Kuzma Sergeyevich Petrov-Vodkin (1878–1939) was a vibrant, original artist whose biography and creative destiny are closely connected with St. Petersburg – Petrograd – Leningrad. It all began in Malaya Okhta, where little Kuzma arrived in the early 1880s. The 145th Infantry Novocherkassk Regiment, where his father served, was stationed here. His father was a shoemaker from Khvalynsk, Saratov Province.

The future painter and his mother, Anna Panteleevna, settled in the mezzanine of an old, rickety wooden house owned by the widow Zadedina. This house was located on Pustaya Street, which, as Petrov-Vodkin recalled many years later, was not much different from the streets of his native provincial town: "Scattered houses alternated with vacant lots. In summer, the street was overgrown with grass, with pigs and piglets roaming in the thickets. In autumn, pedestrian walkways laid along the street saved us from the impassable mud." Pustaya Street was one block long. To the west, it "ran down to the Neva," and to the east, it "ended at a long street with only fences and vacant lots," which led to the Novocherkassk barracks.

Pustaya Street, running from Malookhtinsky Avenue to Novocherkassky Avenue, was officially abolished on May 15, 1965. It was located south of the current Pomyalevsky Street, which from 1865 to 1962 was called Suvorovskaya.

Petrov-Vodkin spent two years of his "first St. Petersburg period" in Malaya Okhta. In a small room with one window and an iron stove, where his mother worked on a Singer sewing machine and his father brought pots of cabbage soup and porridge from the barracks, Kuzma learned to read and write. The events of these two years, vividly remembered, were later described by the artist in two chapters of his autobiographical story "Khlynovsk": "Okhta – Pustaya Street" and "Barracks." This story, published in 1930, is a true treasure trove of valuable biographical information and evidence of the author's undeniable literary talent.

The boy, whom the soldiers called Kuzyakha, sometimes spent entire days in the barracks. He knew his father's comrades well and was considered one of their own by the Novocherkassk soldiers. However, contrary to popular belief, he could not have visited the surviving red-brick barracks, as the buildings for the regiment's headquarters and three battalions were constructed in 1884–1886, and for the fourth battalion in 1893. Sergei Fyodorovich Vodkin, apparently, served in the Novocherkassk Regiment from 1881 to 1884 and could have only witnessed the beginning of the construction of these barracks. Kuzma and his mother returned to Khvalynsk before the head of the family.

Subsequently, Petrov-Vodkin returned to the city on the Neva many times. He studied, worked, and taught here. The creator of such famous paintings as "Bathing of a Red Horse" (1912), "1918 in Petrograd" ("Petrograd Madonna"; 1920), and "Death of a Commissar" (1928) also died here, in Leningrad, and was buried at the Literary Footpaths of the Volkovo Orthodox Cemetery.

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi was born on June 21, 1962, to a Korean engineer and a Russian teacher. The future famous Leningrad rock musician spent his childhood years in the Moskovsky district, where he moved between several addresses that are well known to fans. A cult place for fans of Viktor Tsoi's work is the famous boiler room "Kamchatka," where many stars of the Leningrad rock club worked. In 1982, Viktor Tsoi founded the band "Kino." The first recordings of the young band were made in Andrey Tropillo's semi-legal studio, located in the House of Pioneers at 23 Panfilova Street, where the Center for Children's (Youth) Technical Creativity "Okhta" is now located. Tropillo was then the head of the recording circle open there; during the day, he taught schoolchildren the basics of working with microphones and recording devices, and at night, he recorded young performers. In 1983, Viktor and his wife Marianna lived, according to friends' recollections, "somewhere in a small apartment on Bluchera Street." No one remembered the exact address, but Marianna described this period of their lives as follows: "January of '83, I remember it well, was excessively harsh. Our house was so stupidly located that the only way to get to it was by trolleybus. There was a trolleybus ring near the house - the third, nineteenth, and another one. And these trolleybuses really didn't like running in twenty-degree frosts; if they did run, it was very slowly. We were freezing terribly. We were sick of those trolleybuses." This trolleybus ring was and still is located opposite school No. 180 on Marshala Tukhachevskogo Street. Before arriving at the final stop, the trolleybuses passed a long straight section on April Street, where they picked up speed. It can be assumed that the forced nature of the trips and the cold winter inspired the musician to write the song "The Trolleybus Going East." After gaining popularity, Tsoi performed a lot, acted in movies, and mainly lived in Moscow, but he did not forget his childhood city, regularly returning and renting an apartment on Toreza Avenue. On August 15, 1990, Viktor Tsoi tragically died in a car accident. The musician was buried at the Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in Piskaryovka, where many flowers, photos, and memorabilia are still brought today.

