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A major public and industrial figure of the half of the 19th century, writer; came from a poor noble family and was born in 1811, in Kostroma.
Having begun his studies at the Kostroma Gymnasium, Chizhov then moved to the Third Petersburg Gymnasium, from where he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University.
Having completed the course here with a candidate's degree in 1832, Chizhov was intended to prepare for a professorship and for this purpose - to be sent abroad, but in view of the Imperial decree in 1831 on the suspension of business trips of Russian young scientists abroad, he was forced to remain in St. Petersburg .
Chizhov’s abilities, however, were so outstanding that university professor D.S. Chizhov, F.V.’s namesake, obtained for him in August 1833 from the trustee of the educational district S.S. Uvarov an annual allowance of 1,500 rubles for three years, so that Chizhov could study mathematics with Academician M.V. Ostrogradsky.
At this time, Chizhov was already an adjunct at the university and taught a course in descriptive geometry there (since 1832), but having abandoned his small family estate in favor of his sisters during his student years and receiving only 600 rubles, he was forced to earn money for himself privately. lessons.
Therefore, the allowance he received from S.S. Uvarov was a great blessing for him and he could calmly indulge in mathematics without being distracted by worries about earning money.
Continuing to lecture at the University, Chizhov presented a dissertation for a master's degree, published in 1836 and bearing the title: “On the general theory of equilibrium with application to the equilibrium of liquid bodies and the determination of the figure of the earth.” For this work, remarkable for its clarity of presentation, so important in the theory of analytical mechanics, he was awarded the title of Master of Mathematical Sciences. At the University, Chizhov first met N.V. Gogol, appointed in 1834 to the department of ancient and medieval history, but they could not get along: the difference between them was too great, both in their personal characters and in their views on science and its teaching .
In 1837, Chizhov published his new work: “Steam engines, history, description and application of them, with many drawings (compiled according to Pertington, Stephenson and Arago)” - a work that was very useful and outstanding in its time.
In addition, at this time he took part in periodic publications of that time, such as: “Library for Reading”, “Son of the Fatherland” and “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, in which he published both original and translated articles.
Chizhov stayed at St. Petersburg University until the fall of 1840, when poor health forced him to leave teaching and go first to Little Russia and then abroad.
From this leave he never returned to service, and his department was replaced by the extraordinary Professor Savich until his final dismissal from the university in 1845.
While still at the university, Chizhov became interested in literature, arts and history, and in 1839 he published a translation of Gallam’s work: “The History of European Literature in the XV-XVI Centuries”, providing it with many of his notes, which showed his very extensive erudition, and 1841 "The Vocation of Women" (translation and adaptation from English).
His passion for art history and other sciences, as well as the isolation of his chosen field - a learned mathematician, which could not satisfy Chizhov’s ardent and diversely gifted nature - were, without a doubt, not the last reasons that forced him to leave the university.
Having chosen for himself the goal of his trip abroad to study the history of art, as, according to his own definition, “one of the most direct paths to the study of the history of mankind,” Chizhov spent his first year on the waters in Marienbad, then traveled around most of Western Europe, and visited Italy, where he then came for the winter every year during his entire stay abroad.
Having met Hanka in the first year of his stay abroad in Prague, who gave him the first idea of pan-Slavic ideas, Chizhov, fascinated by them, then visited the South Slavic lands, Istria, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Serbia, in order to make sure of the closeness of the Slavic peoples among themselves and test your passion.
Everywhere Chizhov met sincere sympathy for himself as a Russian; having found an Orthodox church near Pola and was struck by its extreme poverty, Chizhov ordered church utensils, vestments, books, etc. for it from Russia, and having personally transported all this across the Adriatic Sea, he was in danger from the Austrians, despite the fact that he was guarded by those who had been warned in advance im Dalmatians.
While traveling, Chizhov met many famous people.
So, on one of his trips to Belgium, he met with V.S. Pechorin, some of whose notes he placed in the “Russian Archive” (1870, pp. 1333-1342), - Mitskevich, who, according to his review, at this time he was an extreme mystic and a blindly believing idealist without any specific goals. Chizhov spent most of his stay in Italy, studying here not only the history of art, but also Italian history in general, especially the history of Venice.
In Rome, Chizhov lived in the same house with Gogol and N.M. Yazykov, and became close friends only with the latter.
