Vereshchagin milk. Family archive. Books that shaped my inner world
VERESHCHAGINA-ROZANOVA N.V.(1900-1956)
F. CHOPIN. Waltz 7. Polonaise.
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HOPE FOR YOU. VERESHCHAGIN-ROZANOVA (1900-1956) - artist
Rozanova- after the name of his father, philosopher V.V. Rozanova. Vereshchagina- by the name of the 1st husband, whom she divorced in 1936. 2nd marriage - with artist M.K. Sokolov was registered in 1947 on the eve of his death.
N.M. Mikhailova. Preface by the compiler.
Publication date: 21.04. 2014 War in Ukraine.
The artistic heritage of Nadezhda Vasilyevna consists of hundreds of amazing illustrations for the works of F.M. Dostoevsky, C. Dickens, L.N. Tolstoy, to the biblical book “Ruth”, etc. During her lifetime, several drawings were acquired by literary museums (for example, the F.M. Dostoevsky Museum in Moscow), but basically her work remained unknown. Folders with her drawings were kept in Moscow in the house of her friend E.D. Tannenberg, where the artist lived because she did not have her own home. The remaining works of her husband, the artist M.K., were also kept there. Sokolov, and his archive. After the death of Nadezhda Vasilyevna in 1956, E.D. became the custodian of the legacy of the two artists. Tannenberg.
Folders with drawings by N.V. Vereshchagina and M.K. Sokolov in the secretary, in the Flerov-Tannenberg house on Likhov Lane. There is an illustration in the frame. to the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm". Photo 1975
Elena Dmitrievna died in 1985, without leaving any instructions regarding the collection she kept. Therefore, immediately after her death, there was a threat that the entire collection would be stolen and sold, that it would fall into the private (and greedy) hands of collectors. In order to save it, I considered my main task to be to place everything in state storage, that is, in some museum. But not a single Moscow museum gave consent to this. The proposal to take the entire collection of works by M.K. Sokolov (oil and graphics) for storage in the Yaroslavl Museum came from an employee of this museum, N.P. Golenkevich, who was familiar with E.D. Tannenberg because I had been collecting his work for a long time. I remember how she and I spent the entire day until night writing an Inventory of the drawings of Vereshchagina and Sokolov, packing them in folders, wrapping the frames with Sokolov’s paintings, and drawing up an Act for temporary storage. And then they convinced Elena Dmitrievna’s sister, Tatyana Dmitrievna, her only heir, to donate everything to the Museum. And she agreed.
Thus, everything that was kept in the house was N.V.’s drawings and documents. Vereshchagina, her Memories of her father, V. Rozanov; drawings, letters and paintings by M.K. Sokolov and even portraits of E.D.’s ancestors. Tannenberg - everything was transferred for permanent storage to YAHM. Then it seemed natural to me, both because Sokolov was a native of Yaroslavl, and because some of his paintings by E.D. Tanneberg donated it to this museum a long time ago. True, she conveyed with a mandatory condition is that a permanent hall for M.K.’s work will be allocated at the YAKhM. Sokolova(which I was not aware of). However, YAHM did not fulfill this condition either during her lifetime or until now (2014) and there is no hope that it will fulfill it. It turns out that there is no room for such a hall in the museum.
What can we say about the unknown Nadezhda Vasilyevna. She had nothing to do with Yaroslavl, and her works ended up in this Museum quite by accident, along with the legacy of M.K. Sokolova. For her, her hometown was Leningrad (St. Petersburg), where she was born and lived as a child with her parents, then Sergiev Posad became her hometown, where her father, mother and brother died and were buried, and where her older sister Tatyana lived. If not native, then still close, was Moscow, where she lived the last years of her life and where she was buried at the Pyatnitskoye cemetery not far from the grave of her friend, teacher and husband, M.K. Sokolov, whose life and work were also inextricably linked with Moscow, his Old Moscow.
Both artists, both during life and after death, turned out to be unlucky. Now M.K. Art historians interpret Sokolov as a self-taught man, “the son of a cooper” and “one of the artists of Yaroslavl” - if only he had known about such a fate! And almost no one knows about Nadezhda Vasilyevna Vereshchagina - no exhibitions, no catalogues, nothing! She, poor thing, if she is known, is either as the daughter of the famous philosopher V. Rozanov, or as a close friend of the artist Sokolov.
Almost all 30 (thirty!!!) years. Over the years, through the enormous works of art critic N.P. Golenkevich organized dozens of exhibitions by M.K. Sokolov in different cities (including the Tretyakov Gallery). But before the demonstration of N.V.’s drawings. Vereshchagina-Rozanova never got around to it. Moreover, during this time the typescript with her Memories of her father, V.V. Rozanov.
When the “Art Gallery” section appeared on the domarchive website, first of all, I wanted to realize the dream of my dear Elena Dmitrievna - to arrange permanent halls for M.K. Sokolov and her friend N.V. Vereshchagina. But if reproductions of Sokolov’s paintings and drawings were found in catalogs and on the Internet, then with drawings by N.V. Vereshchagina, one might say, nothing worked out for me. At one time, I could have re-shot them in Elena Dmitrievna’s house, but I didn’t. What was left to do? Out of old memory, I turned to Nina Pavlovna Golenkevich, who is in charge of the N.V. Foundation. Vereshchagina. I asked her to scan and send me at least a few drawings. I especially wanted to show visitors its amazing series based on the book of Ruth.
