Birthday anniversary of Georg Wilhelm de Gennin (Vilim Ivanovich de Gennin), metallurgist, engineer, lieutenant general, organizer of mining and metallurgical industry in Russia

Georg Wilhelm de Gennin was born on October 11 (21), 1676, in Nassau-Siegen (Germany), or, according to other sources - in Utrecht (Holland). In 1698, he was enlisted in the Russian army as an artillery officer. In 1712, he headed and completed the construction of the Liteiny Dvor in St. Petersburg.

From September 1713 to 1724, Georg Wilhelm de Gennin was the commandant of the Olonets district and the head of the Olonets mining plants: Petrovsky, Povenetsky, Konchezersky, etc. The Petrovsky iron-making, cannon and arms plant was founded in 1703 by Peter I's associate Alexander Menshikov, Governor-General of Ingermanland. Under Gennin's leadership, it became one of the leading enterprises in the country. September 19, 1720, Georg Wilhelm de Gennin wrote to General-Admiral Apraksin: "...And now we are building machines. The first press will make and stamp tinplate; the second machine will drill gun tubes with water and without people; the third will polish the guns; the fourth will make steel <...> the fifth will weld anchors with the help of water, as your tsar's majesty intended. We also will use water to launch bellows without human forces. It demanded a lot of workers before. And we will make that whole building as soon as possible...".

After studying the mining and metallurgical industry in Western Europe, Georg Wilhelm de Gennin improved the production technology at the Petrovsky plant. He increased the output and improved the quality of cannons, cannonballs, weapons and ship equipment. He invented a water-accumulator drilling machine that drilled three gun tubes at the same time. The plant mastered the technology of casting thin-walled ship guns. For the first time in Russia, they began producing large anchors of 180-200 pounds. The Petrovsky Plant annually supplied the army and navy with up to 300 guns of various calibres, 5–6 thousand rifles, up to 3 thousand swords, a large number of cannonballs and anchors. By order of Peter I, high-quality Olonets-made rifles were distributed only to the Guards regiments. During the Northern War, the Petrovsky Plant under the leadership of Georg Wilhelm de Gennin contributed much to the victory of Russia over Sweden. It ensured a constant procurement of guns and shells for the Russian army and navy.

In 1719, Peter I visited the Petrovsky Plant for the first time. Marking this event, Georg Wilhelm de Gennin ordered to cast a cannon with the inscription "OLONEZ 1719", which is now in the collection of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps in St. Petersburg. In the same year, Georg Wilhelm de Gennin received a prize enamel portrait of Peter I, decorated with precious stones.

In 1716, at the Petrovsky Plant, Georg Wilhelm de Gennin established and headed the Olonets Mining School for Poor Noble Children - the only technical school in Russia for training metallurgical specialists and the first professional school in Karelia. Twenty poor noble children from St. Petersburg studied arithmetic, geometry, artillery and engineering. The school worked for over 35 years and graduated over 200 specialists.

In 1722, Peter I appointed Georg Wilhelm de Gennin the head of the Ural Mining Plants. He launched the reconstruction of old factories and the construction of new ones. Among them was the largest Yekaterinburg Metallurgical Plant.

Georg Wilhelm de Gennin is the author of the book Description of the Ural and Siberian Plants, which was a guide for the work of a whole generation of metallurgists.

Georg Wilhelm de Gennin died in St. Petersburg in 1750.

On July 13, 1995, a memorial plaque to Georg Wilhelm de Gennin was solemnly unveiled, commemorating the outstanding Dutch metallurgist. It was erected in the Petrozavodsk tourist complex Karelia. It is located on the territory of the former Petrovsky Plant, which gave rise to the city of Petrozavodsk. The memorial sign has an inscription: "Georg Wilhelm de Gennin is an outstanding Dutch metallurgist. He led the Petrovsky factories in 1713–1721". The author of the plaque is Y. Moshnikov, blacksmith of the Onega Tractor Plant in Petrozavodsk.

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The article is prepared by the National Library of the Republic of Karelia