Demidov
1642255
215216142
2008-05-27T06:08:50Z
155.85.58.253
also Demidoff
{{otherusesof|Demidov}}
==History==
[[Image:Demidov_coat.jpg|thumb|200px|Coat of arms of Prince Anatole Demidoff.]]
The '''Demidov''' ({{lang-ru|Деми́довы}}) family, also '''Demidoff''', were probably the richest [[Russia]]n people after the [[Tsar]] in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Their progenitor, Demid Antufiev, was a free [[blacksmith]] from [[Tula, Russia|Tula]], where their family necropolis is preserved as a museum. His son '''Nikita Demidov''' ([[March 26]], [[1656]] - [[November 17]], [[1725]]) made his fortune by his skill in the manufacture of weapons, and established an iron foundry for the government. [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]], with whom he was a favorite, ennobled him to princely status in 1720. For two centuries, the Demidov plants produced a large portion of Russia's iron and steel. The [[Palace of Westminster]] was one of many notable buildings constructed of Demidov metal products.
Nikita's son, '''Akinfiy Demidov''' (1678-1745), increased his inherited wealth by the discovery and working of gold, silver and copper mines. He also founded the [[Siberia]]n town of [[Barnaul]], whose central square still bears his name. His nephew, '''Pavel Grigoryevich Demidov''' (1738-1821), was a great traveller and benefactor of Russian scientific education who befriended [[Carolus Linnaeus]] and [[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]]. He established the [[Demidov Lyceum]] in [[Yaroslavl]], the Demidov chair in [[Natural history]] at [[Moscow University]], and founded an annual prize for Russian literature, awarded by the [[Russian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences]]. A [[:ru:Демидовский столп (Ярославль)|bronze monument]] to him was installed in [[Yaroslavl]] in [[1828]]. [[Image:Demidoff.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of Nikolay Demidov, by [[Thorvaldsen]].]]
Pavel's nephew, '''Nikolay Nikitich Demidov''' (1774-1828), fought in the [[Napoleonic War]] with distinction, raised and commanded a regiment to oppose [[Napoleon's invasion of Russia]], and carried on the accumulation of the family wealth from mining; he contributed liberally to the erection of four bridges in [[St Petersburg]], and to the propagation of scientific culture in Moscow.
Nikolay's son '''Pavel Nikolayevich Demidov''' (1798-1840) fought as an officer in his father's regiment and received his baptism of fire at the [[battle of Borodino]] in 1812. After the war he entered the [[Chevalier Guard|Chevalier Guards regiment]]. He received his discharge in 1831 with the rank of captain when he entered civil service as governor of the province of Kursk. In 1834 he entered service in the Ministry of the Exterior as court Huntsmaster, later State Councillor. Pavel Demidov is best known for his philantropy, primarily for having founded the [[Demidov Prize]]. He married the well-known society beauty and maid-of-honour to her majesty the Empress Alexandra Feodorovnya [[Aurora Stjernvall|Aurore Stjernvall]] (1808-1903) in 1836. Their son, [[Pavel Pavlovich Demidov]], was the grandfather of [[Prince Paul of Yugoslavia]].
Nikolay's second son, '''Anatole Demidov''' (1813-1870), was a well-known traveller and patron of art. In [[1837]], he acquired the [[Italy|Italian]] title of Prince de San Donato and married [[Mathilde Bonaparte|Princess Mathilde]], daughter of [[Jerome Bonaparte]]. His [[Villa Demidoff]] is a minor landmark of [[Florence]]. Anatole's great grand nephew, [[Prince Paul of Yugoslavia|Crown Prince Pavel]], was regent of [[Yugoslavia]] between [[1934]] and [[1941]].
==Hereditary Commanders of the Knights Hospitaller==
[[Image:RGPbadge.jpg|200px||thumb|right|19th-Century Commander's Badge, Russian Grand Priory]]In 1798, Prince Nikolay Nikitich Demidov was made a Hereditary Commander of the [[Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller|Russian Grand Priory of the Order of Saint John]], by [[Paul I of Russia|Czar Paul I]]. Those favoured by Czar Paul and his son [[Alexander I of Russia]], had been given beneficed Commanderies, and others were encouraged to use their wealth to create their own Commanderies; it is these which were known as Family or Ancestral Commanderies. The senior ranking direct descendent inherits the prerogatives of a [[Hereditary Commander|Hereditary Knight Commander]] of Russian Grand Priory. Alexandre Tissot Demidoff of Paris currently holds this distinction. [http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/church/oosj/osj2.htm]
Ancestral Commanderies established during the reigns of Paul I and Alexander I of Russia include those of:
Narychkine, Count Chéréméteff, Prince Youssoupoff †, Stroganov †, Count Samoiloif ‡,
Prince Belosselsky, Prince Dolgoroukov, Davydov, Prince Barytinsky, Prince Démidoff, Prince Troubetzkoy, Count Worontzoff, Maruzzi †, Beklechev †, Prince Tioufiakine †, Count Olsoufieff, Gerebtzoff, Count Strogonoff †, Boutourline, Potemkine †, Tchirikoff †, Prince Khilkoff ‡, Prince Odoevsky †, and Prince Youssoupoff †.
Key. † Direct Male line from the first Commander extinct. ‡ Direct Male line is extinct, but the family was reinstated via the female line by the Imperium.
==See also==
[[Image:Taitsy.jpg|275px|thumb|Alexander Demidov's [[chateau]] in Taitsy near [[Gatchina]] (1773-76) was designed by his brother-in-law, [[Ivan Starov]].]]
*[[Sancy]] - the most famous of diamonds, in possession of the Demidovs from [[1828]] to [[1865]]
*[[Leaning Tower of Nevyansk]] - a tower commissioned by Akinfiy Demidov
*[[Demidov Prize]] - the oldest scientific award established in 1831 by Pavel Nikolaevich Demidov
*[[The Last Day of Pompeii]] - a painting commissioned by Anatole Demidov
*[[The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (painting)|The Execution of Lady Jane Grey]] - another painting from his collection
*[[List of foods named after people#Chicken Demidoff|Chicken Demidoff]] - a food named after Prince Anatole
==Publications==
* Anatole Demidoff, ''[http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/demidoff/toc_pag.shtml Travels in Southern Russia, and the Crimea; through Hungary, Wallachia, & Modavia, during the Year 1837]'', London, J. Mitchell, 1853, {{LCCN|05||033883}}
==External links==
*[http://www.abcgallery.com/bio/demidov.html History and portraits of the Demidovs]
*[http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/demidov.html Genealogy of the Demidovs as Princes di San-Donato]
*[http://www.abcgallery.com/list/2003july14.html Anatole and Mathilde: Story of Their Marriage]
*[http://www.projects.uniyar.ac.ru/publish/demidov/ History of the Demidov Family (from the website of the Demidov University)]
{{1911}}
[[Category:Russian noble families]]
[[Category:Philanthropists]]
[[fr:Famille Demidoff]]
[[it:Demidoff]]
[[nl:Demidov (familie)]]
[[ru:Демидовы]]