Taking up the study of art with his characteristic ardor, Chizhov soon became an expert in this field and became close friends with A. A. Ivanov and the local circle of artists, on whom he had a very beneficial influence, being a strict and fair judge of works of art.
The extent to which Chizhov was seriously involved in art here can be seen in his remarkable articles: “On the Works of Russian Artists in Rome” and “On Muravyov’s Roman Letters” (“Moscow Collection” of 1846 and 1847). In 1846, Chizhov came to St. Petersburg, but not finding a lively response here to Slavic ideas, which, together with the task of studying the arts, then completely absorbed him, he went to Moscow and here he completely joined the circle of Khomyakov, Kireevsky, K. Aksakov and Yu. Samarin.
Placing Khomyakov above all the others in intelligence, talent, broad-mindedness and erudition, he made little friends and recognized other members of the circle.
Looking at the pan-Slavic idea from the point of view of historically global inevitability and being completely imbued with it, Chizhov planned to publish a Slavophile magazine in 1847, but then postponed it until 1848. The content of this magazine was supposed to consist of excerpts from his travels through the Slavic lands, from constant, from a purely scientific point of view, studies of the literature of all Slavic peoples, and articles by Russian people with an analysis of all the wonderful foreign works, but in such a form that they would give a complete understanding of how the content of the book and its execution.
It was also intended, if allowed, to publish analyzes of foreign works about Russia, but with a request that they go through His Majesty's Office, and not through ordinary censorship.
Chizhov’s acquaintance with all members of the circle of Slavophiles, as well as his ardent and active vitality, served as the key to the success of the magazine, and in order to acquire employees in the Slavic lands, he again went abroad in 1846.
Having visited Serbia, Istria, Dalmatia and other Austrian Slavic lands a second time, Chizhov fervently preached Slavic ideas everywhere, and while on the Dalmatian coast, he accidentally managed to help the Dalmatians unload weapons.
Even during his first trip abroad, Chizhov was noticed by the Austrian government, which sent denunciations to the Russian; After the incident with the Dalmatians unloading weapons, warnings about the danger from such a troublemaker, who allegedly formed a conspiracy against the Russian government, began to appear in denunciations of the Austrians.
Around the same time, Chizhov received news of his mother’s dangerous illness and hurried to return to Russia.
But as soon as he crossed the border, he was captured by Russian police agents waiting for him here and sent straight to the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Chizhov’s answers (published in the “Historical Bulletin”, 1883, August, pp. 241-262, “Memoirs of F.V. Chizhov”, should be nothing more than these answers) to thirteen question points proposed to him about his activities , connections and thoughts, which took up to fifty pages, were written by him completely truthfully and read by Emperor Nilay I, who found Chizhov’s feelings good, but too passionately expressed.
Having forbidden Chizhov to stay in both capitals, the sovereign allowed him, however, to choose his own place of residence;
Chizhov went to the Kyiv province and began to engage in sericulture there, which he became interested in while still in Italy.
Thus, a sharp revolution took place in Chizhov’s life and the publication of the magazine he had planned did not take place by itself.
Having devoted himself with all the passion and persistence of his nature to the study of sericulture in the town of Trypillia (down the Dnieper, 50 versts from Kiev) in the 50 acres of land allocated to him for rent from the Ministry of State Property, Chizhov also began to study philosophy, as evidenced by his numerous extracts from essays on this subject.
Working here with his own hands for six years, he sometimes visited the Galagan family in Kiev, close, almost family ties, with whom he had had connections since his stay in St. Petersburg, when, while lecturing at the university, he studied with G. P. Galagan .
Subsequently, when the son of his pupil died in 1869, the idea of establishing a college named after him in Kiev was submitted by Chizhov, and thus the “Collegium of Pavel Galagan,” in the development of the plan of which he took a close part, to some extent owes its existence to Chizhov.
At Galagan, as well as at Dr. S. A. Smirnov, S. A. Danilevsky and M. V. Yuzefovich, Chizhov met with Gogol and this time, in his opinion, as a true friend.