Anna Petrovna Kern (1800–1879) is primarily known as the woman who inspired Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin to compose the lyrical poem "To ***" ("I remember a wonderful moment..."). Pushkin also dedicated several humorous poems to her. Additionally, their correspondence has survived. However, Anna Petrovna’s identity is not solely defined by her role as Pushkin’s muse. Among the many remarkable people in Alexander Sergeyevich's circle, she did not fade into obscurity, nor was she just a name on Pushkin’s list of conquests. Her significance goes beyond the famous poem that immortalized her name. Beneath the familiar label of a fashionable beauty lies a figure of considerably greater stature.

Interestingly, we have only a vague idea of Anna Kern’s appearance. There are very few portraits of her, and almost all are speculative. More telling are the diaries and memoirs of Anna Petrovna. These are detailed, accurate, and vivid, offering a clear picture of her character and providing valuable insights into her distinguished contemporaries: Pushkin, Anton Antonovich Delvig, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, and Alexander I.

Anna Petrovna’s fate was significantly influenced by her extremely unfortunate marriage to Yermolai Fyodorovich Kern (1765–1841), a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812. They were married in January 1817, when Anna was still not yet seventeen, and the general-major (later general-lieutenant) was over fifty. As Anna Petrovna later wrote, she was married "too early and too indiscriminately." Her dislike for her husband seemingly extended to her attitude toward their children (the couple had three daughters: Yekaterina, Anna, and Olga). The life of a general's wife, with constant relocations from one city to another and the atmosphere of inspections and drills, was burdensome for the impressionable and energetic Anna. Moreover, the old soldier Kern was probably far removed from the interests and aspirations of his young wife.

In the winter of 1825–1826, pregnant with her third daughter, Anna Petrovna left Yermolai Fyodorovich and moved to St. Petersburg. By making this bold move, she effectively buried her reputation as a "respectable woman." Aristocrats might overlook infidelities and even affairs, but an open separation from a spouse caused a scandal and nearly closed the doors of society to the charming Anna Petrovna. She was supported by friends, including almost the entire Pushkin family. In the Delvig household, she "felt at home," and Anton Antonovich jokingly referred to her as wife number two. Anna attended literary evenings where guests included Ivan Andreyevich Krylov, Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky, Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich, Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky, Dmitry Vladimirovich Venevitinov, and Adam Mickiewicz. Interestingly, one of Anna Kern’s friends was engineer Pyotr Petrovich (Pierre-Dominique) Bazin, who worked on the reconstruction of the hydraulic structures at the Ohtinsky Powder Factory in the 1820s and 1830s. According to Anna Petrovna’s recollections, it was Bazin who introduced her to Mikhail Glinka in 1826. Later, around the 1830s–1840s, the composer was in love with Anna Kern’s elder daughter, Yekaterina, and dedicated the romance "I Remember a Wonderful Moment" to her, based on Pushkin’s verses. However, Mikhail Ivanovich and Yekaterina Yermolaevna never married.

Despite numerous disappointments, Anna Petrovna did find personal happiness. In 1836, she began a romance with 16-year-old cadet Alexander Vasilyevich Markov-Vinogradsky (1820–1879), her second cousin. In 1839, the couple had a son named Alexander. Yermolai Kern died in 1841, and in 1842, Anna and Alexander married. For the sake of her legal marriage, Anna Petrovna relinquished her title of "Excellency," a substantial pension, and other privileges that were due to her as the widow of a general. Additionally, Anna’s father, Pyotr Markovich Poltoratsky, deprived her of all inheritance rights.

Anna Petrovna’s maiden name again connects us to Ohta. She was the granddaughter of Mark Fyodorovich and Agafoklea Alexandrovna Poltoratsky, who owned the estate at the confluence of the Okkervill River and the Neva. This estate is known to Petersburgers as Utkin Dacha. Remarkably, another of Pushkin’s muses, Anna Alexeyevna Olenina, was also a granddaughter of these Poltoratskys! In other words, Anna Petrovna and Anna Alexeyevna were cousins. Incidentally, Anna Kern met Pushkin in 1819 at the home of Alexey Nikolaevich and Elizaveta Markovna Olenin.

It is well known that Anna Petrovna was a well-read individual. She avidly followed literary news, and, for instance, her diary contains a very complimentary (if brief) review of Nikolai Gerasimovich Pomyalovsky’s novella "Molotov," which was first published in the journal "Sovremennik" in 1861. Pomyalovsky, as we remember, was a native of Malaya Okhta.

The unusual union of Anna and Alexander Markov-Vinogradsky withstood the test of time, social disapproval, family opposition, chronic poverty (they even had to sell Pushkin’s letters – for five rubles each), and domestic instability. They lived together for four decades, maintaining an incredibly warm relationship and deep affection for each other. Alexander Vasilyevich passed away in January 1879. In May of the same year, Anna Petrovna died. Only the inclement weather and poor road conditions prevented them from being buried in the same cemetery.

Alexander Grigorievich Kushelov-Bezborodko spent most of his childhood in Polyustrovo, at the suburban estate of Princess Bezborodko, inherited by his aunt, Princess K. I. Lobanova-Rostovskaya. From his guardian, the young Kushelov-Bezborodko inherited a love for order and good management.

