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Birthday anniversary of Nikolai Chukmaldin, a Russian entrepreneur, philanthropist, educator and writer
Nikolai Chukmaldin was born on December 4 (16) (December 15 (27), according to other sources), 1836, in the village of Kulakovo, Tobolsk Province, in a family of Old Believers. He was an enthusiast of enlightenment, although he did not receive formal schooling and was mostly self-educated. His grammar teacher was the Old Believer Artemy Skripa. In Tyumen, he started as a salesman. Having shown his talent as an entrepreneur, he became a wealthy merchant, trading fabrics, tea, and wool. In the early 1860s, he was an active participant in the city society, which fostered education. The head of this society was K. N. Vysotskyan, an outstanding representative of Tyumen intelligentsia. Nikolai Chukmaldin devoted many pages of his works to this person.
Being a rich man, Nikolai Chukmaldin did not lose his democratic sympathies. He was interested in the fates of ordinary people, their social and moral problems. He was also a Siberian publicist: his articles were published in the Vestnik Promyshlennosti (Herald of Industry) (Moscow), Ural (Yekaterinburg), Tobolskie Gubernskie Vedomosti (Tobolsk Provincial News), Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti (St. Petersburg News) and many other publications. In his articles, Nikolai Chukmaldin wrote about the Siberian industry, crafts in Western Siberia, Siberian fairs. He actively cooperated with the Siberian Trade Chamber, which he supported financially. The newspaper published a number of his articles under the general title Letters from Moscow. In them, Nikolai Chukmaldin discussed economic, social and moral topics.
My Memoirs, the main work by Nikolai Chukmaldin, tells about the author's childhood, the features of country life, Siberian beliefs, legends, crafts and trade customs of Siberia. Talking about his commercial successes in connection with the "fair trade", the author emphasized that a Russian entrepreneur should have, first of all, moral features, including honesty and a sense of duty.
In Tyumen, Nikolai Chukmaldin was the organizer and one of the founders of several enterprises for the general welfare. He financially supported the Students Support Society, founded a free reading room. He was the initiator of the opening of the Salesmen Club. He also sponsored three annual awards for the best essays about Tyumen and Tyumen Region, held by the Tyumen Alexandrovsky Real School.
In the 1870s - 1880s, Nikolai Chukmaldin moved to Moscow but always remembered his native land. He became the founder of a museum at a Real School, having bought an extensive collection of local flora and fauna from I. Ya. Slovtsov and joined many rarities obtained during his travels around the world. The museum was the basis of the Tyumen Provincial Museum, then the Tyumen Regional Local History Museum (now Tyumen Museum and Educational Association). Nikolai Chukmaldin created a unique library of ancient manuscripts and early printed books in Tyumen. Some of these books are in the Rare Book Collection of the Tyumen Museum and Educational Association. Book rarities are manuscripts and early printed books: Postnaya Triod' (Triodion), published in Krakow by Sh. Fiol in 1493; the first printed book in the Slavic language, and others. The museum complex is the unique keeper of these books in the Urals and Siberia. The Bible by Francis Skaryna (Prague, 1519) has no analogues. Books from Chukmaldin's library have an ex-libris of the owner. Today, items of this collection are in the Tyumen Museum and Educational Association, the Tyumen Regional Scientific Library and the Library and Museum Complex of Tyumen State University.
Nikolai Chukmaldin always took care of his native village Kulakovo, helped the peasants. He built the St. Nicholas Church, which was designed as an ancient temple with its symbols, a school and a peasant carpenter's workshop. He financed the creation of a large beautiful park. Nikolai Chukmaldin took part in the discussion on the construction of the Siberian Railway, supported the exploration of the Northern Sea Route, and travelled a lot. The result of his travels was the books of essays: Travel Sketches of the Caucasus, Travel Sketches of Palestine and Egypt, A trip to the Belaya Gora with geographical, historical and ethnographic information.
Nikolai Chukmaldin died on April 15 (28), 1901, in Berlin, where he was treated. According to his will, he was buried in his native village of Kulakovo in a special crypt at the St. Nicholas Church. St. Nicholas Church was restored and opened in 2006.
In 2010, Tyumen State University held the first Chukmaldin Readings. Leading Tyumen scientists presented research on the life and career of Nikolai Chukmaldin. In the same year, Tyumen authorities opened Nikolai Chukmaldin Boulevard, where they solemnly unveiled a monument to the patron and educator in 2014.
Lit.: Белов С. История крестьянского сына // Сибирское богатство. 2011. № 8. С. 58–62; Беспалова Л. Книги суть реки, наполняющие вселенную // Врата Сибири. 2007. № 1 (21). С. 231–237; Беспалова Л. Г. Чукмалдин Николай Мартемьянович // Большая Тюменская энциклопедия. Тюмень, 2004. Т. 3: Р–Я. С. 401–402; Вторые Чукмалдинские чтения: книга как памятник культуры: тезисы научно-практической конференции (Тюмень, 23-24 ноября 2011 г.) / Тюменский государственный университет. Тюмень, 2011; Дубовская Е. Николай Чукмалдин: меценат, писатель, коммерсант // National Business. 2015. № 9 (сентябрь). С. 90–91; Карпухин В. И. У истоков Тюменского музея // Сибирский исторический журнал. 2002. № 1. С. 119–125; Кубочкин С. Н. "Много ли найдется таких людей на всем великом лице России?" // Лукич. 2001. № 4. С. 42–50; Мандрика Ю. Л. О московском периоде Чукмалдина // Лукич. 2001. № 4. С. 3–17, 216; Седов Л. На родине Н. М. Чукмалдина // Лукич. 1999. № 5. С. 150–159; Темплинг В. Я. Н. М. Чукмалдин и тюменское старообрядчество // Лукич. 2003. № 2. С. 184–190; Чукмалдин: [воспоминания, переписка, исследования] / сост.: А. Л. Вычугжанин, А. Г. Еманов. Тюмень, 2011; Чукмалдин Н. М. Записка о плавании по реке Туре пароходов и о направлении предполагаемой железной дороги // Лукич. 2001. № 4. С. 51–73; Чукмалдин Н. М. Значение для Сибири морского пути (Доклад особому совещанию при департаменте торговли и мануфактур министерства финансов) // Лукич. 2001. № 4. С. 124–129; Чукмалдин Н. М. Из Тюмени // Тобольские губернские ведомости. Сотрудники и авторы: антология тобольской журналистики конца XIX–начала XX в. / сост.: Ю. Л. Мандрика. Тюмень, 2004. Кн. 2. С. 143–148; Чукмалдин Н. М. Письма из Москвы и Нижегородской ярмарки // Лукич. 2001. № 4. С. 94–123; Чукмалдинские чтения. Библиофильские интересы российской провинции: тезисы научно-практической конференции (24–25 ноября 2010 г., Тюмень) / Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации, Тюменский государственный университет. Информационно-библиотечный центр; ред. А. Г. Еманов. Тюмень, 2010; Четвёртые Чукмалдинские чтения. Благотворители, книголюбы, библиотекари, читатели: материалы научно-практической конференции / Тюменский государственный университет, Информационно-библиотечный центр; ред. А. Г. Еманов. Тюмень, 2013; Чупин В. А. Книги из собрания Чукмалдина // Лукич. 2001. № 4. С. 18–41.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Чукмалдин Н. М. Записки о моей жизни. М., 1902
Создан Тюменский губернский музей // «День в истории». 16 июля
The article is prepared by the Tyumen Branch of the Presidential Library