At the same time, she asked her that YAKhM take under its care the graves of artists M.K. Sokolov and N.V. Vereshchagina-Rozanova at the Pyatnitskoye cemetery. Those people who once looked after them have either died or are sick, and neglected graves in our time can be seized. But nothing came of my idea: they didn’t send me any pictures, and they didn’t take care of the graves. That's why in hall N.V. Vereshchagina I was only able to hang 6 drawings, and even then they were all photocopies. Sometimes I still hope that I will receive what was promised from Yaroslavl. But hope is weak. I can only blame myself for the fact that then, in 1985, with my own hands I gave Nadezhda Vasilievna’s artistic legacy to the YAKhM instead of trying to arrange it somewhere in Moscow. Or at least re-shoot them at the same time. I also regret that I gave it away to “Memories.” I read them, but, of course, I no longer remember and cannot cite excerpts from them.
This page contains documents kindly sent to me by N.P. Golenkevich (for which I am very grateful to her): 1) biographical information about N.V. Vereshchagina (with my additions); 2) a list of series of her drawings and 3) two photographs of her. Other photos were found on the Internet or taken from my personal archive. Links are also provided on the biography of M.K. Sokolova , whose letters to Nadezhda Vasilyevna from 1943 to 1947, reprinted by her for public reading, give an idea of both herself and her work.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. Compiled by N.P. Golenkevich based on materials from the Scientific Archive of Yaroslavl Art. Museum (NA YAHM) F. 43 Op.1 D. 43-58.
Father- philosopher and publicist V. V. Rozanov (1856 - 1919).
Mother- Varvara Dmitry. (18 -1923, nee Rudneva, in Bityugov’s first marriage). Sisters: Tatiana, Varvara, Vera.
Husband 1st–A.S. Vereshchagin. Husband 2 – artist M.K. Sokolov.
Elder sister of N.V. Vereshchagina, Tatyana Vasilievna Rozanova, lived almost all her life in Zagorsk. She was close to the doctor MM. Melentyev, whose Memoirs preserved their correspondence. The letters are shown on the next page as they give an idea of the circle of acquaintances of both sisters in the 1940s and 50s.
1908-1918 – studied at a private gymnasium M.N. Stoyunina (St. Petersburg)
1918 – came to her parents in Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk), where the family moved in 1917 on the advice of her father Pavel Florensky. IN 1919 – death of father V.V. Rozanova
1920 – 1922 – graduated Pedagogical College in Sergiev Posad (out-of-school department). In 1922 she married A.S. Vereshchagina, a student at the Military Electro-Academy and, in connection with the transfer of her husband, moved to Leningrad
1924-1925 – studied at the Leningrad Institute of Art History in the literature department. In 1925– moved with her husband to Moscow, studied in various art clubs
1929
– participated in the 2nd All-Union Exhibition of OHS(Association of self-taught artists. Cm. Association of Artists of the Revolution. Art to the masses. M., 1929. P.93 The catalog states: “Housewife. Self-taught experience 6 years.” Address: Moscow, Sokolniki B. Olenya, 9 apt. 3)
1929-1932 – studied in the studio thin Leblanc and in the technical school at the Fine Arts Institute. Left the 3rd year (certificate No. 97 dated February 4, 1932, stating that N.V. Vereshchagina is a 3rd year student)
1930 — 1934 – performing artist at the State Musical Theater named after. V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko (Moscow, Bolshaya Dmitrovka St.). (three certificates from the State Musical Theater named after V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko)
1934 8.09 — 23.11.1935 – artist of the 5th studio at the film factory "Mosfilm"(Moscow, Potylikha St., 54). At the same time, she worked “for herself” as an illustrator.
1936 – separated from her husband and moved to Leningrad.
Beginning of correspondence with M.K. Sokolov. In 1938 - his arrest and exile. The correspondence continued throughout the years until his death.
1936 — 22.04.1941 - background artist film studio "Lenfilm"(cartoon studio). In April 1941 she was sent by the studio to work in Moscow.
From June 26, 1941 to February 14, 1951, artist at the Soyuzmultfilm film studio (together with E.D. Tannenberg). There is a list of films from 1934 to 1950 ( cm . ON YAHM F.43)
Since 1941 he has been working on illustrations for the works of A.S. Pushkin. In 1944 - illustrated by Fedina for Goslit (they were taken out of print).
1945 15. 06 – accepted as a member of the graphic section of the Moscow Union of Artists(on recommendation thin D. A. Shmarinova (1907-1999)). From 1945 to 1949– drawings by N.V. acquired by: State. Lit. Museum (Moscow) and the Institute of Literature at the USSR Academy of Sciences (Leningrad).
1947 – registration of marriage with artist. M.K. Sokolov. His move from Rybinsk to Moscow, exacerbation of the disease (cancer). Sokolov bequeaths N.V. Vereshchagina-Rozanova to preserve his legacy. After his death on September 19. 1947 Nadezhda Vasilyevna, until her death, puts in order his entire archive, including,
1948 – heart disease. N.V. received 2nd disability group
1950-1951 — illustrations for the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Humiliated and Insulted" - accepted for publication.