From 1813 to 1816, he studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. After passing the examination for obtaining a position at the pedagogical institute, he went to Moscow, where he earned a doctorate in ethical and political sciences from Moscow University. In 1817, with the rank of Collegiate Assessor, Count Kushelov-Bezborodko joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Through his father's patronage, Alexander Grigorievich was assigned to deliver dispatches to Württemberg and then to serve at the emperor’s chancery during the Congress of Aachen. This opportunity allowed him not only to visit another country but also to continue his education abroad.

During his European travels, Alexander Grigorievich met many prominent figures, including the renowned Italian educator Pestalozzi. This encounter proved to be pivotal for the young count. Upon his return to Russia in 1819, he actively engaged in reforming the national educational system.

In 1820, Kushelov-Bezborodko was appointed chamberlain, and in 1826, he became a member of the Main Board of Schools. His career quickly advanced, and by 1854, he had reached his highest position as the State Controller of the Russian Empire.

Alexander Grigorievich died from "severe nervous distress" on April 6 (18), 1855. He was buried in the Holy Spirit Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko was born on March 14, 1747, to Andrei Yakovlevich Bezborodko, the General Secretary of the Registered Cossack Army, and Evdokiya Mikhailovna Zabela, daughter of a general judge. The future Privy Councillor and confidant of Catherine II studied at the Kiev-Mogilyan Academy. During his studies, he demonstrated an aptitude for history and a phenomenal memory, which later helped him achieve a remarkable career at court.

Bezborodko arrived in Moscow in 1775 with the rank of colonel, earned for his successful military service during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). He was offered the position of State Secretary to Empress Catherine II. In the recommendation provided to Bezborodko by Count Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky, under whom Alexander Andreyevich had served for over 10 years, it was written: "I present to Your Majesty a diamond in the rough: Your mind will give it value."

Indeed, at the imperial court, Bezborodko quickly mastered political intricacies and the French language. He did not neglect his passion for history; his works include several historical texts: "A Picture of the Russian Wars and Affairs with the Tatars," "Chronicle of Little Russia," and "Chronological Table of the Most Remarkable Events of the Reign of Catherine II."

Bezborodko's career advanced rapidly: in 1779 he was promoted to brigadier and granted lands in the Polotsk Province, in 1780 he was appointed "full powers for all negotiations" in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and given the rank of major general, and in 1783 he became a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1784, Alexander Andreyevich was made second member of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and granted the rank of Privy Councillor, as well as permission to take the title of count from the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

By 1791, Bezborodko had been awarded three orders: the Order of St. Vladimir 1st class (1782), the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1784), and the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (1791), conferred personally by the Empress.

A passionate patron of the arts, in 1796 Bezborodko acquired one of the richest art collections—the gallery of Count Golovkin.

Two years before his death, on the day of Emperor Paul I's coronation, Bezborodko was elevated to the rank of prince with the title of His Serene Highness.

Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko died on April 6 (17), 1799. He was buried in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (now the Annunciation Mausoleum).

Agafoklea Alexandrovna Shishkova was born on June 29 (July 10) 1737, into a family of modest Tver landowners. Mark Fyodorovich Poltoratsky, who had long been acquainted with the Shishkov family, proposed to their young and, notably, very beautiful daughter. At the time, no one could have anticipated the treasure that the court singer had acquired in the form of Feklusha.

Agafoklea turned out to be a true iron lady of her time. As contemporaries noted, she had the knack for making money from virtually everything—within a few years of marriage, she turned a modest dowry into a fortune: an estate with 4,000 serfs, distilleries, and factories. Thanks to her business acumen and unyielding character, Poltoratskaya "leased out" nearly the entire Tver province. Despite her relentless work, she deeply loved her husband and was pregnant by him. The Poltoratskys had 22 children, though only 11 reached adulthood. All of them received excellent education and found their place in life.

When in 1791 the Poltoratskys acquired the estate at the confluence of the Ohta and Okkervil rivers, Agafoklea set about developing the new estate. It is believed that the estate was granted to Mark Fyodorovich for his achievements in managing the singing chapel. However, L. V. Timofeev, referring to a purchase agreement dated May 4, 1791, indicates that it was Agafoklea who bought the land from Privy Councilor Gavriil Gerasimovich Donaurev, including the villages of Oblupovskaya, Malinovskaya, Kosaya Gora, and Novaya. Meanwhile, Mark Fyodorovich had his own land plot in the area of Sennaya Square, where two stone houses were built. Following the instructions of his beloved Feklusha, public baths were added to these houses. At the Okkervil estate, Poltoratskaya began the construction of a manor house and utility buildings while simultaneously maintaining and developing the family estate of Gruziny and the numerous villages she owned in the Petersburg and Tver provinces.

