Nata Notkin

Nata Notkin was born in Shklov, lived in Mogilev and later in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he was one of the founders of the Jewish community. Notkin supplied provisions to Prince Potemkin's (1739 – 1791) army but after his patron died, Notkin was unable to recover his funds from the government. Bankruptcy did not discourage him, he renewed his business and was successful again. Alexander I of Russia (r. 1801 – 1825) announced a “declaration of highest appreciation” and granted him a gold snuffbox with diamonds for supplying victuals to the army and navy.

Notkin was a supporter of Jewish Enlightenment in Europe and has made many efforts to improve the life of Jews in Russia. He presented to prince Kurakin (1752 – 1818) a project for the establishment of large-scale agricultural colonies for the Jews of “New Russia” as well as plans for industrial plants near the ports of the Black Sea. His plan also included education reform according to which every community would have, in addition to the traditional schools providing only Jewish education, Jewish schools of a new type, teaching not only Jewish but also general subjects, Russian and foreign languages.