1955 (opened July 15) - participation in the “5th exhibition works of book artists» MOA (House of Artists. Kuznetsky Most, 20)
1956 - Died on July 15, 1956 in Moscow. She was buried at the Pyatnitskoye cemetery next to the grave of her aunt, in whose house N.V. lived in recent years.
EXHIBITIONS during his lifetime:
1929 - participated in " 2nd All-Union Exhibition of OHS(Association of self-taught artists - see Association of Artists of the Revolution. Art to the Masses. M., 1929. P.93). see Catalog. page.93: 73. Mother of freaks. Mascara; 74. Burning of a witch. Mascara; 75. Execution of revolutionaries. Mascara; 76.Scene from the French Revolution. Mascara
1955 (opened 15.07.)— Participated in "5th exhibition works of artists books" Moscow Union of Soviet Artists (house of artists. Kuznetsky Most, 20)
POSTHEATH (arranged through the efforts of E.D. Tannenberg, who kept almost all of Nadezhda Vasilievna’s works):
26.03. 1957- 04/06/1957 - Personal exhibition at the Central House of Writers
(Moscow, Vorovskogo street. See Invitation card)
18.05.1959-2.06.1959 — Personal exhibition in the Central House of Artists (catalog published)
January 23, 1961–open personal exhibition “Dostoevsky in illustrations by N.V. Vereshchagina." State Literary Museum-Apartment of F.M. Dostoevsky (Moscow). Messages from art critics – S.N.Druzhinin, N.N.Tretyakov
December 18, 1969 — Group exhibition from private collections: N.V. Vereshchagina, D.B. Daran, A.F. Sofronova. Moscow organization of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR - Club of Fine Arts Collectors
From the memoirs of E.D. Tannenberg (no date):“Great significance for the pre-war fate of N.V. Vereshchagina as an artist had her acquaintance with M.K. Sokolov, a famous graphic artist and painter. There is no doubt that Sokolov gave Nadezhda Vasilievna a lot in understanding the language of graphic art, its specifics, and introduced her to the range of issues related to this difficult, subtle and high art.” — AT YAHM F. 43.Op.1, D.52.L.8
List of museums where works by N.V. are located Vereshchagina-Rozanova (see F. 43)
DRAWINGS N.V. VERESCHAGINA-ROZANOVA
N.V. Rozanova. Florence and Paul. Ill. to the novel by Charles Dickens “Dombey and Son”. 1943
FLORENCE and PAUL. Ill. to the novel by Charles Dickens
"Dombey and Son". 1943
N.V. Vereshchagin-Rozanov. Katerina. Ill. to the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm". 1947
N.V. Vereshchagin-Rozanov. KATERINA.
Ill. to the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" 1946-1954
N.V. Vereshchagin-Rozanov. Ill. to the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "White Nights". 1950
"White Nights" 1947-1948
N.V. Vereshchagin-Rozanov. Ill. to the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky. "White Nights"
N.V. Vereshchagin-Rozanov. Ill. to the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky"White Nights" 1947-1948
N.V. Vereshchagin. NOT POINT. Ill. to the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky. "Netochka Nezvanova." Chuvash Hood. Museum
N.V. Vereshchagin-Rozanov. NOT POINT.
Ill. to the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky. Rice. 1950-1955
N.V. INEreshchagin-Rozanov. Ill. to the novel
F.M. Dostoevsky “Humiliated and Insulted” 1950s
SERIES OF DRAWINGS N.V. VERESHCHAGINA-ROZANOVA (1900-1956)
(compiled by N.P. Golenkevich. Yaroslavl. Art Museum)
Illustrations for the works of Charles Dickens
"Dombey and Son". 1943 and “Antiquities Shop” 1940s
Illustrations for the play by A.N. Ostrovsky"Thunderstorm" 1946-1954
Illustrations for novels by F.M. Dostoevsky
"White Nights" 1947-1948
“Netochka Nezvanova” 1950-1955
“Humiliated and Offended” 1950s
Illustrations for H. H. Andersen"The Snow Queen" Series 1950s
From the series “Eastern Legends”.
Bible. Book of Genesis and Book of Ruth 1950s
Illustrations for the works of A.S. Pushkin
"The Stone Guest" Beginning 1950s; “Feast in Time of Plague” - 1951
Illustrations for the works of L.N. Tolstoy
“Anna Karenina, “Family Happiness” 1947; "Lucerne" 1952,
(This is the main list, but there is also Blok, Fedin and other authors)
Note by N.M. On the next page, as an appendix, information is provided about the family in which Nadezhda Vasilievna and her sisters were born and raised. Their lives were strongly influenced not only by their father, V. Rozanov, but also by everyone around him. And it was very, very diverse in religious and political views. These were people of that famous pre-revolutionary Silver Age, which laymen like me cannot understand. In search of information about two sisters, Tatyana and Nadezhda Rozanov, very interesting “Memoirs” were found on the Internet doctor M.M. Melentyeva. They contain letters from Tatyana Vasilievna to M. Melentyev and him to her for the years 1943-1955. They give an idea both of the circle of people with whom the sisters were closely acquainted, and of the everyday environment in which their lives took place. The following page contains excerpts from this book, the full text of which (700 pages) can be easily found on the Internet.