Just a year before acquiring the Okkervil estate, Agafoklea Alexandrovna completed the construction of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the village of Zagorie (now Pereslegino). The construction lasted 10 years, with the renowned architect Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov being responsible for the project. This fact suggests that upon completion of the work in Zagorie, Poltoratskaya commissioned Lvov to design the estate at Okkervil.

Under Agafoklea Alexandrovna Poltoratskaya's management, the Okkervil estate transformed into a vast and wealthy estate supplying St. Petersburg with fruits, wine, and artisanal goods.

In her later years, Agafoklea resided at the Gruziny estate. She was forced to leave St. Petersburg due to an accident on the way to Moscow. Her carriage overturned, and she sustained numerous fractures, leaving her almost immobilized. Even then, she continued to oversee her affairs, instructing her bed to be moved to the hayfield, the arable land, the distillery, or the mill as needed.

Agafoklea Alexandrovna passed away on October 12 (24), 1822, at the age of 85, having outlived her husband by 30 years.

He combined the qualities of an exceptionally gifted thinker, capable of the broadest generalizations, and a talented experimenter, who could brilliantly organize and conduct the most challenging tests on the range, with those of a pragmatic artilleryman, always keeping in mind the immediate application of his research in combat conditions.
    
If you add to this his ability to identify talented colleagues, to recognize and cultivate their strongest qualities and skills, as well as his skill in creating large teams for collaborative scientific work and inspiring them with his enthusiasm and extraordinary diligence, it becomes clear why Vasily Mikhailovich Trofimov is considered one of the greatest Russian artillerymen of the early 20th century.

Vasily Alexandrovich Kokorev (1817-1889) is a person as bright and original as he is contradictory. The future millionaire (or even billionaire) was born, according to various sources, in Vologda or in Soligalich, a district town in the north of the then Kostroma province. Vasily Alexandrovich's social origin also raises questions. Whether he was a native of the bourgeoisie or the son of a middle-class merchant who traded in salt, is not known. But all his biographers are unanimous in one thing: the Kokorevs' family was Old Believers and belonged to the Pomorian Bespovsky consensus. Vasily Alexandrovich kept the faith of his fathers until the end of his days.

Kokorev, in fact, did not receive a systematic education. Having learned to read and count, he, apparently, immediately began to work. True, it is not quite clear in what field young Vasily made his first professional steps. He either began to help his father, who was a “siteltsem” (manager) in drinking houses, or began to work in the family enterprise. The Kokorevs, according to some researchers, owned a small saltworks in Soligalich. (This town owes its name and, perhaps, its origin to the salt works). Be that as it may, the early beginning of labor activity brought certain dividends to energetic and clever Vasily. He acquired not abstract “invaluable life experience”, but concrete knowledge and skills necessary for a businessman. Vasily Kokorev filled the gaps in his education on his own, because he read a lot and enthusiastically.

Alexander Kokorev probably died early, and Vasily at a very young age became a co-owner (along with his uncles) of the above-mentioned salt factory. This enterprise, alas, turned out to be unprofitable and in the late 1830s was closed. However, Vasily Alexandrovich tried to re-profile the family business, which was already breathing on a languor, by organizing a water resort at the local mineral springs. In 1841, thanks to Kokorev's efforts, a water treatment center was opened in Soligalich. It is curious that in 1858 Alexander Porfirievich Borodin, a doctor of medicine, nowadays known primarily as a composer, came there. He produced chemical analyzed customs water and highly evaluated their target properties. (Results of research solihalich soleno-mineral water was publicized in 1859. According to available information, a large article was published in the newspaper “Moscow Vedomosti”, the introductory part of which was written by Vasily Kokorev and the main part by Alexander Borodin. The latter was soon published as a separate brochure). On the recommendation of the future author of the “Knyaz Igor” is expanded. Today the name A. P. Borodin nasit sanatorium, located in the park zone in the center Soligalich.

After the closure of the factory owned by the Kokorevs, Vasily Alexandrovich, as he himself wrote later, “was forced out of the district life to St. Petersburg to seek for a paid-off occupation”. In the early 1840s, he became a solicitor to a wine merchant and was very successful in the alcoholic field. Kokorev must not have considered this kind of activity sinful for an Old Believer and did not suffer from remorse. Lev Yakovlevich Lurie in his book “Petersburgers. Russian capitalism. The first attempt“, the first chapter of which (”Oligarchs“) begins with a story about Vasily Kokorev (”Billionaire from Soligalich"), explains this paradox very simply: ”For Kokorev drinking people - not a special sin. Drunkenness is a personal vice. Payoffs bring money to the treasury, but one should strive for decent manners. And stealing is sinful. Judging by the research of biographers, first Kokorev was the attorney of one merchant in Orenburg province, then another - in Kazan. In 1844, having gained a lot of experience in this business, he submitted to the Committee of Ministers or directly to the manager of the Ministry (in the near future - the Minister) of Finance Fyodor Pavlovich Vronchenko a note on the transformation of wine purchases. There is information that it was passed through the then Kazan military governor Sergei Pavlovich Shipov, who was a native of Soligalich district and, therefore, a fellow countryman of Kokorev. (Incidentally, Vronchenko and Shipov are intricately connected with Okhta. The name “Count Vronchenko” was given to a wheeled steamer assembled at the Okhta Admiralty in 1850. In 1828 Shipov married Anna Evgrafovna Komarovskaya, daughter of the same Count Komarovsky who owned a cloth factory on the Okhta promontory. Thanks to Evgraf Fedotovich, the name “Komarovsky” appeared on Malaya Okhta. Now it is given to the bridge that connects the banks of the Okhta River and is part of Krasnogvardeyskaya Square. In the past, there was Komarovsky Avenue, which grew out of the alley of the same name).

