students who were behind in academic subjects, had to sit at the last desks. But Savva Mamontov, a biography whose personal life has been discussed for centuries, was already a favorite of those around him, and at the request of his classmates he was always seated at the first desk. He carried this unique ability to unite people around him throughout his life. However, the recognition of classmates could not affect Savva’s academic performance, and after failure final exams he was forced to leave the gymnasium.
Introduction to art
The father got his son into St. Petersburg University. During the entrance exams, Savva Mamontov had to cheat - another young man went to the Latin exam instead of him. Savva was enrolled at the University of St. Petersburg, and soon transferred to the Faculty of Law in Moscow. However, even at the university, Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, whose biography depicts us as a highly educated person, was not too interested in studying and that’s all free time devoted himself to studies in the drama club, the leader of which was the famous playwright A. N. Ostrovsky. In 1862, he played the role of Curly in the play “The Thunderstorm”. This was his debut, by the way, quite successful.
Mamontov - entrepreneur
During these years, Ivan Fedorovich Mamontov just founded and began to develop a new trading partnership that specialized in the sale of silk. Father decided to attract youngest son Savva to the family business and sent him to study trade business to the branch of his company in Baku. Having started working as a simple employee, Savva Mamontov showed himself to be an excellent businessman. After a business trip to Persia, he returned as an experienced businessman. The biography of Savva Ivanovich Mamontov says that from that moment his life changed dramatically. From a truant and a loafer, he turns into an excellent entrepreneur.
Family of Savva Ivanovich Mamontov
The biography of Savva Mamontov and his family are of interest to many people of the current generation. In 1864, the youngest son went to Italy to receive medical treatment and study the situation in local markets. Here he meets his future wife- Elizaveta Grigorievna Sapozhnikova. The 17-year-old girl was not particularly beautiful. But this is not what attracted Savva Mamontov to her. She was interested in art, sang beautifully, read a lot and studied music. A year later it took place magnificent wedding, after which the young people settled in Moscow. It was at this time that the Mamontovs moved away from trading and began working on railway construction. While studying family business, Savva Mamontov, short biography which is described in the article, never ceased to serve art and invested huge amounts of money in it.
After the death of his father in 1869, management of the family business passed completely into the hands of his youngest son. A young family decides to buy own house. Famous Russian artists, writers and musicians constantly gathered at the Abramtsevo estate, owned by the Mamontov family since 1870. Thanks to the assistance of Savva Ivanovich, opera began to develop at that time. Such names as Chaliapin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov began to sound and become famous. Much attention The patron paid attention to decorations painted by famous artists. Savva Ivanovich Mamontov himself, whose short biography, of course, cannot reveal all his talents, together with historians and art critics, painstakingly selected all the scenery, stage details and costumes.
Patronage
Savva Ivanovich devoted his entire life to supporting the most various types creative activity. He organized evenings, exhibitions, made new acquaintances, encouraged and promoted talented people. Mamontov spent enormous amounts of money on this “hobby,” despite the dissatisfaction of some members of his family. He had a special gift to see and recognize talent in a person for one or another type of art. Young artists constantly lived and created in the Mamontovs’ house, and the owners tried to create the most favorable conditions. where the Mamontovs lived was constantly rebuilt and repaired in order to be able to accommodate as many people as possible. After another visit to Italy, Savva Ivanovich, together with his wife, invited young artists, graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts who were finishing their studies abroad, to his estate. Thanks to Savva Mamontov, such names as V. D. Polenov, E. I. Repin, V. M. Vasnetsov and others became known to the world.
At the beginning of 1885, Savva Ivanovich opened the Moscow Private Opera, which marked the beginning of a great transformation of the stage. It was here that the talent of the now world-famous F.I. Chaliapin was revealed. This is where they performed famous composers and major artists.
Support from wife Elizaveta Grigorievna
Savva Ivanovich’s wife supported her husband in everything. It was she who opened a school for peasant children, and a little later a carpentry workshop. Graduates of this workshop received a set of tools as a reward, which allowed them to continue working.
There was a wonderful library in the Mamontov house. Elizaveta Grigorievna always provided assistance in selecting the necessary historical information and documents, if one of the artists undertook to paint a canvas on a historical theme. Often, while the artists were working, she read them classical literature, developing a sense of beauty in young talents.
Trial
Unfortunately, everything was not always smooth and serene in the fate of Savva Mamontov. In the early 1900s, a major trial took place related to illegal embezzlement cash. An entrepreneur comes up with the idea of merging large industrial and transport enterprises. The implementation of this grandiose plan required a large amount of money. Savva Ivanovich sells shares of the Northern Road that he owns. At the same time, he receives a loan by pledging shares and bills that belonged to his family as collateral. Having put his entire fortune on the line, the entrepreneur hoped to increase it, but everything went wrong. Savva Ivanovich Mamontov was arrested. He even had to spend several months in a prison cell. Fortunately, the case ended in an acquittal. Many witnesses spoke during the court hearings. Not one of them said a single bad word to the defendant. After the court read out the verdict, the entire room applauded. Despite the favorable outcome of the case, the debts had to be repaid. The entire family fortune was auctioned off.