The result of Chizhov’s work on sericulture was the appearance, first, of his numerous articles on this subject in the St. Petersburg Gazette, and then of the study: “Notes on sericulture” (new edition, M., 1870), which contained the history of the development of sericulture , This book, translated into foreign languages, has not yet lost its significance for everyone involved in silkworm breeding. With the accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander II, Chizhov received permission to live in the capitals from 1855, and, not being able to publish the magazine he had conceived (Russian Messenger had already been published by a party hostile to the Slavophiles), Chizhov limited himself to posting articles on various subjects in " Moscow Collection", "Russian Conversation" and other magazines.
This is his article: “Giovanni Fiesolsky and the relationship of his works to our icon painting” (“Russian Conversation” 1856). Here for 1857, as well as partly in the “Moscow Collection” of 1847, his notes on the journey are placed, interesting both with everyday and historical features, as well as with descriptions of monuments of Roman architecture.
From then on, that is, from 1857, a new period began in Chizhov’s activities.
Convinced of the extremely oppressed and helpless position of Russian industry and setting himself the task of patronizing it in the sense of developing competition with foreign production through the greatest productivity of labor and with the help of scientific and technical education, Chizhov invested all his passion and energy in a new business for himself. Having formed, with the assistance of A.P. Shipov, the “Society for the Promotion of Russian Industry and Trade” - which, however, did not bring significant benefit to the cause due to the inertia of the merchants and the novelty of the public exchange of thoughts on the needs of the merchants themselves, which was its basis, Chizhov from 1858 years, he undertook the publication of the "Bulletin of Industry" with the newspaper "Shareholder" that was with him, first holding the editing in his own hands, and then (in 1861) sharing this work with Professor I. K. Babst. "Bulletin of Industry", published with very limited funds from Chizhov, despite the sympathy and material support from the Moscow rich (V.K. Krestovnikov, I.F. Mamontov, K.V. Rukavishnikov, S.M. Tretyakov, A.I. Koshelev, P. P. Malyutin, T. S. Morozov, I. A. Lyamin, K. T. Soldatenkov, V. A. Kokorev and others), went poorly and in the end, due to Chizhov’s reluctance to continue it, although and significant sums were contributed by the mentioned persons for its publication, which ceased in 1861. "Shareholder" was published independently in 1862, and in 1863 - as a supplement to the newspaper "Day", published under the editorship of I. S. Aksakov.
In 1862, Chizhov intended to publish Den, but this was not allowed to him without explanation, although the government had previously invited him to edit a newspaper that was supposed to replace Parus, which was banned in 1859. While running a magazine in which he often had to publish articles complaining about the fact that the Russian railway business was in the hands of foreigners, Chizhov drew attention to this issue and decided to wrest Russian roads from the hands of foreigners.
Wanting to prove that the Russians could build a road and manage it in the same way as foreigners, he chose for the first time the line to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Always getting down to business thoroughly and thoughtfully, Chizhov, in order to collect data on the number of passengers on the future road, equipped several parties of young people, whose duties were an accurate count of all travelers and passers-by on the way to the Lavra. Having collected the necessary data in this original way, he submitted ideas about the road to the government, and in 1860 the joint stock company was authorized.
The first board of the railway consisted of Baron A.I. Delvig (chief inspector of railways), I.F. Mamontov and N.G. Ryumin.
Construction work began in 1860, and in 1868 traffic from Moscow to the Lavra was opened, and Chizhov, who had previously been a candidate member of the board, replaced A.I. Delvig, who had retired from its composition.
Having then become interested in the industrial situation of our northern region, forgotten by both the government and private enterprise, and having built the Vologda line, Chizhov, simultaneously with its construction, organized the Arkhangelsk-Murmansk Shipping Company partnership on the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
Giving everyone who joined his company the idea of selfless service to the homeland and the likelihood of losses, despite the government's interest-free loan of 100 thousand rubles, Chizhov, shortly before his death, invested his 200 thousand rubles in this business, pawning all his free papers for this purpose.
Steadily moving towards solving the task he had set for himself - transferring the railways into Russian hands - he decided to do the same with the Nikolaevskaya road.
Having secured the trust of the Russian government and formed a solid company (T. S. Morozov, S. M. Tretyakov with relatives, I. F. Mamontov, N. G. Ryumin, P. P. Malyutin, K. V. Rukavishnikov, A. and V. Krestovnikovs, I. A. Lyamin, K. T. Soldatenkov, V. A. Poletika - editor of "Birzhevye Vedomosti", behind the scenes V. A. Kokorev and others), Chizhov, however, was not able to buy this road from Main Society.