As researchers note, in this note Vasily Alexandrovich said that the wine trade should be given a more civilized character, and expressed his rationalization proposals in this regard. Revenues from the sale of alcohol at that time amounted to about 45% (almost half!) of all revenues to the treasury (such figures with reference to experts cited by Kokorev biographers), and their increase was a matter of national importance. However, even in such circumstances, the note could have gotten lost, dissolved in the flow of incoming documentation, go unheeded, laid under the table. However, Vronchenko familiarized himself with its contents, and therefore it cannot be ruled out that Shipov really put in a good word for the ambitious fellow countryman. As a result, Kokorev got an opportunity to realize his ideas in Orel (or in the whole Orel province), where the wine payoff was defective (there was a huge debt on it - 300 thousand rubles in silver). The experiment was successful (the debt was paid off in two and a half years) and was repeated for several other faulty buy-backs. Under Kokorev's management they became profitable. However, it was very expensive for the local people. More and more drinking establishments were opened in the buyout territories, the prices for alcohol were ungodly increased, and the quality of “drinks” (already not the most exquisite) decreased, becoming the subject of numerous jokes. The most disgusting liquor was called “Kokorev's Tear” by evil tongues. In the middle of the XIX century the expression “Kokorev vodka” became common, and later even got on the pages of fiction. And Vasily Alexandrovich himself was immortalized in poems and prose. For example, Nikolai Alexeyevich Nekrasov, satirically depicting Moscow in the poem “Petersburg Message” (this is the second part of “Friendly Correspondence between Moscow and Petersburg”), writes that there, among other things, “Kokorev's mind found a shelter”. (In the second half of the 1850s, Vasily Kokorev's articles began to be published in the journal Russky Vestnik, which had just been founded in Moscow). Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov mentions Kokorev in the story “The Life of a Woman”, and Kokorev's vodka in his novel “Nowhere”. Russian writers brought Kokorev out under fictitious names, sometimes openly offensive. However, there were among our writers and those who spoke positively about him. And what a controversy Kokorev's figure caused in the press!

While the people left the last money in the drinking establishments, and the treasury was faithfully replenished, Kokorev's authority in the Ministry of Finance is rapidly growing. Of course, Vronchenko did not approve all of Vasily Alexandrovich's proposals, but the payoff system of alcohol trade was still reformed: in the second half of the 1840s in Russia introduced excise and payoff commission “for the sale of state wine and other beverages. In 1851, Kokorev, who had managed to acquire many connections in government circles, received the title of commercial counselor. Payoff activity served as a kind of springboard for him to storm new heights. Vasily Alexandrovich won the trust of officials, gained the respect of profiteers and other entrepreneurs, gained a huge capital. Becoming a very rich and influential man, Kokorev unfolded the full breadth of his ebullient nature, gave free rein to his energy, imagination, creative initiative. In the second half of the 1850s, he began to explore other spheres of business, impressing with the scope and diversity of his enterprises.

In 1856, with Kokorev's assistance, the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROSST) was established to strengthen the position of our sailors on the Black and Azov Seas. (Russia had been defeated in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, and its interests in the region were compromised. Under the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty, signed in March 1856, the Black Sea was declared neutral. Russia, as well as Turkey, was deprived of the right to have its military fleet there. Both countries were also forbidden to build and maintain their naval bases on the Black Sea coast. In fact, this meant the destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, while Turkey, in case of a new war, had the opportunity to introduce its warships into the Black Sea from the Marmara and Mediterranean Seas. Therefore, the development of merchant shipping was not the only purpose of establishing the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade. It was tacitly assumed that if necessary, ROPiT merchant ships would be used for military tasks). In 1857 Vasily Alexandrovich became a co-founder of the Trans-Caspian Trading Partnership (as far as we know, it was organized for trade with Persia and Central Asia), in 1858 - the Volga-Don Railway Society, in 1859 - the Volga-Caspian Shipping Company “Caucasus and Mercury” and the society “Rural Host”. The domestic oil industry owes a lot to Kokorev. There are data that back in 1857 in Surakhany, relatively close to Baku, he built a plant for processing of kir. This oil-containing rock was used to produce photonaphthyl (photogen), a mineral oil used for lighting. The enterprise operated on cheap local fuel - natural gas, whose burning outlets on the surface are called Baku fires. (Since ancient times, these fires have been an object of veneration for Zoroastrians. Their destroyed sanctuary on the outskirts of Surakhany village was restored, apparently, by Hindus and Sikhs. The Ateshgah fire temple has been preserved here to this day, where representatives of ethno-confessional groups professing Zoroastrianism sometimes come. These are Gebras from Iran and Parsis from India). In 1863 Vasily Kokorev invited Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev to his oil refinery on the Apsheron peninsula as a consultant. Thanks to the valuable recommendations of the scientist, who in a few years was to discover the periodic law, the production of kerosene was reorganized and began to bring income. A decade later, in January 1874, Alexander II approved the charter of the Baku Oil Company, one of the founders of which was Kokorev. In the same year, well aware of the importance of transportation infrastructure for the development of industry and the country's economy as a whole, Vasily Alexandrovich became a co-founder of the Ural Railway Company.