Life after trial
Since the end of the long trial and the announcement of the verdict, the life of Savva Mamontov changed dramatically. He began to lead closed image life and rarely appeared in society. However, faithful and devoted friends did not forget their patron. Such famous people like V.A. Serov, V.M. Vasnetsov, V.I. Surikov, F.I. Chaliapin often visited him.
Savva Mamontov: biography, children
Savva Ivanovich very successfully combined service to culture and art with entrepreneurial activity. Both took a lot of energy, but for him it was the work of his whole life. As the entrepreneur himself admitted, he would never give up doing either art or business. In his entrepreneurial activity, by the way, he saw not only monetary profit, but also service to people, service for the benefit of people.
The biography of Savva Mamontov would be incomplete without mentioning the children, heirs of the great philanthropist and industrialist. The family had five children. It is noteworthy that Savva named all his offspring in such a way that the first letters of their names formed his given name. Vsevolod, Vera, Alexandra - SAVVA. One of the sons, Sergei, to some extent continued his father’s work. His name did not become as famous, but he was both a playwright and a poet, quite famous in his circles.
Life after death
The years of revolution were difficult for all of Russia at that time. Dramatic changes in the country found Savva Mamontov seriously ill. In early March 1918, he contracted pneumonia. On March 24, the great entrepreneur and philanthropist passed away. The next decades after his death, power in the country belonged to the Bolsheviks, and the name of Savva Mamontov was spat upon and forgotten. But such people do not leave without a trace. And now, almost a hundred years after his death, we remember the immeasurable contribution of Savva Ivanovich Mamontov to the development of Russian culture. Today, monuments have been erected in honor of the famous philanthropist and patron of art in Sergiev Posad and Yaroslavl. Not far from Moscow, on Yaroslavl direction, the platform is named after him.
Savva Mamontov studied at the St. Petersburg Mining Institute and at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. I. F. Mamontov took up construction railways. In the summer of 1863, the Moscow-Troitsk Railway was launched. Ivan Fedorovich was elected a member of the board of this road. Savva became more and more interested in theater and joined a theater group. Savva’s father was concerned about his son’s idle hobbies. Savva himself studied worse and worse at the university.
Seeing this, Ivan Fedorovich Mamontov decided to send Savva on the affairs of the Trans-Caspian Partnership (he was its co-founder) to Baku. In the fall, Savva Ivanovich began to head the central Moscow branch of the partnership.
In 1864, Savva visited Italy, where he began taking singing lessons and studied painting. There he met the daughter of the Moscow merchant Grigory Grigorievich Sapozhnikov, Elizaveta, who later became his wife (wedding in 1865 in Kireevo). The Sapozhnikov family occupied a high position in society, and consent to marriage was a confirmation of the strength of the Mamontovs’ position. Elizabeth was about 17 years old, she was not particularly beautiful, but she loved to read, sang, and played a lot of music. The young family settled in a house on Sadovaya-Spasskaya Street, bought by Savva Mamontov’s father. This mansion has been rebuilt several times.
"Gatherings" at the Mamontovs. Guests include Serov, Korovin...
Savva Mamontov sang like opera singer(the Italian opera invited him to perform on its stage), he was a talented sculptor, artist, and was fond of making majolica. In 1870-1890, his Abramtsevo estate near Moscow became the center of artistic life; The most prominent artists and musicians gathered here. With the support, art workshops were created that developed the traditions of folk art and crafts.
In 1885, Mamontov founded the Moscow Private Russian Opera, which existed until the fall of 1904. It promoted the work of leading figures in the musical arts, established new principles in theatrical art and a realistic type of operatic performance.
Thanks to Mamontov I “got up”FedorChaliapin. The Russian private opera, organized by Mamontov, gave rise to many talents, but Fyodor Chaliapin also played an ambiguous role in Savva’s life. Mamontov paid a huge penalty for Chaliapin’s transfer to his troupe, but was too zealous a teacher for the freedom-loving Fedor. As a result, Chaliapin returned to the Bolshoi.
Savva Mamontov was the founder and builder of the largest railways in Russia (from Yaroslavl to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk and from the Donetsk coal basin to Mariupol), Mytishchensky carriage plant, was engaged in mining iron ore and iron smelting. He was a member of the Moscow City Duma, an honorary and full member of the Society of Lovers of Commercial Knowledge, chairman of the Delvigovsky Railway School, founder of five commercial and industrial schools in different parts Russian Empire. He is the author of the book “On the Railway Industry of Russia”, holder of the Order of Vladimir, 4th degree.