Having failed here, Chizhov began to deal exclusively with the Trinity Road and took only an indirect part in the newspapers “Moskva” and “Moskvich”, officially published under the editorship of Andreev, and in fact - I. S. Aksakov and published in 1867-1868. These newspapers did not last long, but, nevertheless, managed to bring great benefits to Russian industry, causing a revision of the customs tariff with the participation of representatives from the merchant class.
And in this matter, Chizhov took an active part, checking notes on the actual cost of each manufacturer’s items of production.
This first general revision of the tariff with representatives from the merchants, chaired by Privy Councilor Nebolsin, did not satisfy many with its results, especially protectionist supporters, and a few months after the approval of the new tariff in credit rubles, Chizhov drew up a note on the desirability of the gold duty, which was introduced soon, raising all duties by almost 40% at the then exchange rate and causing an influx of gold into the treasury. After this, Chizhov extended his Trinity Road and conceived the idea of purchasing the Moscow-Kursk Railway into Russian hands.
Using a combination he specially invented, the road was purchased by a Moscow company in 1873, and Chizhov, as one of its participants, realized significant profits.
According to the agreement with the government, the shares of this road were to be inviolable for 18 years, and Chizhov did not know his capital until the very last minute.
The last years of his life, Chizhov was busy setting up the Moscow Merchant Bank, the director of which he served for several years, and the Mutual Credit Society, institutions that brought enormous benefits to the Moscow merchants, who previously did not have the small credit so necessary in trade turnover.
Chizhov died of an aneurysm on November 14, 1877, and was buried in the Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow, near the grave of N.V. Gogol.
Being “the most selfless of people,” “without any personal self-interest,” as I. S. Aksakov said about this remarkable figure in his speech read on December 18, 1877 at the Slavic Charitable Society, Chizhov was not only smart, strict and impeccable in the field of economic interests as a practical worker.
Essentially by his nature, he was a man of eternal spiritual thought and highest moral ideals, which he did not abandon in any of his affairs. When taking on any enterprise, he always inspired it with his moral element, his highest ideal goal - and only in this case was work possible for him.
Every business he undertook always had the most beneficial consequences for subsequent generations.
Possessing indestructible energy, will, strength of character and being strict towards himself, Chizhov had an extremely compassionate heart and helped many in his life in word and deed, but could not stand laziness and idleness in people, as well as an inattentive and easy attitude towards their duties and responsibilities.
Living extremely modestly, Chizhov was impeccably honest, which was known not only in Russia, but also abroad, and his name, standing at the head of any enterprise, was the best guarantee for the dignity and at the same time for the success of the undertaking he took on. yourself. Chizhov left an indelible impression on the people he encountered with his personality.
Constantly busy with some matter taken into his own hands, Chizhov also found time to study literature.
So, in addition to those mentioned, he published, for example, the following articles: “Half a century of public life. Memoirs of I. A. Shestakov, with a foreword by F. V. Chizhov” (Russian Archive, 1873, pp. 164-200) and "On works on the history of Russian legislation" ("Russian Archive", 1869, pp. 2045-2066). Using the shares of the Moscow-Kursk Railway sold in 1891, which delivered about 6 million fortunes, according to Chizhov’s will, five industrial schools named after him were established in the Kostroma province: two in Kostroma (secondary mechanical-technical school from four classes and lower chemical-technical school from three special and one preparatory), one in Kologriv (lower agricultural-technical), one in Makarievo (craft) and one in Chukhloma (agricultural).