MM. Melentyev, art. V. Switalsky and T.V. Rozanova
Nikolai Vasilievich Vereshchagin(1839 – 1907) - Russian public figure, creator of a new branch of the Russian national economy “butter and cheese making”, initiator of peasant “artel butter making”, which grew into the largest cooperative movement in Russia.
The elder brother of the artist V.V. Vereshchagin.
Biography
Born in the city of Cherepovets, which was then part of the Novgorod province. From hereditary nobles. Brother of the artist Vasily Vereshchagin. Graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps (1856), took part in combat operations during the siege of Kronstadt (1855); as a volunteer, being a naval officer, he attended lectures at St. Petersburg University. In 1861 he retired as a midshipman with promotion to lieutenant. In 1861-1866 he was a candidate for peace mediator of the Cherepovets district; was involved in the introduction of Charters with the beginning of the Great Reform.
On March 13, 1907, Nikolai Vasilyevich died on his family estate Pertovka, surrounded by the attention of his family. At the funeral meeting of the Moscow Union of Artists, Prince G.G. Gagarin spoke: “I have always been amazed at Nikolai Vasilyevich’s deep love for his chosen activity and his sincere desire to help his neighbor in this area. I bow before this altruism and love, since I am firmly convinced that it is not personal interests, not even broad scientific knowledge and works that move the intended work forward, but the main force in all fields of man is love.”
Corresponding member of the Free Economic Society (VEO) since 1861, full member since 1870. Member of the Cattle Breeding Committee of the Moscow Society of Agriculture (MOSKH), since 1884 chairman of this committee, and since 1883 honorary member of the MOSH.
For his services “in the establishment and spread of peasant cheese making” he was awarded the Order of St. Anna, III degree (1869) and gold medals of the Moscow Union of Artists and the VEO (1869, 1870).
Cheese and butter making
From 1865 he studied cheese making in Switzerland, Germany, and then in Denmark and England. Vereshchagin twice spoke in detail about his motivation to devote himself to the development of the dairy business in biographical sketches. [i] ** In 1866, with funds from VEO, he opened the first artel peasant cheese factory in Russia in the village of Otrokovichi, Tver district, founded an artel in the neighboring village of Vidogoshchi, then, using loans from the zemstvo and VEO, several more near Tver and near Rybinsk (together with V.I. .Blandov). Swiss and Dutch cheese were prepared there. ** In the next decade, he established the production of English Chester cheese (cheddar) at his own cheese factories in the villages of Kudryavtsevo and Gainovo, Korchevsky district, in Stary Selo, Cherepovets district; received the highest awards for it at international exhibitions in Great Britain in 1878, 1879, 1880 and in Russia, and then mastered the production of French cheeses and “Normandy butter” (together with A.I. Timireva-Muromtseva).
In cases of loss of livestock, marriage or fire, Vereshchagin helped the artels, attracting additional loans, his personal funds, donations from private individuals, including Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, Tver landowners A.N. Tolstoy, S.I. Volkov, M.M. .Oknova, which, however, did not save a number of artels from collapse at the first stage of the artel movement. In practice, the artel idea took root only two decades later, when peasants became accustomed to supplying milk together to private dairies and cheese factories for a fixed fee. Note that Vereshchagin was not a theorist of cooperation; his idea was to give the peasant additional income on his personal farm and stimulate the development of dairy farming.
He participated together with the “prince-cooperator” A.I. Vasilchikov in the establishment of savings and loan partnerships (since 1871) and the development of short-term credit in the country. Credit and consumer cooperation attracted millions of people at the beginning of the twentieth century.
In 1869, in Moscow, he opened a workshop for the production of special tinned milk utensils, as well as devices and equipment for cheese making. By 1895, the workshop's products had received fourteen gold and silver medals at exhibitions in Russia and abroad.
Vasily Vasilievich Vereshchagin
Nikolai Vasilievich Vereshchagin(-) - Russian public figure, educator, practical rural owner. Known as the “father of Vologda butter” (which during Vereshchagin’s lifetime was called “Paris butter”). The creator of the first Russian cheese-making and butter-making cooperatives, technologies for the production and delivery of butter. The elder brother of the artist V.V. Vereshchagin.
Biography
Rural artels
Vereshchagin became interested in cheese making, but did not find any competent technologists, and personally studied the craft in Switzerland. In Russia, Vereshchagin settled in the village. Gorrodnya of the Tver province, establishing his own cheese production there. At the same time, Vereshchagin turned to the Free Economic Society with a proposal to establish artel cheese factories. Having convinced the Society and received a thousand rubles for his project, he launched an exemplary Ostrokovichi artel in the Tver province. Having received the support of the northern zemstvos, he established butter and cheese-making artels in the northern provinces; in the Arkhangelsk province, where there was no zemstvo, he found private capital. To organize artels, Vereshchagin attracted partners - former sailors G. A. Biryulev and V. I. Blandov (future oil producer).