In the early 1990s, Mamontov planned to create a conglomerate of interconnected industrial and transport organizations. He began the reconstruction of the Nevsky shipbuilding and mechanical plant in St. Petersburg, acquired the Nikolaev Metallurgical Plant in the Irkutsk province. These enterprises were supposed to provide vehicles The Moscow-Yaroslavl-Arkhangelsk Railway, of which he was director of the board, and continue its construction, which would allow for more energetic development of the North. Due to a lack of financial investments associated with the industrial crisis in 1899, Mamontov went bankrupt, was arrested and sent to Tagansk prison. Despite all the efforts of his friends and the positive opinion of the workers, Savva Mamontov spent several months in prison. The circumstances of the case allow us to say that Mamontov’s release was deliberately prevented. Muravyov purposefully searched for information about Mamontov’s abuses, but could not find anything.
In prison, Savva Ivanovich sculpted sculptures of guards and from memory.In the son's house, where SavvaMamontovatransferred to house arrest , visited himKorovin. Savva Ivanovich sadly said to the artist: “I wrote to Fedenka Chaliapin, but for some reason he didn’t visit me.” Serov said succinctly to Korovin about this: “Not enough heart.” Before his death, Mamontov bequeaths that Chaliapin should not be allowed to attend his funeral (Mamontov’s funeral, of course).
Later in his autobiography, Fyodor Chaliapin will write: “I owe my fame to Savva Ivanovich. I will be grateful to him all my life...” So understand these artists after this...
In court, he was defended by the famous lawyer F.N. Plevako, witnesses said only good things about Mamontov, and the investigation established that he did not embezzle money. The jury acquitted Mamontov, the courtroom was filled with unabating applause.
Savva Mamontov's property was sold out almost completely, many valuable works went into private hands. The railway became state property at a cost significantly lower than the market value; part of the shares went to other entrepreneurs, including Witte’s relatives. All debts were paid off. However, Mamontov lost money and reputation and was no longer able to engage in entrepreneurial activity. Until the end of his life, Savva Ivanovich retained his love for art and the love of his old friends - creators.
Savva Ivanovich Mamontov died on April 6, 1918. He was buried in Abramtsevo.
Victor Vasnetsov. Oak grove in Abramtsevo.
The village of Abramtsevo (until 2004 a dacha village) is located in the urban settlement of Khotkovo, Sergiev Posad district, Moscow region. Abramtsevo was first mentioned in the 14th century. My glorious history The estate near Moscow began in 1843, when it was acquired by the writer Aksakov, who was visited by writers, actors, philosophers, historians, some stayed for a long time in the hospitable house.
In 1870, 11 years after Aksakov’s death, the Abramtsevo estate was acquired by Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, it belonged to him until 1900. Mamontov, who was fond of singing, music and sculpture, attracted young talented artists, sculptors, composers, musicians, actors, singers. For many years, outstanding Russian artists worked and rested on his estate; in the red living room of the ancient estate the following gathered: Repin, V. M. and A. M. Vasnetsov, Polenov, Ostroukhov, Vrubel, Nesterov, Nevrev, Antokolsky, Serov, Korovin, Levitan, Chaliapin and many others.
Vasily Polenov and Savva Mamontov
In 1878, a unique creative association of artists was formed, which entered the history of art under the name “Abramtsevo Art Circle”, which played big role in the development of the national artistic culture of Russia at the end XIX - early XX century. The members of this circle were united by a common desire for further development Russian national art, based on folk art and its artistic traditions.
For a quarter of a century, Mamontov’s Abramtsevo estate near Moscow was a major center of Russian culture, a place where sometimes for a whole summer, sometimes for more short term artists came who combined rest with work. In the vicinity of Abramtsev, V. Vasnetsov worked on the paintings “Bogatyrs”, “Alyonushka”, and his fairy-tale hut “on chicken legs” still stands in the estate park. Famous portrait Verushki Mamontova “Girl with Peaches” Serov wrotein the dining room of the Abramtsevo house.Joint evening readings were also held here, which imperceptibly resulted first in a home theater, where, with the participation of Chaliapin and Stanislavsky, amateur performances were regularly staged, which served as the basis for the famous Russian Private Opera, from where the voice and name of Chaliapin first sounded throughout Russia, and the magicalThe scenery for the productions, made according to the sketches of the “circle” artists, amazed the entire theater world.
Abramtsevo. Russian hut, where Vrubel's works are exhibited
Old Russian pottery production was revived here, and new forms of household items were developed. A school for peasant children was opened.