At present, all these schools are fully provided with an untouchable capital of almost four million rubles located in the State Bank. Almost continuously, from his student days until the last day of his life, Chizhov kept a detailed diary, recording in it all the incidents and meetings, citing his views and opinions about every phenomenon and person. This very curious document, covering a period of almost forty years and very valuable for illuminating Slavophilism, was bequeathed by Chizhov to the Rumyantsev Museum under the condition that it be opened forty years after his death and, thus, the assessment and significance of the original and truly large and remarkable personality of Chizhov cannot be complete and comprehensive at the present time. Arkady Chernov, "F.V. Chizhov and his connections with N.V. Gogol", biographical sketch, M., 1902; "Russian Antiquity", 1881, January, p. 191; "Memoirs of V.F. Chizhov", "Historical Bulletin" 1883, February, pp. 241-262; "Russian Archive", 1878, book. I, pp. 129-137; 1883, book. II, pp. 207-208; 1884, book. I, p. 391; 1885, book. III, pp. 296-297; V. Grigoriev, “The Imperial St. Petersburg University during the first 50 years of its existence,” St. Petersburg, 1870, pp. LXXI, 92, 177-178, note 181; Obituary, "Bee" 1877, Nos. 9 and 10; V. Sreznevsky, “List of periodical publications from 1703 to 1899 with information about copies belonging to the Imperial Academy of Sciences,” St. Petersburg, 1901 (proofreading edition); "Russian Collection", vol. II, parts 1-2. (Free supplement to the magazine "Citizen"), pp. 320-323. - Geographer's report. obshch., 1877; A. Voronov, "Historical and statistical review of the educational institution of the St. Petersburg educational district", pp. 177-178, 185, 227; "Journal of the Ministry of Public Education", 1877, No. 12, pp. 155-157. Vadim Modzalevsky. (Polovtsov) Chizhov, Fedor Vasilyevich (1811-1877) - major entrepreneur, financier and writer.
Coming from a poor noble family in the Kostroma province, in early childhood and youth he went through a difficult school of poverty.
Finished the course in St. Petersburg. University with a candidate's degree in physical and mathematical sciences and was then appointed teacher of descriptive geometry at the university.
In St. Petersburg. Ch. studied with Academician Ostrogradsky.
At the university Ch., as an adjunct, read mathematical sciences until 1840. In 1836 he received a master's degree for the dissertation: “On the general theory of equilibrium with application to the equilibrium of liquid bodies and the determination of the figure of the Earth” (St. Petersburg, 1836). In 1838 he published the first Russian work on steam engines (“Steam engines.
History, description and application of them", St. Petersburg). In the last years of teaching at the university, Ch. switched to studying the history of literature and art.
In 1839, his translation, with notes, “The Origins of European Literature of the XV and XVI Centuries” by Gallam was published, in 1841 - a rework from English: “The Vocation of a Woman.” 1840-1847 Ch. spent abroad, mostly in Italy: he was drawn here by his desire to study the history of art, “as one of the most direct paths to the history of mankind.” His articles on art appeared in Sovremennik, Moskvityanin, Moscow Collection (about Overbeck, about the works of Russian artists in Rome, about the Roman works of Muravyov, Giovanni Fiesolsky and many others). Subsequently, he translated “The History of Plastics” by Lübke and “The History of Art” by Kugler.
In Italy, Ch. lived in close communication with Gogol and Yazykov [He left valuable memories about Gogol.]. By 1845, when Ch. came from abroad to Russia for a while, his personal acquaintance and rapprochement with the Slavophiles dates back.
Ch. shared their views on the significance and calling of Russia and on the Slavic question.
While abroad, Ch. traveled through the South Slavic lands.
On the way back, in 1847, Ch. was arrested at the border and brought to St. Petersburg. Here he was questioned about who he had seen abroad, what his Slavophile ideas were, what opinions he had about the unification of Slavic lands, who in Moscow was devoted to Slavophile ideas, why he wore a beard, etc. No crime was found for Ch. two weeks later he was released under secret supervision.
Ch. went to the Kyiv province, rented an estate and took up sericulture.
His “Letters on Sericulture” were published in St. Petersburg Vedomosti and were published separately in Moscow in 1870.
After the Crimean campaign, Ch.'s time of involuntary leisure ends, he moves to Moscow and here he develops vigorous activity in the industrial and financial fields.
The era of Russian revival after 1854 was associated with the revival of Russian trade and industry; The large industrial trade movement in Moscow is painted in national colors, large enterprises are founded for patriotic reasons.
Ch. acts first as a theorist of the trade movement: in 1858, together with Babst, he began publishing the “Bulletin of Industry” (published in 1858-61). As a supplement to it, the newspaper of industry and trade "Shareholder" is published (at one time it was issued as a supplement to the newspaper "Den"). Ch. actively defended the patronage of domestic industry.
Ch. moves from theoretical activities to practical ones.
On his initiative and with his assistance, the first “Russian” private railway is being created from Moscow to Yaroslavl and Vologda.
Ch. is one of the main initiators and leaders of the Moscow merchant bank and the Moscow merchant mutual credit society; he becomes the head of the large capitalists who bought the Moscow-Kursk Railway from the government.