At the beginning of the 1860s, the payoff system of liquor sales was abolished (it was replaced by the excise system). This dealt a serious blow to Kokorev's well-being. Paradoxically, but the fact is that Vasily Alexandrovich, having gotten rich on wine payoffs, remained indebted to the state. And was its debtor almost to the end of his days. Researchers explain this by the fact that earned money Kokorev immediately invested in various enterprises, and often took great risks, counting on future profits and the fact that it will be possible to attract the capital of old business partners. Treasury debts forced him to part with the so-called Kokorevsky podvorye, built in 1862-1865 on Sofiyskaya Embankment in Moscow. This multifunctional complex, which included a hotel, stores and commercial warehouses, cost Vasily Alexandrovich two and a half million rubles and was a truly grandiose construction for that time.

But Kokorev would not be Kokorev if failures knocked him out of the saddle. Incredibly enterprising, determined and confident in his abilities, he never gave up, was not afraid to try and make mistakes. In the post-reform years Vasily Alexandrovich turned to several new business spheres, first of all to banking. He took an active part in the creation of the Moscow Merchant Bank, the charter of which was approved by the highest in June 1866. In addition, there is information that Kokorev was elected Chairman of the Board of the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank, founded in St. Petersburg in 1870. A little later Kokorev joined the insurance business. In 1872, he initiated the establishment of the Northern Society of Insurance and Warehouse of Goods with Warrants (in 1879, it was forced to stop warrant operations, after which it became known as the Northern Insurance Society). Another brainchild of Kokorev is the Northern Telegraph Agency, established in 1882. According to available data, Vasily Alexandrovich was the main shareholder (shareholder) of this agency.

The story about Kokorev would be incomplete without mentioning his public activities. Perhaps, especially brightly our hero showed himself in this field after the Crimean (Eastern) War. In February 1856, he organized in Moscow pompous meeting of participants in the defense of Sevastopol, which caused in society contradictory feelings and a very lively discussion. Not everyone liked the celebration of heroes, which was furnished with a merchant's scale and balanced on the edge of bad taste (the festivities, for example, were accompanied by copious libations). During the period of preparation of the peasant reform Kokorev, who held liberal views, acted as a convinced supporter of the abolition of serfdom. In support of the forthcoming reforms, he organized a series of banquets-manifestations, which provoked the anger of the then Governor-General of Moscow Arseny Andreevich Zakrevsky. As a result, Vasily Alexandrovich signed a pledge not to hold “public political meetings or dinners with speeches on state issues”. Some of Kokorev's biographers write that he was even subjected to tacit surveillance.

Kokorev was close to the Moscow Slavophiles and participated in the financing of their periodicals: the journals “Russkaya Obeseda” and “Rural Improvement”, as well as the newspaper “Day”. Vasily Alexandrovich attached great importance to freedom of speech and, possessing an undoubted talent for writing, an inquisitive, perceptive mind, keen observation and profound knowledge of life, never missed an opportunity to speak out on the most topical issues in the press. Among his publicistic works the most famous are the article “A Billion in the Fog” devoted to the liberation of peasants, which was published in the newspaper “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” in 1859, and a number of retrospective articles, originally published in the journal “Russian Archive”, and then combined into a book with the telling title “Economic Failures” (and the subtitle “According to Memoirs from 1837”), which was published in 1887.

Vasily Kokorev was famous for his charitable activities. In particular, he helped the Slavic Committee, allocating significant sums for the implementation of its projects, participated in the work of the temporary commission for the collection and distribution of voluntary donations in favor of victims of the 1867 crop failure, and did a lot for the Pomor community of St. Petersburg.