Trying to revive artistic handicrafts, members of the Abramtsevo circle organized carpentry and ceramic workshops. IN late XIX century, a school of Abramtsevo-Kudrin wood carving appeared in the vicinity of the estate. The emergence of the craft is closely connected with E.D. Polenova, who organized a carpentry and carving workshop in the Mamontov estate (1882), in which carvers from the surrounding villages studied and worked: Khotkovo, Akhtyrki, Mutovki, Kudrino. Currently, the Art and Industrial College named after V. M. Vasnetsov is training masters of Abramtsevo-Kudrin carving.
In 1918, the estate was nationalized. A museum was created on its territory, the first curator of which was youngest daughter Savva Ivanovich Mamontova Alexandra Savvichna.A dacha village of artists grew up around the estate, where artists P. P. Konchalovsky, B. V. Ioganson, V. I. Mukhina, I. I. Mashkov and many others lived and worked. On August 12, 1977, the resolution of the Council of Ministers “On the transformation of the Abramtsevo Museum-Estate” into the State Historical, Artistic and Literary Museum-Reserve “Abramtsevo” was published.
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Sergiev Pasad. Monument to Savva Ivanovich Mamontov on the station square
Savva Mamontov was also an outstanding cultural figure, collector, sponsor, and one of the main organizers of the entire artistic life of the country at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Theatergoer
“Everything that Savva Ivanovich did was secretly guided by art,” K.S. said about him. Stanislavsky. Business for Mamontov was also a kind of art, an area for applying creative energy and implementing unprecedentedly daring ideas.
He was born on October 4, 1841. His homeland is the small West Siberian town of Yalutorovsk (from Tobolsk, the then provincial city, 150 versts, from Tyumen, the current regional center, 74 km). Savva was the fourth child of Ivan Fedorovich Mamontov and Maria Tikhonovna Lakhtina. Ivan Fedorovich Mamontov came from the family of a poor wine merchant, but by the time of Savva’s birth he was already managing the Yalutorovsk wine farm, and in 1843 he joined the first merchant guild in Chistopol.
In 1849 I.F. Mamontov moved to Moscow with his wife and children. Now he belonged to the ten largest wine farmers in Russia with incomes of over 3 million rubles. The family of the hereditary honorary citizen Mamontov lived richly: they organized receptions, balls, and the children had a German tutor and a French governess. Savva studied at the gymnasium and then at Moscow University. During his student years, he became passionate about theater, which had a bad effect on his studies and angered his father.
After the Moscow-Troitsk Railway was launched in 1863, Ivan Fedorovich Mamontov was elected a member of the board of this railway, and Savva was sent to Baku on the affairs of the Trans-Caspian Partnership.
From Baku, Savva went to trade in “wild Persia”. His affairs there were successful, but young Mamontov missed Moscow, its hectic life, friends and, of course, the theater.
Immediately after his son returned from the trip, Ivan Fedorovich announced his intention to transfer matters into his hands. Having allocated initial capital to the young successor and withdrawn for him new home on Ilyinka, Mamontov Sr. sent Savva on an “independent voyage.”
In the autumn of the same year, Savva Mamontov headed the Moscow branch of the Transcaspian Partnership. These were his first steps in the field of entrepreneurship.
In 1865, Savva got married. His wife was Elizaveta Grigorievna Sapozhnikova from an old, well-known merchant family in Moscow. She shared her husband's love for art and for many years became his faithful assistant in all matters.
Abramtsevo
In 1869, Ivan Fedorovich died, leaving all his endeavors to his three sons. Not being a businessman by nature (his soul was primarily drawn to art), Mamontov still does not refuse to continue his father’s work and begins railway construction. He was attracted by the idea of connecting distant northern territories via network modern ways messages. In 1872, Savva Ivanovich took the post of director of the Moscow-Yaroslavl Railway Society. Gradually he was recognized as a serious figure in the merchant community of Moscow and was even elected a member of the city duma and a full member of the Society of Lovers of Commercial Knowledge.
Another extremely important thing is connected with this period of Mamontov’s life. important event- acquisition of the Abramtsevo estate near Moscow in 1870. This ancient noble estate, previously owned by the Aksakovs, was destined to become the cradle philanthropic activities Mamontov, the “core” of many of his creative and entrepreneurial projects, a kind of talent forge.
In the years 1870-1890, the Abramtsevo estate became the center of artistic life in Russia. Russian artists (I.E. Repin, V.M. Vasnetsov, V.A. Serov, M.A. Vrubel, V.D. Polenov, K.A. Korovin) and musicians (F.I. . Shalyapin and others). Mamontov provided significant support to many artists, including financial support.
It was in Abramtsevo that such painting masterpieces as “Girl with Peaches” by Serov, “Bogatyrs”, “Alyonushka”, “Ivan Tsarevich on Gray wolf» Vasnetsov, famous landscapes of Polenov near Moscow. A carpentry and carving workshop was opened in Abramtsevo, which revived the traditions of Russian antiquity in furniture making, and a majolica workshop.