Arriving in Switzerland and getting to the cheese factory, I could not understand why so many people brought milk there; It seemed to me that cheese making was possible only among large landowners. The answer was that peasants carry milk. Who buys milk from them, was my question? They are not so stupid as to sell milk, the cheese maker answered me. The cheese factory is run by a Committee that hires a cheese maker, sells cheeses, etc. - Autobiography
Vereshchagin was motivated by a simple calculation: since non-chernozem lands are less fertile than in the south, livestock products are no less important here than arable farming. At the same time, the majority of peasants did not have the means to pay for equipment on their own, and grew up in conditions of communal organization of agriculture. Therefore, Vereshchagin reasoned, it was the cooperative (artel) form of organization that could lead the northern peasantry from subsistence farming to commodity farming. Peasants were asked to take out loans to purchase equipment, supply the artel with contributions in kind - milk, produce cheese, and divide the proceeds in proportion to the milk donated.
In practice, this idea of Vereshchagin (like many zemstvo initiatives of the 1860s) failed. In the same Tver province, out of 14 artels established in the artels, 11 were dissolved. Literal adherence to the communal principle united in artels not individual interested peasants, but all members of the community without exception. Zemstvos deliberately prevented the concentration of artel resources in the hands of the “kulaks”, imposing on the artels not economic, but social tasks - keeping the poor peasantry on the land. As a result, the blurred mass of “artel workers” consumed the loans received, and the equipment sooner or later passed into the hands of rural entrepreneurs - “kulaks,” nobles and merchants. The artel business began to work in earnest only when the merchant houses that had risen to their feet (Blandov and Sons, etc.) seized the initiative and began to personally manage the rural artels.
Vologda oil
When I began my work in 1865, we were producing one ghee, which domestic consumption and export (to Turkey and Egypt about 250,000 poods per year) did not exceed a total of 10,000,000 rubles. They prepared a small amount of so-called Chukhon or sour cream butter, and there was so little butter that Moscow, for example, had no more than 1,000 poods of it per year, and St. Petersburg, if a few or more, then this butter was delivered from Finland. Of the cheeses, we produced one Swiss cheese and very small quantities of green and Limburg cheese. Therefore, the feeding of dairy cows was very meager, the profitability from them was small, and the quantity and quality of fertilizer did not encourage the work of landowners. I had to do a lot of work: 1) get used to processing milk together, 2) provide proper utensils, 3) introduce production of all types of butter and cheese, 4) organize their sales on domestic markets and abroad, 5) introduce control and determination of quality milk, 6) prove the suitability of the Russian dairy cow for processing enhanced feed and pay for these feeds and improve care, 7) widely disseminate all acquired knowledge in Russia. - Letter to Nicholas II, 1901
Vereshchagin School
Opening a school was not given to me for a long time, despite the energetic support provided to me by the Imperial Free Economic Society and especially by Professor Mendeleev, who toured with me all the existing artel cheese factories. Despite the fact that he confirmed all my views on the possibility of widespread development of dairy farming in our country, despite the fact that the Ministry of State Property presented the school project, the establishment of the school did not meet with support from the Ministry of Finance and Control for two whole years. Finally, having lost a lot of time and money on travel, I went to personally explain to the Minister of Finance... - Autobiography
Literature
- “Outstanding Vologda residents: Biographical sketches”, Vologda, “Rus”, 2005, ISBN 5-87822-271-X
- Yanni Kotsonis, “How peasants were made backward”, M., “New Literary Review”, 2006, ISBN 5-86793-440-3, p.44-49, 80-93
Links
- B. M. Mikhailov. “Founder of butter and cheese making in Russia”
- Archive of N.V. Vereshchagin (including quoted autobiography)
- Vologda Dairy Academy named after N.V. Vereshchagin
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
In a letter to the Minister of Agriculture and State Property A.S. Ermolov, Nikolai Vasilyevich Vereshchagin wrote in 1898: “In order to explain why I took up dairy farming and, moreover, not a private business, but a public one, I ask permission to refer to the time when I had to start farming. I was trained as a sailor, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t train myself to cope with the motions, so I moved from the officer classes of the Naval Corps to St. Petersburg University. Here, at the Faculty of Science, I, by the way, attended lectures by Professor Sovetov and in his passionate sermon on grass sowing I saw one of the best guarantees for providing our livestock with feed. Even then it seemed to me, as a resident of one of the northern provinces - Novgorod, that only increased concern for improving cattle breeding could support our economy. (I).*
Nikolai Vasilyevich was born on October 13 (October 25), 1839 in the village of Pertovka, Cherepovets district, into a noble family that owned estates in the Novgorod and Vologda provinces.