Finally, Ch. organizes a partnership for the Arkhangelsk-Murmansk Express Shipping Company.
He left his huge fortune (about 6 million) for the establishment of vocational technical schools in the Kostroma province.
Ch. left behind a huge diary, kept by him for several decades, which is now kept in the Rumyantsev Museum and can only be opened forty years after his death.
One of the editions of Gogol's works was published under the editorship of Ch.
See I. S. Aksakov, "Fedor Vasilyevich Ch." (from a speech, "Russian Archive", 1878, book 1); “Industrial schools of F.V. Chizhov in the Kostroma province” (M., 1900; with a biographical sketch);
Arc. Cherokov, “F.V. Chizhov and his connections with Gogol” (M., 1902); “Memoirs of F.V. Chizhov” (“Historical Bulletin”, 1883, February, Ch.’s answers in the 3rd section);
V.V. Grigoriev, “St. Petersburg University during the first 50 years” (St. Petersburg, 1870); "Notes and Diary" Nikitenko; Ch.'s letters to Gogol in "Russian Antiquity" (1889, July). (Brockhaus)
At the same time, Fyodor Chizhov is an outstanding personality in the history of Russia in the 19th century. He lived a long life (1811-1877) and took on many guises. This is a Russian industrialist, public figure, scientist, publisher and editor. And most importantly, he is the organizer of railway construction in Russia.
Fyodor Chizhov was born in Kostroma. A graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University, he defended his dissertation and taught at his native alma mater. He lived in Italy for some time, traveled around Europe and finally returned to his homeland.
In Moscow, he edited specialized publications for entrepreneurs; being a patriot, a Slavophile, he advocated for the development of all regions of the Russian Empire. And he understood that the main thing in this was to connect the country with transport routes: “The freer and broader the right of our population to move from one place to another, from cities to villages, from villages to cities, the more evenly the people’s labor can be distributed... This is the main and powerful condition in the development and increase of the people’s wealth.”.
Fedor Chizhov and his comrades are seized by the idea of building the first private road using exclusively Russian workers and engineers and with the money of Russian merchants without the participation of foreign capital.
In 1858, with A.I. Delvig and the Kostroma nobles, the Shipov brothers, he established the Moscow-Trinity Railway Society, which attracted tax farmers N.G. Ryumin and I.F. Mamontov.
As a result, the comrades completed the construction of a railway from Moscow to Sergiev Posad, 66 miles long.
According to contemporaries, the road turned out to be exemplary both in terms of design, thriftiness of expenses, and strict management reporting.
The success gave impetus to the development of entrepreneurial initiative and inspired builders. “You can’t imagine,” Chizhov wrote enthusiastically to a friend in England, “how beneficial the railways are to Russia.”
And in 1870 the road from Sergiev Posad to Yaroslavl was opened,
When the construction of the road to Yaroslavl was in full swing, Chizhov announced to the Minister of Railways his intention to extend the road to Vologda. This is another 196 versts.
In his opinion, the site needs to be built “in a new way, the way they build in Norway.”
As he assured, “this will be a narrow-gauge road and therefore cheap, only 25 thousand rubles per mile... For secondary, especially northern railways, which cannot bear the high cost of construction,” narrow-gauge railway construction should be a salvation.
And on July 24, 1870, Alexander II approved amendments to the charter of the Moscow-Yaroslavl Railway Society related to the continuation of the route from Yaroslavl to Vologda...
It is interesting that the construction of the narrow-gauge road from Yaroslavl to Vologda was carried out almost exclusively using bonds alone. At the same time, Chizhov was fully aware that the movement along the site may not be significant. Thus, the narrow-gauge railway began beyond the Volga, thus being separated from the broad-gauge railway by the river. But the construction of a railway bridge across the Volga was not planned in the near future.
But Chizhov consciously took risks. In October 1870, he wrote in his diary: “When I think that we are risking building the first narrow-gauge road, it just becomes scary. But with luck, how important such cheapness will be for Russia!”
On June 28, 1872, train traffic on the Yaroslavl-Vologda Railway was opened. As Chizhov expected, the road initially turned out to be unprofitable. But only at first. But it was a reliable and sure way to the Russian North, connecting the center of the empire with the untold riches of vast territories.