Donetsk basin
In 1876, the state appointed a competition for the construction of the Donetsk Coal Railway. Applicants were required to submit a project and estimate. Savva Mamontov took part in the competition, honestly won the auction and received a concession.
Just two years later, on December 1, 1878, traffic on the lines was opened new road with a total length of 389 versts. In 1879, the branches Popasnaya - Lisichansk, Khatsepetovka - Krinichnaya - Yasinovataya and others came into operation. Total length Donetsk coal mine reached 479 versts.
The construction of the Donetsk coal-and-coal road was completely completed in 1882. After finishing the work, Savva Ivanovich noted with satisfaction: “The road was built beautifully.” And he really had something to be proud of. The Donetsk road brought Mamontov not only good profits, but also all-Russian fame as an entrepreneur.
The year 1885 was marked by the opening of the Moscow Private Russian Opera - a grandiose entrepreneurial and cultural project Mamontov, the embodiment of his youthful dream.
Private Russian opera existed on the stage of the Solodovnikov Theater (now the Operetta Theater). The core of the repertoire is the works of Russian composers. Fyodor Chaliapin sang there, and the scenery was created by Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Vrubel, Viktor Vasnetsov...
After the Donetsk Railway was bought by the state in 1890, Savva Ivanovich invested the freed capital in the purchase of the Nevsky Ship and Locomotive Plant. Mamontov also built the Mytishchi Carriage Works.
Another idea of Mamontov was to build a railway in almost impassable places - “all the way to the Cold Sea.” Savva Ivanovich founded an industrial and transport concern, in which the enterprises for the production of rails and cars were supposed to be combined with metallurgical plants. This system made it possible to combine production, transport construction and operation of railways. Opened in October 1898 constant movement along the Vologda-Arkhangelsk line with a length of almost 600 versts.
Completely justified
In August 1898, Mamontov sold 1,650 shares of the Moscow-Yaroslavl-Arkhangelsk Railway To the International Bank and received a loan secured by shares and bills belonging to him and his relatives. Savva transferred money for the merger and reconstruction of factories from the accounts of other enterprises. This was a very dangerous step that ended in complete failure.
Mamontov was unable to pay his creditors. The Ministry of Finance has appointed an audit of the affairs of the Moscow-Yaroslavl-Arkhangelsk Railway. Savva spent almost six months awaiting trial in solitary confinement in Taganskaya prison. All his property was seized.
The hearing of Mamontov's case took place in the criminal chamber of the Moscow District Court and lasted from July 23 to July 31, 1900. Savva Ivanovich was defended by Fyodor Nikiforovich Plevako himself, the largest lawyer of that time, a man close to Mamontov in his convictions.
The defense attorney showed how grandiose and patriotic the defendant’s plan was to build a railway from Yaroslavl to Vyatka in order to “revive the forgotten North,” and how tragically, due to the “bad choice” of the executors of the plan, the plan turned into losses and the generously financed operation collapsed. After Plevako’s brilliant speech, Mamontov was completely acquitted by the jury and released in the courtroom.
After the ruin, Mamontov almost never visited his estate near Moscow, but his house at the Butyrskaya outpost became the “new Abramtsevo.” Savva Ivanovich was elected an honorary member of the Moscow literary and artistic circle and a member of the art council of the Stroganov School. Devoted friends remained nearby - Polenov, Vasnetsov, Serov, Ostroukhov, Saryan, Kuznetsov.
Savva Ivanovich passed away on March 24, 1918, when the country had already plunged into the turbulent abyss of revolutionary events. The Abramtsevo workshop at Butyrskaya Outpost was nationalized and placed at the disposal of the People's Commissariat for Education. The estate near Moscow was also nationalized and turned into a museum.
Many years later, historical justice triumphed. Two monuments were erected to Savva Mamontov - in Yaroslavl and Sergiev Posad.
The railways, the car repair plant, the Metropol Hotel with its famous majolicas, and the unique Abramtsevo estate are monuments to Mamontov.
In the Library "The main idea. Business books in a summary" you can read a summary of a unique book about Savva Mamontov and learn more about the life and work of this amazing person.
Patron of arts Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (born October 3 (15), 1841 - death April 6, 1918) - largest entrepreneur in the field of railway construction, philanthropist.
Origin. Early years
The Mamontov family descends from Ivan Mamontov, who was born in 1730. Savva Mamontov was born in the Trans-Ural city of Yalutorovsk (Tobolsk province). The Mamontov family lived in luxurious mansion, where receptions and balls were held, evenings were often held at which performances and books, singing, and music playing were discussed.
Even when his father was alive, Savva had to carry out many assignments on the affairs of the joint-stock railway company. It is unknown how exactly the inheritance was distributed in 1869. But Savva, at 28 years old, received a controlling stake in the Tver Railway.