Despite his extraordinary employment, Kokorev found time for what today would be called a hobby. He was no stranger to beauty, was interested in art and in the 1850s began to collect paintings by Russian and foreign artists. In the early 1860s Vasily Alexandrovich opened a public art gallery in Moscow. There were approximately 500 paintings, including brushes by I. K. Aivazovsky, K. P. Bryullov, O. A. Kiprensky, D. G. Levitsky and other prominent painters. The gallery existed for only about ten years: in the 1870s Kokorev was forced to sell off his remarkable collection due to financial difficulties. Vasily Alexandrovich patronized architects, encouraging their work in the “Russian style”. At his expense, for example, in Moscow was built a marvelous Pogodinskaya hut. In 1884, Kokorev organized in the Tver province Vladimir-Mariinsky orphanage for young artists. Poor students of the Imperial Academy of Arts came there for summer practice, thanks to which the orphanage became known as the Academic Dacha. Today it bears the name of I.E. Repin. Kokorev's services to the Academy of Arts were appreciated at face value: in 1889 the patron of the arts was awarded the title of its honorary member.

Kokorev died in the spring of 1889. His final resting place was the Maloohtinsky Old Believer cemetery in St. Petersburg. It was controlled by the Pomorians, representatives of the very same non-Pope consensus to which Vasily Alexandrovich belonged. Kokorev's death was a colossal loss for the capital's Pomor community, for he had repeatedly stood up for his brothers in faith before the authorities. The funeral, held according to the old rite, became a notable event in the life of our city. It is noteworthy that the family burial place of the Kokorevs has survived. It is located in the eastern corner of the Maloohtinsky cemetery.

Russian Emperor Alexander III was born on March 10, 1845 (February 26 according to the old style) in St. Petersburg. He was the second son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. He received a traditional military-engineering education typical for grand dukes.

In 1865, after the death of his older brother, Grand Duke Nicholas, he became the heir apparent and then acquired more profound knowledge. Among his tutors were Sergey Solovyov (history), Yakov Grot (literary history), and Mikhail Dragomirov (military art). The greatest influence on the heir apparent was exerted by his law professor Konstantin Pobedonostsev.
Before ascending the throne, Alexander Alexandrovich served as the commanding hetman of all Cossack troops, was the commander of the Petersburg Military District and the Guard Corps.

The beginning of Alexander I's reign was marked by liberal reforms, many of which were developed and proposed by the Secret Committee and personally by Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky. In foreign policy, the young sovereign proved to be a talented diplomat, skillfully maneuvering between the rival empires of Great Britain and France. Between 1805 and 1807, Alexander participated in anti-French coalitions, and from 1807 to 1812, he grew closer to France.

The emperor's military campaigns were equally successful: Russia acquired territories and strengthened its positions in relations with Turkey, Persia, and Sweden. The Russian Empire absorbed the lands of Eastern Georgia, Bessarabia, and Finland.

From 1813, Alexander I became the head of the anti-French coalition, and later one of the chairmen of the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) and the creators of the Holy Alliance.

Alexander I's personality is undoubtedly significant for Russia. His entire life is shrouded in mysteries and various speculations, such as the supposed rise to the throne through patricide and his intentions to atone for this sin. In the last years of his reign, Alexander I indeed spoke of his desire to abdicate the throne and withdraw from worldly affairs. When news of the emperor's death from typhoid fever in Taganrog came in 1825, many did not believe it, suspecting that a double had been buried in his place. According to rumors, Alexander himself had gone to the Urals, where he lived for many years in the guise of a venerable elder named Fyodor Kuzmich.

He was born on May 26 (June 6), 1799, in Moscow, in the German Quarter. He died on January 29 (February 10), 1837, in St. Petersburg. His father, Sergey Lvovich Pushkin, came from an ancient noble family and was an amateur poet and a well-known wit in society. His mother, Nadezhda Osipovna, née Hannibal, was from the Hannibal family, the "Moor of Peter the Great."

He studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, a privileged educational institution for children of noble descent, who were expected to become state officials and high-ranking bureaucrats upon graduation.
Pushkin began writing poetry while still at the Lyceum; during his entrance examination, he read his poems to the elderly Derzhavin, moving him to tears.

Upon graduating from the Lyceum in 1817, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Collegiate Secretary. The bureaucratic job bored the young poet. During this time, he frequently visited the theater and became a member of the literary society "Arzamas" and the theatrical-literary community "The Green Lamp." He wrote "free-thinking" poems, for which he was exiled by Alexander I to the Caucasus, and in 1824 was granted permission to move to his own estate, Mikhailovskoye. In 1825, Pushkin's first collection of poems was published.

In 1831, he married the charming Moscow beauty Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova. The young couple settled in St. Petersburg. The Pushkins led a high-society life, attending balls and salons. Pushkin's fame grew, but his financial situation increasingly suffered due to the extravagant lifestyle beyond their means.

Due to high-society intrigues and rumors about his wife’s affair with Georges d'Anthès (a French national in Russian military service), a duel took place on January 27 (February 8), 1837, on the Black River, where d'Anthès wounded Pushkin. As a result of the injury, the poet died two days later in his apartment on the Moika River, surrounded by family and doctors.