By the way, Fyodor Chizhov is a fairly wealthy man and was a famous philanthropist. But even his friends reproached him for his modest life: “It wouldn’t hurt the All-Russian manager of various profitable enterprises to at least upholster the furniture with new oilcloth...”
Fyodor Chizhov is especially revered by fans and researchers of Nikolai Gogol. Chizhov was a friend of the great writer and it was he who became the executor of his legacy, the editor of his complete works. The ashes of Fyodor Chizhov rest in Moscow, in the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery next to Gogol's grave.
In February 2018, a memorial plaque to Fyodor Chizhov and Savva Mamontov was installed at the Kostroma railway station. This event is timed to coincide with the 130th anniversary of the opening of traffic on the Yaroslavl - Kostroma line and the 150th anniversary of the Northern Railway.
(1811−1877)
public figure, entrepreneur, financier, publicist, publisher, art critic, philanthropist, organizer of the construction of the Moscow-Yaroslavl road
200th birthday
Born in Kostroma into a poor noble family. Studied at St. Petersburg University. He was an influential figure in the cultural life of Russia in the mid-19th century.
Fedor Vasilievich was widely known as Ivan Fedorovich Mamontov's companion in railway construction, and after his death - as the mentor of his son Savva, who called his elder friend "a great teacher."
The construction of railways began in Russia in the middle of the 19th century. The first rails were laid with the money of foreign entrepreneurs. Fyodor Chizhov, through the magazine he created, “Bulletin of Industry,” convincingly argued that Russian specialists are no worse than foreign ones. He was one of the few business people who believed that the dependence of Russian industrialists on foreign capital was hindering the economic development of Russia.
This helped to find support from Moscow merchants who were looking for a profitable investment. Thus, the Moscow-Yaroslavl road became the first private railway built without the involvement of foreign capital, by Russian engineers and workers.
The section of the highway from the capital to Trinity was built in two years. Opening it in 1862, contemporaries noted that “the line was simply exemplary in terms of structure, cost savings, and strict management reporting.” In many ways, these approving words were addressed to Fyodor Chizhov, who in business circles was known as an honest, zealous, and skillful specialist.
Fyodor Vasilyevich, who knew Sergei Aksakov and Nikolai Gogol, was friends with the Mamontovs and Polenovs, and shared the views of the Slavophile Ivan Aksakov, for a long time remained undeservedly in the shadow of these big names. Posthumously, he bequeathed his entire capital - 6 million rubles - to his native Kostroma province for the establishment of five vocational schools.
- Arenzon E.R.“The Great Teacher” / E.R. Arenzon // Savva Mamontov − M.: Russian Book, 1995. − P. 35−42.
- Girlina L.V. Fedor Chizhov / L. V. Girlina // Forward.−2006.−September 5.−S. 3.
- Maslov V.I. Founders of the first railways / V.I. Maslov // Otchina.− 2003.−№ 2.−S. 7-15.
- Simonova I.A. Fyodor Chizhov /I. A. Simonova. − M.: Young Guard, 2002. − P. 335 p.: photo, portrait. – (Life of remarkable people: ZhZL: a series of biographies; founded in 1890 by F. Pavlenkov and continued in 1933 by M. Gorky; Issue 805). – Bibliography: p.297-318,331−334.; Name decree. p.331
Chizhov’s activities in organizing assistance to fraternal peoples were interrupted by arrest, two weeks of interrogation and deportation to Ukraine under secret surveillance. From this moment on, a new feat of this active person begins - entrepreneurship. Bearing in mind what he had seen in Italy and France, in 1850 he took a free lease for 24 years near Kiev on 60 dessiatines planted with mulberries, and organized an exemplary sericulture farm, spreading the successful experience to hundreds of peasant and landowner farms, opening a practical school for young people on the farm . The pre-reform shareholder fever of the “Alexander Spring” required systemic knowledge - and Chizhov has been publishing the “Bulletin of Industry” with the appendix “Shareholder” since 1858. “We need real capital and efficient industrialists, and not visiting crooks operating from the back porch, obtaining monopolies for themselves, taking advantage of chance and ignorance, and instead of contributing capital, absorbing our own funds,” Chizhov wrote in one of the editorials.