Personal life
1865 - Savva married Elizaveta Grigorievna Sapozhnikova from a well-known merchant family in Moscow, who shared her husband’s love for art. When Elizabeth got married, she was about 17 years old, she was not particularly beautiful, but she loved to read, sing, and played a lot of music.
In Moscow married couple lived in a house on Sadovo-Spasskaya 6, in the creation and decoration of which the most prominent artists of those times, Russian and foreign, took part.
Entrepreneurship. Patronage
Mamontov undoubtedly had business acumen and was able to earn quite a large fortune from the railway construction that was developing at that time.
1872 - was director of the Moscow-Yaroslavl Railway Society. In the 1870s, the merchant of the 1st guild was elected as a member of the City Duma and was a member of the Society of Lovers of Commercial Knowledge. 1894 - becomes chairman of the board of the reformed Society of the Moscow-Yaroslavl-Arkhangelsk Railway, where Savva Ivanovich was the main shareholder. At the same time, Mamontov created a conglomerate of interconnected enterprises.
Savva Mamontov loved to communicate with major figures of Russian culture. For several years he lived in Italy, where he studied singing and studied painting.
Savva and his wife decided to buy their own house outside the city, because Kireevo was inherited by his older brother. Having learned about the sale of the estate of the writer and official Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov, the Mamontovs inspected the estate in Abramtsevo in 1870. Despite the fact that it was in poor condition, due to the picturesque area around and the architecture of the house, the couple purchased the estate for 15 thousand rubles and registered it in the wife’s name. Subsequently, the family repeatedly rebuilt the house and improved the estate.
Savva and his wife had an undeniable artistic taste. With their assistance, art workshops were created that developed the traditions of folk art.
In 1870-1890 The Mamontov estate in Abramtsevo near Moscow became the center of artistic life. Major Russian artists and painters liked to gather there, such as Valentin Serov, Mikhail Vrubel, Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov, Konstantin Korovin, Ilya Repin), musicians (Fyodor Chaliapin, whose career Savva Ivanovich contributed a lot to). 1885 - Savva Mamontov founded the Moscow Private Russian Opera with his own money, which operated until 1904.
1899 - together with M. Tenisheva, he financed the magazine “World of Art”. Donated funds to the Museum fund fine arts, was elected a founding member of the Museum Organization Committee. He was the chairman of the Delvigovsky Railway School in Moscow.
The collapse of the Mamontov case
Ros Savva grew up in complete prosperity. The mansion on Bolshoi Trekhsvyatitelsky Lane had...
1890s - Mamontov decided to create an association of industrial and transport enterprises. However, the debts incurred by Savva Ivanovich in an attempt to finance a grandiose project, mistakes and violations of financial legislation led to the collapse of the Mammoth business. 1899 - Mamontov was arrested and imprisoned in Tagansk prison. 1900 - The Moscow District Court recognized the absence of selfish intent in his actions, but Mamontov was declared an insolvent debtor.
Recent years. Death
In the late 1900s, after the trial, Savva Ivanovich Mamontov settled in Butyrsky Proezd near the Butyrskaya outpost at the Abramtsevo pottery factory, where he spent recent years his life making artistic ceramics. 1902, spring - Mamontov’s house on Sadovaya-Spasskaya, which remained sealed after his arrest, was sold along with the collection to pay off debts. Several paintings from his collection were acquired Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, others - private collectors.
Savva Mamontov died in 1918 on April 6 in Moscow. Buried in Abramtsevo - a village in the urban settlement of Khotkovo, Sergiev Posad district, Moscow region.
Savva Ivanovich named his children: Sergei, Andrey, Vsevolod, Vera, Alexandra. As you can see, you can read SAVVA by the first letters of the names. From Hebrew “Sawa” is translated as an old man, a sage.
When Savva was in prison, Chaliapin never came to visit him. Savva Ivanovich said: “I wrote to Fedenka Chaliapin, but for some reason he didn’t visit me.” Before his death, the former philanthropist bequeathed that Chaliapin should not be allowed to attend his funeral.
Mamontov’s daughter Vera is depicted in the famous painting of the painter Valentin Serov “Girl with Peaches”.
Contemporaries nicknamed Mamontov Savva the Magnificent and the Moscow Medici. He was brought together by his love of art and statesmanship with the Florentine ruler Lorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent. As an impresario, Mamontov showed the world the talent of Fyodor Chaliapin, and as a person acting for the good of the country, he built the Donetsk and Arkhangelsk railways.
Heir to fortune
Savva Mamontov was born on October 14, 1841 in the Siberian city of Yalutorovsk. His father Ivan Mamontov was engaged in wine farming: farmers paid the state a tax on alcohol and received the right to sell it at their own prices. In 1847, Ivan Mamontov began trading wine in the Moscow province. Having moved to Moscow, he founded the Trans-Caspian Trade Partnership, acquired shares of the Moscow-Kursk Railway, and participated in the construction of the Moscow-Yaroslavl Railway.