House in the village of Pertovka
He spent his childhood on the banks of the Sheksna River. At the age of 8 he was sent to the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps. From the officer classes of the corps he moved to St. Petersburg University to the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
 Nikolai Vasilievich Vereshchagin |
“Before N.V. Vereshchagin spoke in the field of Russian agriculture in 1864, there was almost no dairy farming or Russian dairy cattle breeding in Russia. In the early 60s, N.V. Vereshchagin first drew attention to cattle breeding and dairy farming, seeing in them the main basis of the Russian, and especially the northern, economy. He realized that in exchange for the declining grain production from year to year, it was necessary to give an economy producing more valuable products on the domestic and world markets - milk, cheese, butter, meat, etc., and, convinced of the correctness of this view, he with all with the ardor of his soul and passion he devoted himself to the work, which, as life showed, did not deceive him,” said A. A. Kalantar, a student and colleague of N.V. Vereshchagin in 1907. (VI, 175). |
“When I consulted with my father,” wrote Nikolai Vasilyevich, “I heard such advice from him that in order to succeed in the business, I should first study cheese making myself.” In the neighboring Vologda province, just 120 versts from the Vereshchagins’ estate, there was a cheese factory. The Swiss who supported her first agreed to teach the young man how to make cheese, but then refused, making the excuse: “Teach you Russians how to make cheese, we Swiss will have nothing to do.” I had to look for another place. In Tsarskoe Selo near St. Petersburg there was a master cheesemaker named Lebedev, but his cheese came out unimportant, with many very small eyes: Lebedev himself complained that the Swiss taught him somehow, not wanting to reveal the secrets of production.
In 1865, on the advice of his younger brother, the artist V.V. Vereshchagin, Nikolai Vasilyevich went to Switzerland, because there were no secrets in the production of cheese in the mountains. Here he first saw an artel cheese factory, where peasants donated milk and then divided among themselves the income received from the sale of cheese. This gave them the opportunity to better maintain their livestock, which made the cows larger and gave more milk. The idea of organizing the same cheese factories in his homeland captivated Nikolai Vasilyevich so much that he no longer thinks about producing cheese only on his estate, he is entirely at the mercy of projects: to start the production of high-grade dairy products.
Nikolai Vasilyevich stayed in Switzerland for six months. Upon returning to St. Petersburg, he learns that the Imperial Free Economic Society has capital donated by Yakovlev and Mordvinov (either factory owners or landowners) to improve the economy in the Tver province, and part of the funds of this capital can be allocated for the development of dairy farming. Nikolai Vasilyevich understood that in the Vologda and Yaroslavl provinces there was more fertile ground for the implementation of his plans, but, once in the Tver province, he worked here until the end of his days.
“Nikolai Vasilyevich settled in the Tver district, in the town of Aleksandrovka, and opened the first cheese factory in the village of Otrokovichi with a little support from the Free Economic Society to purchase the necessary equipment. The small cheese factory and the charming appeal of the “cheese maker” himself and the young “cheese maker”, Nikolai Vasilyevich’s wife, respected Tatyana Ivanovna, quickly won them the sympathy of the peasants not only of these points, but also of more remote villages and hamlets.” (VII, 272).
N.V. Vereshchagin with his wife Tatyana Ivanovna and son Kuzma
The first peasant artel cheese factory in the village of Otrokovichi was organized on March 19, 1866. In the same year, a cheese factory on an artisanal basis opened in Vidogoshchi, seven miles from Otrokovichi, where Dutch and Swiss cheeses were produced. By 1870, 11 artel cheese dairies, created by N.V. Vereshchagin, were already operating in the Tver province.
Vladimir Ivanovich Blandov and Grigory Aleksandrovich Biryulev, Vereshchagin’s colleagues in the navy, provided great assistance to Vereshchagin in creating artel cheese dairies. To study the matter, he sends at his own expense the first to Holland, the second to Switzerland. Upon their return, the three of them travel to all the district zemstvo assemblies in the Yaroslavl province. They are seeking subsidies for the establishment of cheese factories in the Vologda and Novgorod provinces. In 1870, the first two artels were organized in the Yaroslavl province - in the villages of Palkino and Koprino, Rybinsk district. Within three years since 1872, 17 cheese-making cooperatives were created in the Yaroslavl province. On the initiative of Nikolai Vasilyevich, dairy production on an artisanal basis also began to develop in Siberia and the North Caucasus. In 1906, there were already 10 artel cheese dairies operating in the mountains of the North Caucasus.
V. I. Blandov - ally of N. V. Vereshchagin
In his letter to “His Imperial Majesty” N.V. Vereshchagin stated: “Our Caucasus, with its mountain pastures, abundance of water and other conditions reminiscent of Switzerland, could, with great attention and assistance to the Swiss cheese making that was emerging here, not only satisfy domestic demand , but perhaps send a considerable amount of your cheese abroad.” (II).
But what was easy and simple in the established conditions of Swiss cheese making turned out to be not so simple in the conditions of Russian rural life. As Vereshchagin writes: “Difficulties have opened up, one might say, along the entire line.” Peasants often brought milk in dirty containers, and the technology for making Swiss cheese requires special cleanliness. The milk they brought was not always good quality - from sick cows, diluted with water, so it was necessary to set up chemical laboratories. Finally, it was necessary to think about creating a special school.
There was also a lot of trouble with the delivery of cheese and butter by rail. Products were transported on freight trains (stops along the way lasted several days) and often arrived at the market spoiled. To top off all these difficulties, Vereshchagin had many doubts about whether it was possible to think about dairy farming with Russian cattle, which they called “taskankas” and “goremychki”.
But among the advanced intelligentsia there were people who responded to the ideas of N.V. Vereshchagin. Among them was professor of chemistry D.I. Mendeleev. Dmitry Ivanovich, together with N.V. Vereshchagin, toured all the established cheese factories, and in 1868 Mendeleev wrote a review about them to the Imperial Free Economic Society. He noted that to introduce improved dairy farming in Russia, it was necessary to establish a school for 50 students somewhere on the Volga. Its annual budget will not exceed 25 thousand rubles.