At that time, the contractors for the construction of railways were only foreigners. Chizhov managed to prove the viability of Russian entrepreneurs. From 1858 to 1862, an exemplary railway was built from Moscow to Sergiev Posad, which his “pupil”, Savva Mamontov, brought to the left bank of Arkhangelsk, where the former station building still pleases the eye. Chizhov managed to prevent the sale of the Moscow-Kursk Railway to foreigners. This road was bought by a group of Moscow industrialists. The competitive advantage of foreigners was access to banking capital. And in 1866, Chizhov initiated the creation of the Moscow Merchant Bank, a partnership on shares, and in 1869 - the Moscow Merchant Mutual Credit Society. According to Chizhov’s plan, the “College of Pavel Galagan” was opened in Kyiv, one of the best educational institutions in Russia. With 6 million rubles, proceeds after Chizhov’s death from the sale of shares of the Moscow-Kursk Railway to the state, according to his will, five vocational and technical educational institutions were built on Kostroma land.
In 1875, Chizhov collected funds to equip the company of General Chernyaev, who was rushing to the rescue of the Slavs of Bosnia and Herzegovina who had rebelled against the Turkish yoke. At the same time, he organized enterprises to establish water supply and gas lighting in Moscow. Chizhov believed that in entrepreneurship “it’s good to be a lamplighter, that is, to light up a business and keep it burning until this business gets on its feet; it will be enough. Otherwise, in any industrial business, after a few years... a routine will certainly develop, which is deadly to the extreme... In our country, everyone likes to sit in a heated place, and there are no hunters to create something new, and don’t feed me rolls of rolls, just give me something new, if possible - big and difficult." “He was a strong man, a man with power,” recalled Ivan Aksakov. - Above all his other qualities, the presence of internal strength was felt in him: the power of conviction, the power of will, unyielding, despotic in relation to oneself. Looking at his work, methodical, clear to the smallest detail, anyone would say that such a systematic application of will to work is possible only with firm calm and composure of spirit. And yet he was the most ardent, most passionate man... The whole combination of such apparently opposite qualities was especially attractive in him: it was this that gave him such moral beauty and such power over others.” The name of Chizhov, standing at the head of any enterprise, was the best guarantee of loyalty and success of the business begun.
Chizhov's last major enterprise was the formation of the Arkhangelsk-Murmansk Express Shipping Company. The initial large-scale initiative of 1870, when Chizhov, together with other eight industrialists, proposed to the government to create the Russian Northern Shipping Company in Arkhangelsk with a capital of 8 million rubles and regular lines along the White Sea, to the USA, Europe and England, was rejected due to lack of funds in treasury In the same 1870, Alexander II approved the Charter of the White Sea-Murmansk Shipping Company with a capital of 150 thousand rubles, created by a group of Kola industrialists led by Bazarov. Two English-built ships with a capacity of 60 and 40 horsepower, driven by foreign crews, barely completed four navigations of 1871-1874, having marked more than one unmarked can on the maps over the years, leaving sheets of their hull on them. As a result of constant emergency repairs abroad, the company suffered losses and self-liquidated in February 1875.
On May 6 of the same 1875, Alexander II approved the charter of the Chizhov Arkhangelsk-Murmansk Express Shipping Company with a capital of 400 thousand rubles. The mistakes of predecessors were taken into account. Powerful cargo-passenger ships built in England (William Dobson & Co, New Castle) were recruited by Russian crews who knew the sailing conditions in the White and Barents Seas. And soon the Pomors from the most remote corners of the Winter, Summer, Tersky and Murmansk coasts got used to the fact that in a week they can get to Arkhangelsk or any camp in the Russian North and even Northern Norway on a schedule with transfers. The charter was rewritten 5 times over 43 years, the number of courts and express lines steadily expanded and by 1918 there were 20 courts and 9 lines. A dry dock was built on Lai, and a coastal base was built in the Kola Bay.
The revolutionary devastation did not spare Chizhov’s brainchild. Due to the intervention, the shipping company's ships were nationalized twice: in 1918 and 1920. Many of the survivors became part of the Northern Shipping Company in 1922. Of the four ships of the Murmansk Shipping Company, newly created in 1939, transferred from the Northern Shipping Company, two - Sosnovets and Subbotnik - were previously part of the Chizhov Shipping Company.
The Moscow Railway named a train after Chizhov. Kostroma returned Chizhov’s name to the technical school. What can grateful enterprises - his brainchild - do for Chizhov?