The merchants of that time considered it sufficient to give children home education. But six of the Mamontov children studied at gymnasiums and universities. The restless Savva, the third eldest, was among the lagging students. In 1859, having handed over through a figurehead entrance examination to St. Petersburg University, he transferred to Moscow. Studying at the Faculty of Law did not make Mamontov a lawyer, but he became a regular at the theater studio and political circles. In the summer of 1862, after student riots in Kazan, St. Petersburg and Moscow, the father sent his son to Baku - away from the police, who suspected Savva of revolutionary activities. He wanted his son to finally stop “playing music, singing and tumbling around in dramatic society.”
Savva Mamontov. Photo: peoples.ru
Savva Mamontov. Photo: rulit.me
Savva Mamontov. Photo: dobrohot.org
In the office of the Transcaspian Trade Partnership, 20-year-old Savva finally got down to business. He spent almost a year in Baku and the cities of Persia, and at the end of 1863 he returned to Moscow and soon went to Milan to improve his health after a long Caspian voyage. Here Mamontov began taking operatic vocal lessons and rehearsed bass parts in the Milan theater - although he never performed on a professional stage. But he clearly understood that art for him was more than just a hobby. Savva felt and understood beauty like a true artist. Later, the painter Ilya Repin confessed to his colleague Valentin Serov: “I like to consult with him [Mamontov], he is a very sensitive person - an artist and a smart person!”.
The second life of the Abramtsevo estate
Valentin Serov. Pond. Abramtsevo. 1886. State Tretyakov Gallery
Isaac Levitan. Abramtsevo. 1880s. State Historical, Artistic and Literary Museum-Reserve "Abramtsevo", Moscow
Konstantin Korovin. River Vorya. Abramtsevo. 1880s. State Tretyakov Gallery
In Italy, Savva Mamontov met 17-year-old Elizaveta Sapozhnikova, the daughter of a wealthy Moscow silk merchant. In the spring of 1865, the young couple got married and five years later bought Abramtsevo, the estate of the Slavophile writer Sergei Aksakov near Moscow. Under the previous owner, Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Turgenev, publicist Mikhail Pogodin, and actor Mikhail Shchepkin visited here. Under the Mamontovs, Abramtsevo became a place of pilgrimage for artists. Ilya Repin, Victor and Apollinary Vasnetsov, Vasily Polenov, Vasily Surikov, Mikhail Nesterov, Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Vrubel regularly visited the estate. Valentin Serov spent his adolescence here, whose mother was friendly with the Mamontovs. Konstantin Stanislavsky also had friendly and family relations with Abramtsev’s owners.
The Mamontovs traveled a lot around Europe, where they made new acquaintances. The sculptor Mark Antokolsky, who then lived in Rome, wrote: “Yesterday one of my new friends, a certain Mamontov, left. Arriving in Rome, he suddenly began to sculpt - the success turned out to be extraordinary... His sculpting turned out to be broad and free... I must say that if he continues and takes up art seriously for at least a year, then the hopes for him are very high.”. And Ilya Repin once said to Savva: “If you were an artist, you would thunder louder than Shchepkin, louder than Martynov”.
But Savva the Magnificent was too passionate about all the arts to remain faithful to one. He published albums with drawings by Abramtsevo artists. Later he financed the art magazine “World of Art”. Several times a year, with the help of the Abramtsevo circle, Mamontov the director staged amateur performances, which in terms of the quality of costumes were many times superior to the productions of the Imperial Theaters.
Mamontov Opera
Savva Mamontov, Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Ilya Repin, Vasily Surikov. 1889. Photo: pravda.ru
Valentin Serov. Portrait of Savva Mamontov. 1879. State Russian Museum
Easter table in the Mamontov family. 1888. Photo: peoples.ru
His passion for theater grew into the idea of forming his own troupe. In 1882, the state monopoly on entertainment enterprises that had existed since the time of Nicholas I was abolished. In January 1885, the Krotkov Theater opened in Moscow with the premiere of “The Mermaid” by Alexander Dargomyzhsky. It was named after the director, but went down in history as the “Mamontov Opera”.
Young people were recruited into Mamontov’s troupe; the oldest artists - mezzo-soprano Tatyana Lyubatovich and bass Anton Bedlevich - were 25 years old. The main party the premiere was entrusted to 19-year-old Nadezhda Salina. Due to the inexperience of the actors, the performance was not particularly successful: the audience was delighted only by the scenery, painted by Viktor Vasnetsov. Mamontov realized: in order to raise your own singers, they need to be taught by masters. In the 1885/86 season, European stars Libia Drog, Maria Duran, Maria van Zandt, brothers Antonio and Francesco d'Andrade performed on the stage of the theater along with the regular singers. And yet too much in the theater was done on a quick fix, amateurishly, and in 1888 it closed.