D. I. Mendeleev and N. V. Vereshchagin in Edimonovo in 1869
Drawing by V. I. Blandov
For two years, N.V. Vereshchagin sought the creation in Russia of a school for training masters and specialist organizers of dairy farming. Finally, in 1871, with the permission of the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property, the first dairy farming school in Russia was opened in the village of Edimonovo, Korchevsky district, Tver province. N.V. Vereshchagin was appointed its director.
People of any class were accepted into the Edimonov school. “The whole structure of the school was expressed, as it were, in the form of a labor brotherhood, and Nikolai Vasilyevich himself was everyone’s first brother. At the hour of leisure, before the evening milking, the students went out onto the wide porch of their dormitory, sat down and sang choral songs, the students joined them, and one could often see Nikolai Vasilyevich himself, sometimes with his wife, sitting on the steps of the porch and singing along with the choir. Who does not remember this open, expressive, bold, attractive face of Nikolai Vasilyevich, greeting everyone with some kind of friendly word...” (VII, 371).
Nikolai Vasilyevich was the true leader of the school, he was the first to get out of bed, went to wake up the students who lived in the village for morning milking, was present at all work whenever possible and was the last to leave after evening work. And how many people stayed under the hospitable roof of Nikolai Vasilyevich and during two or three days of their stay with him received a huge supply of knowledge, which in the West requires a lot of effort, recommendations, patronage, etc. to obtain. And what enormous invaluable benefit did Nikolai Vasilyevich bring with the participation of his school, his dairy equipment workshop and, most importantly, his activities at various exhibitions, where his department was mainly crowded with people, listening to his imaginative, heartfelt explanations.
N.V. Vereshchagin with his family. 1905
N.V. Vereshchagin is the creator of a special type of butter with a pleasant nutty taste, made from boiled cream and called “Vologda butter”. For the high quality of dairy products produced at cooperative peasant dairy factories, at the Tver Agricultural Exhibition in 1867 and at the manufacturing exhibition in St. Petersburg in 1870, N.V. Vereshchagin was awarded two gold medals.
In an effort to quickly declassify the technology for the production of dairy and other products, N.V. Vereshchagin arranged things in such a way that the production facilities that existed at the school were staffed primarily by Russian craftsmen. All this made the Edimonov school very popular in the country.
The school existed until 1898, by which time it had graduated about 1,200 dairy masters. Some of them became major specialists who played a major role in the development of domestic livestock farming and dairy farming: A. A. Kalantar, O. I. Ivashkevich, M. N. Okulich, A. A. Popov and others.
Nikolai Vasilyevich understood that dairy production in Russia can develop successfully only if it has its own, domestic personnel of average and higher qualifications. Therefore, back in the 90s, he put forward the idea of creating special higher educational institutions to train highly qualified personnel for all sectors of agriculture. The fact that the first institute in Russia in the field of dairy farming was opened in Vologda in 1911 is a considerable merit of N.V. Vereshchagin.
A colorful poster with portraits of prominent figures of the cooperative movement in Russia, released in 1921, spoke about the significance of the activities of N.V. Vereshchagin the cooperator. Nikolai Vasilyevich’s grandson, Professor N.K. Vereshchagin, recalls this: “I remember well how my father and his acquaintances from Cherepovets looked at this poster. There were portraits (in ovals) of Chernyshevsky, Khipchuk, Vereshchagin. Under the grandfather’s portrait there was a caption: “Father of Russian cooperation.”
It would be a mistake to limit the merits of N.V. Vereshchagin only to the organization of artisan cheese-making and butter-making and the creation of domestic personnel of cheese-makers and butter-makers. His merits in the field of selection of highly productive cows from Russian local cattle are no less great.
The results of almost forty years of activity of N.V. Vereshchagin are eloquently demonstrated by the data given by Avetis Airapetovich Kalantar in a speech at a meeting of the council of the Moscow Society of Agriculture on May 2, 1907, dedicated to the memory of N.V. Vereshchagin:
Exports of butter in 1897 amounted to 529 thousand poods worth 5 million rubles (before that there was almost no export);
- 1900 - 1189 thousand pounds worth 13 million rubles;
- 1905 - exports increased to 2.5 million poods worth 30 million rubles;
- 1906 - 3 million poods worth 44 million rubles.
Along with social, industrial and pedagogical activities, N.V. Vereshchagin was engaged in extensive literary work. He has written about 60 scientific and popular science works and articles on agricultural issues. Many of his works have not lost their deep meaning even now.
Professor of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy A. A. Kalantar wrote: “N. V. Vereshchagin’s services in the field of dairy farming and cattle breeding are great, he is the father and creator of our dairy business, and as long as this production exists, his name will be remembered with gratitude and respect."
In Cherepovets, the homeland of Nikolai Vasilyevich, the Vereshchagin Memorial House-Museum was opened in 1984, where part of the exhibition is dedicated to this remarkable man.
REFERENCES
I. Vereshchagin N.V. - Ermolov A.S. “To His Excellency A.S. Ermolov - Minister of Agriculture and State Property. 1898, ChKM, f. 9.
