Grigory Stroganov

Grigory Dmitriyevich Stroganov was born into a family of ambitious peasants from the White Sea whose ancestors gained large tracts of land as a reward for their service to Czar Ivan the Terrible. His rise to prominence and wealth began in 1673 when he inherited one third of the family landholdings, and the other two thirds until 1686.

In 1692 the family was granted the eternal right on their land by the Czar Peter the Great what made them the largest landowners in Russia after the royalty. They owned around seventy thousand square miles of land, with between fifteen and twenty thousand serfs. Stroganov also kept a small private army.

Some further investments additionally increased the wealth of the Stroganov. He ordered exploration of Siberia and the Ural Mountains looking for mineral-rich land that were annexed and became part of the Russian Empire. Stroganov also expanded the family’s longtime salt-making business, and improved lucrative fur, hunting, fishing and mining operations on his property.

Due to his immense wealth and large loans made to the czar, Stroganov was able to exert powerful influence on the court and state affairs starting from the early 1680’s. During the Great Northern War (1700-1721) that took place between Sweden and Russia, he funded the construction of two warships for the Russian navy which was in the early stage of development.

For his service and merits, Stroganov was granted various honors and additional lands. In his ownership was among other things Kuzminki, a splendid estate in Moscow decorated with numerous ponds, bridges, gardens and sculptures. He was married twice, first to Princess Vassa Meshcherskaya and then to Princess Maria Novosiltseva, and had three sons.

At the time of his death in 1715, Stroganov was one of the richest men in Russia. His sons were elevated to the nobility, and their heirs enjoyed social and material prestige for the next two centuries.