In 1896, the Mammoth troupe resumed work under the guise of the Winter Private Opera. The director was Claudia Winter, the sister of Mamontov’s favorite Tatyana Lyubatovich. On the Nizhny Novgorod tour of the Private Opera, the soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Fyodor Chaliapin made his debut in the role of Ivan Susanin. Mamontov lured the unknown 23-year-old singer to Moscow, where Chaliapin became famous by performing the roles of Boris Godunov in the opera of the same name by Modest Mussorgsky, Ivan the Terrible in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Pskovite", Melnik in Alexander Dargomyzhsky's "Rusalka", Mephistopheles in "Faust" Charles Gounod and others.
Sergei Rachmaninov, who served as conductor at the theater, instilled in the singers an attitude towards the performance as a single musical canvas. Chaliapin later recalled how Rachmaninov taught to start from music in understanding the role, to memorize not individual parts, but the entire opera. The best artists worked on the scenery and costumes for the theater: Vrubel, Polenov, Vasnetsov, Korovin.
Mamontov was perhaps the first in Russia to think about the synthetic nature of the opera theater.
Bankruptcy of the Mamontov Empire
Ilya Repin. Portrait of Elizaveta Mamontova. 1874. State Historical, Artistic and Literary Museum-Reserve "Abramtsevo", Moscow
Ilya Repin. Portrait of Savva Morozov. 1880. State Theater Museum named after. Bakhrushin
Konstantin Korovin. Portrait of the artist Tatyana Lyubatovich. 1880s. State Russian Museum
At the same time, Mamontov’s industrial empire was expanding. After his father's death in 1869, Savva extended the railway from Yaroslavl to Kostroma. This decision caused general discontent: trade turnover with the Russian North at that time did not cover the costs of building the road. In 1878, the Donetsk railway was opened, which was also recognized as “unprofitable.” In 1882, it was brought to Mariupol, and Donetsk coal began to flow to the sea. In 1897, Mamontov extended the Kostroma road to Arkhangelsk. His plans were to begin construction of the St. Petersburg - Vyatka road, as well as a railway line from Tomsk to Tashkent. At the same time, Mamontov wanted to create a conglomerate of factories that would produce metal and equipment for railways. To get money for the project, he had to take it from the Yaroslavl Railway cash desk.
In September 1899, Savva Mamontov was arrested. Some historians believe that he became a victim of the rivalry between Finance Minister Sergei Witte and Justice Minister Nikolai Muravyov. Others believe that the ruin was orchestrated solely by Sergei Witte. With his tacit consent, Mamontov began to implement his plan, and it was Witte who gave the order for the arrest. While the industrialist was kept in prison, his enterprises and real estate were sold for next to nothing. The bail amount was raised from 763 thousand to a sky-high 5 million in order not to release the industrialist, because he would have time to save his capital. Ex-lover Savvy Lyubatovich and the director of the Private Opera, Winter, hastily removed property from the theater, part of which they sold, and part of which they began to rent to the “native” troupe for a lot of money.
But society came to the defense of the Moscow Medici. The head of the Yaroslavl road workshops gave the following testimony: “Savva Ivanovich is the second father, kind soul, there won't be another like it. We cried bitterly when he was taken into custody. All the employees wanted to join forces, to contribute as much as they could, just to get him out.”. Lawyer Fyodor Plevako delivered a speech at the trial that went down in the history of Russian jurisprudence: “After all, theft and appropriation leave traces: either Savva Ivanovich’s past is full of insane luxury, or the present is full of unjust self-interest. And we know that no one pointed this out. When, looking for what had been appropriated, the judiciary... entered his house and began to look for illegally stolen wealth, they found 50 rubles in his pocket, an out-of-use railway ticket, a hundred-mark German bank note... what was there? Crime of a predator or miscalculation? Robbery or blunder? The intention to harm the Yaroslavl road or a passionate desire to save its interests? Judge, but attribute part of the trouble to the spirit of the times, the spirit of profit, which makes you hate successful rivals, which makes you snatch goods from each other. Nowadays it’s not enough to work - you have to sit like a dog on your work.”.
In July 1900, the court found Mamontov not guilty. Former millionaire settled with his daughter Alexandra and lived on modest income from a pottery workshop moved to Moscow from Abramtsevo.
15 years later, at the height of the First World War, journalist Vlas Doroshevich wrote:
“Two wells, into which we spat a lot, came in handy. It is interesting that we owe both the Donetsk and Arkhangelsk roads to the same person. The “Dreamer” and the “Entertainer”, who at one time got a lot for this and that “useless” road - S.I. Mamontov. And now we live thanks to two mammoth “undertakings”. "The 'useless' turned out to be necessary."