After finishing school in 1964, the future Father Alexander worked for three years and then entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary under the administration of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad Diocese.
In February 1972, Metropolitan Nikodim ordained Reader Alexander as a deacon. On November 4, 1974, the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, Father Alexander was ordained a priest. He then graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy.

A defender of innovative trends, Vladimir Petrovich Apyshkov significantly influenced the development of architectural thought in the Soviet era with his monograph "Rationalism in Modern Architecture" (1905). Before 1917, there were other writers on architecture, but none could substantiate their theories with such convincing constructions. However, Apyshkov quickly distanced himself from the Art Nouveau style and did not engage in Constructivism, remaining a proponent of classicism until the end of his life. This is evident in the original additions to the ensemble of the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, including the sanatorium buildings of the 1930s.
Among his forward-looking endeavors, aside from the bridge towers, one should also mention the first Chaev mansion on Rentgen Street, 9, known for its bold diagonal layout. The subsequent house for the same client (on Malaya Nevka Embankment, 16) was built in a Neo-Greek style. Classicism is also evident in Apyshkov's designs for the War Department buildings on Parade Street.

The workshop also participated in competitions and developed conceptual designs that later formed the basis for projects at LeniNIIproject. The workshop had a small team of permanent employees. For each new project, teams of designers, architects, and engineers were assembled.

Some of the most significant projects designed at LeniNIIproject and in Vladimir Reppo's personal creative workshop include the underground vestibule of the "Primorskaya" metro station, the fire station on Dekabristov Street, the memorial to the cruiser "Kirov" on the Marine Embankment of Vasilievsky Island, and the memorial to the "Fortress Nienshants" near the Bolshoi Okhtinsky Bridge. Other notable projects include residential developments around Lake Dolgoe, such as blocks No. 28 and 34-a, and No. 19 and 20 north of Novoselov Street; a residential building at the "Zvezdnaya" metro station (LenSoveta Street, 88); buildings near the "Prospekt Bolshevikov" metro station; structures on Klochkov Lane, 6; buildings on Enthusiasts Avenue, 20–22; a residential building with a music school in block No. 39–40 north of the Mureinsky Stream; and a complex of retail pavilions near the "Ladozhskaya" and "Zvezdnaya" metro stations.

Vikentiy Ivanovich (Saveliy-Yosif-Antoniy) Beretti was born in Italy in 1781. He was the son of Giovanni Beretti, a professor of mechanics who moved to Russia in the 1780s. In 1798, Vikentiy entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he studied in the architectural class under the prominent architect Andrey Dmitriyevich Zakharov. He graduated from the Academy in 1804. He assisted Jean-François Thomas de Thomon with the construction of the Exchange Building at the Vasilievsky Island Spit. In 1809, for his design of the Land Cadet Corps, Vikentiy Beretti was awarded the title of Academician of Architecture. Some researchers believe that he was the architect of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, built at the Bольшеохтинское Cemetery between 1812 and 1814. From 1825, Vikentiy Ivanovich headed the Committee of City Buildings. There is evidence that Beretti was a member of the committee overseeing the construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral (Vikentiy Ivanovich himself even developed its competition project). In 1831, he became a professor of architecture at the Academy of Arts.

In the 1830s, Beretti participated in a competition for the best design of the Kyiv University of St. Vladimir. His work received the highest praise. Vikentiy Ivanovich was appointed the chief architect of the university, and in 1837 he was relieved of his duties as professor at the Academy of Arts and transferred to Kyiv. His subsequent activities were associated with this city. His son, Alexander Vikentievich, who also became an architect, assisted him.

Vikentiy Ivanovich passed away in 1842 and was buried at Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv.

Born in 1880 into the family of a poor peasant from Tver Province, Alexander Evstafyevich Gromov was one of 13 children. The family sent their children, who had completed primary school, to Petersburg or Moscow to learn a trade or become apprentices. From a young age, Gromov showed a talent for drawing. In the spring of 1893, he was brought to Petersburg and apprenticed for five years in the workshop of Vasily Ivanovich Zhilkin, a modeler.

From 1918 to 1922, he served in the Red Army. In 1924, he entered the molding workshop of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Born on October 19, 1942. In 1971, he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the I. E. Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. After graduating from the institute, he worked as the chief architect of Surgut, then as an architect at the Leningrad Research Institute of Experimental and Project Design (LenZNIIP). From 1976 to 1991, he worked as an architect at the Art Fund of the Union of Artists.

Architect Alexander Danilovich Levenkov was deeply concerned about the fate of his works and, along with sculptor Yevgeny Vasilyevich Chinyakov, regularly visited the monuments he created along the Road of Life to check their condition. The last time Levenkov visited the "Flower of Life" was in April 2007. Two years after his death, in July 2009, a memorial plaque was installed at the "Flower of Life" monument, next to a birch tree that he had once planted himself, in his memory.