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Birth of Agustin de Betancourt y Molina, Spanish and Russian Scientist, Engineer, Statesman
Agustin de Betancourt (born Agustín José Pedro del Carmen Domingo de Candelaria de Betancourt y Molina) was born on February 1, 1758 in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife Island, Spain. He is a direct descendant of Jean de Béthencourt, who discovered the archipelago of the Canary Islands in 1402.
He received his first education at the Royal Educational Institution of St. Isidore and the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando (1780-1781) in Madrid. Then, he studied mechanics, building sciences and architecture in Paris, London and other European cities (1787-1788). After returning to Spain in 1788, he was appointed director of the Royal Cabinet of Machines in Madrid. He proved himself well in the service, and was sent by the government to France, England, Germany and the Netherlands to learn about new discoveries and to review various canal navigation systems, steam engines and everything related to mechanics.
In 1797, at the behest of King Charles IV of Spain, Betancourt was again sent to London to study machines adapted to the drying of gold and silver mines. In 1798, he supervised the construction of Spain's first optical telegraph between Madrid and Cadiz. In 1800, he was appointed Inspector General of the Spanish Corps of Communication Routes created by him, as well as all roads and bridges. Since 1803, he served as Chief Quartermaster of the Spanish Army, member of the Royal Supreme Council. In 1807, he left Spain and settled in Paris, where he published the first scientific work on the theory of machines and mechanisms, The Course of Building Machines.
In 1808, he was accepted into the Russian service with the rank of Major General and enlisted in His Majesty's retinue. In 1809, he was appointed head of the Russian Corps of Railway Engineers and rector of the first higher transport educational institution in Russia, the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, which he headed until the end of his life. In addition to managing the economic and educational part, due to the lack of professors, he also lectured on engineering. In 1816, he headed the Committee of Buildings and Hydraulic Works in St. Petersburg, and in 1819 – The Main Directorate of Railways.
During his service in Russia, Agustin de Betancourt proved himself not only as a talented inventor, but also as an organizer of engineering works. The projects carried out under the leadership of Betancourt include equipment of the Tula Arms Factory with steam engines created according to his drawings; construction of a new cannon foundry in Kazan and Gostiny Dvor for the Nizhny Novgorod Fair; work on cleaning and deepening the bottom of the port in Kronstadt; construction of a canal between the Izhora Plant and St. Petersburg, as well as the Taytsy water supply that provided water to Tsarskoye Selo; development of plans for the reconstruction of the Vyshny Volochyok, Tikhvin and Mariinsky water systems, etc.
At the head of the Committee of Buildings and Hydraulic Works in St. Petersburg, Agustin de Betancourt, together with a number of outstanding architects (K. Rossi, A. Mauduit, V. P. Stasov, A. A. Mikhailov), supervised the reconstruction of Palace and Senate Squares, the creation of Suvorov and Rumyantsev Squares, as well as the ensemble of Ostrovsky Square and Architect Rossi Street. In 1820, the first detailed topographic plan of St. Petersburg was prepared, which for many years became the basis for the layout of streets, squares and buildings in the Russian capital.
In 1816, Agustin de Betancourt recommended the young architect O. Montferrand to work on the project of rebuilding St. Isaac's Cathedral. Technical solutions developed by Betancourt were used in the construction of the cathedral foundation and the installation of columns. Subsequently, on their basis, O. Montferrand developed a system of mechanisms, with the help of which the Alexander Column was installed on Palace Square in 1832.
Under the leadership of Agustin de Betancourt, cast-iron bridges were built in St. Petersburg: Panteleymonovsky, Engineer, Garden, Theater, Stable, as well as bridges over the Swan Canal. The Kamennoostrovsky Bridge, built across the Little Nevka River, served for 48 years – the first seven-span wooden arch bridge in Russia.
In 1818-1822, Agustin de Betancourt led the work on the creation of the first highway in Russia (St. Petersburg – Novgorod – Moscow). The first stagecoaches set off in the autumn of 1820. The road between the two capitals took four days with stops in Novgorod, Vyshny Volochok and Tver. Specialists of the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, who developed the highway project, for the first time solved a number of new engineering tasks, including the construction of an earthen bed in swamps, drainage of swamps, the construction of permanent bridges, etc.
Agustin de Betancourt died on July 14 (26), 1824 in St. Petersburg. He was buried at the Smolensky Lutheran Cemetery. In 1979, the ashes were reburied in the Necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Lit.: Бетанкур Августин Августинович // Большая российская энциклопедия; Бетанкур Августин Августинович // Русский биографический словарь А. А. Половцова: в 25 томах. Т. 3. СПб.–М., 1908. С. 1–2; Боголюбов А. Н., Павлов В. Е., Филатов Н. Ф. Бетанкур: Учёный, инженер, архитектор, градостроитель. Н. Новгород, 2002.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Saint Isaac's Cathedral: [digital collection];
Bridges of St. Petersburg: [digital collection];
РГИА Ф. 497 Оп. 1 Д. 1739. Переписка по сношению господина вице-директора Тюфякина с господином генерал-лейтенантом Бетанкуром относительно постройки Нового театра (Available in the Electronic Reading Room).