History and Culture: International exhibition of archival documents "The First Demidovs. The Birth of the Mining Empire" launched in Yekaterinburg

The Museum of Architecture and Design of the Ural University of Architecture and Art launched an international exhibition of archival documents "The First Demidovs. The Birth of the Mining Empire" in Yekaterinburg. It covers the period from 1702 to 1744.

The exposition presents a small part of more than seven thousand archival documents related to the Demidovs - the richest family of plant and landowners, founders of arms and mining enterprises in Tula and the Urals. Archivists have been preparing this selection of documents since 2018.

The exзposition features 28 documents presented for the first time, including ten originals. One of the documents was provided by the National Archives of France. The report by the French consul in St. Petersburg in 1725 to Paris informs about the successes of the Siberian factories and mentions Wilhelm de Gennin.

The origins of the Demidov family are from the XVII century. During the reign of Peter I, by the emperor's decree, they built factories, created arms and mining enterprises. The Demidovs are the founders of many Ural cities; they contributed much to the development of the Ural land. For several generations, this family had been well-known throughout Europe. Its representatives corresponded with the French philosopher Voltaire and the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus; discussed the concept of the Red Cross with its founder, Henri Dunant; had close family ties with Napoleon Bonaparte.