II. Vereshchagin N.V. - “To His Imperial Majesty.” 1898, ChKM, f. 9.
III., Baryshnikov P. A. N. V. Vereshchagin. CHKM, f. 9.
IV. Goncharov M. N. V. Vereshchagin and dairy business in Russia. From the history of the dairy industry. - Dairy industry, 1949, No. 2, p. 26-31.
V. Davidov R. B. Milk and dairy business. M., 1949, pp. 4-6.
VI. Kalantar A. A. Nikolai Vasilievich Vereshchagin. - Farmer, 1907, No. 5, p. 175-179.
VII. Kondratyev M. N. In memory of N. V. Vereshchagin. - Dairy farming, 1907, No. 1, p. 271-389.
VIII. Magakyan J. T. The first Russian cheese factories. - Science and Life, 1981, No. 7, p. 116-120.
IX. Storonkin A.V. Chronicle of the life and work of D.I. Mendeleev. L.: Nauka, 1984, p. 108-109.
X. Shubin L. E. N. V. Vereshchagin. - In the book. : Names of Vologda residents in science and technology. North-West book publishing house, 1968, p. 151-153.
Rep. for the release of E. A. Ignatov. Artist V.I. Novikov.
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Born on October 13 (October 25), 1839 in the village of Pertovka, Cherepovets district, Novgorod province, in the family of a landowner. At the age of 10 he was assigned to the Alexander Cadet Corps, and a year later he was transferred to the Petrovsky Naval Cadet Corps.
Being a naval officer, he graduated in 1864 from the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. According to his political convictions, he was a populist and decided to devote himself to improving the economic situation of peasants through the rational organization of dairy cattle breeding and dairy business on peasant farms.
Having left military service in 1865, N.V. Vereshchagin visited Switzerland, Germany, England, France, Holland, Denmark and Sweden to study the dairy business. Here he first saw an artel cheese factory, where peasants donated milk and then divided among themselves the income received from the sale of cheese and butter.
Upon returning to Russia N.V. Vereshchagin initiated the creation of peasant cooperatives for processing milk into butter and cheese. On March 19, 1866, he opened the first artel cheese factory in Otrokovichi, Tver province. By 1870, 11 artel cheese dairies, created by N.V., were already operating in the Tver province. Vereshchagin. Artel cheese making quickly spread to other places. Over the course of several years, dozens of cheese factories opened in Tver, Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Vologda and other provinces.
Such active development of the dairy business quickly revealed a lack of qualified personnel, and in June 1871 in the village. Edimonovo, Korchevsky district, Tver province, with the direct participation of Nikolai Vasilyevich, the first dairy farming school in Russia was opened. Under his leadership, over the 30 years of its existence, the school has trained more than 1,000 people, master butter makers and cheese makers.
For the first time in Russia, Vereshchagin organized workshops for the production of dairy equipment and utensils from special iron, which he ordered was produced at Ural metallurgical plants.
In 1890, at a meeting of the Moscow Society of Agriculture, N.V. Vereshchagin put forward the idea of creating special higher educational institutions in Russia to train highly qualified personnel for all branches of agriculture. This idea was not realized during his lifetime. Only in 1911 Av. A. Kalantar – student of N.V. Vereshchagina - achieved the opening of a dairy institute not far from Vologda in the village. Dairy.
Since 1866 N.V. Vereshchagin was a member of the Imperial Moscow Society of Agriculture. In 1874 he was elected chairman of the cattle breeding committee of this society. For his useful activities in organizing dairy farming on an artel basis among peasants in the northern provinces of Russia, in 1869 he was awarded the gold medal of the Moscow Society of Agriculture, and later elected an honorary member of the society.
The scientist paid a lot of attention to the issues of improving domestic breeds of dairy cattle. In 1883, at the Edimonov school N.V. Vereshchagin together with Av.A. Kalantar organized the first laboratory in Russia (the second in Europe) to study the composition of milk, which marked the beginning of a wide study of local livestock breeds. He proved that with proper care and feeding, local cattle are capable of producing exceptionally high milk production.
Vereshchagin systematically organized dairy farming exhibitions in the northern provinces of Russia. The highest award at these exhibitions was the Vereshchagin Prize, awarded for achieving high milk productivity of domestic cattle breeds.
N.V. Vereshchagin was the first in the world to use boiling cream and created on its basis a completely new method of preparing butter, unknown before him abroad, which had a pronounced pasteurization (“nutty”) taste. Due to a misunderstanding, Vologda oil was called Paris oil for many years. It is interesting that the Swedes, who learned about this oil in 1879 at the St. Petersburg exhibition, began to call it St. Petersburg. In the 30s, this oil was renamed Vologda.
Before N.V. Vereshchagin butter was not exported. Russia sold ghee to Turkey and Egypt. However, there was a threat of closing the foreign market for Russian oil, which passed due to the export of Parisian oil. Through the efforts of N.V. Vereshchagin, Russian exports of butter in 1906 were increased to 3 million poods worth 44 million rubles.
N.V. Vereshchagin wrote about 60 scientific and popular science works and articles on agricultural issues. Many of his works have not lost their significance to this day.
March 13, 1907 N.V. Vereshchagin died in poverty, leaving his family no means of subsistence, as he had mortgaged his estate.
