Nikolai Nemirov-Kolodkin

Jeweller, goldsmith, silversmith, industrialist, philanthropist. Hallmark: ????????-????????? or ?? in a rhombus. Born in Vologda (1819) in the family of hereditary merchant Vasily Nemirov (1787–1833) and his wife Olga (1794–1827). Baptised at the Church of St John the Baptist in the Dyudikovo Hermitage (1819) and grew up in a two-storey house in Fryazinovo (1820s). Suffered the deaths of his mother (1827) and father (1833) and declared bankrupt over his father’s debts (1835). Moved to Moscow (1843), where he lived on Pyatnitsa Street (late 1840s) and qualified as a merchant of the third guild (1854), second guild (1862) and first guild (1870). Worked as a salesclerk on Silver Row in the shops of silverware merchant Ivan Kolodkin (1850s). Married a rich merchant’s daughter called Daria and moved into her mansion at 42-44 Bolshaya Ordynka Street (late 1850s). Opened a jewellery workshop (early 1860s) and invited his sister’s sons Alexander Druzhinin, Nikolai Druzhinin, Ivan Lapin and Alexei Davydov from Vologda to work as sales merchants in his outlets in Moscow (1860s). Took over the business of the ageing Ivan Kolodkin (1794–1879) and changed his surname to Nemirov-Kolodkin (1868). Founded the Trading House of Nikolai Nemirov-Kolodkin (1872–91), which owned five shops on Silver Row in Moscow and four shops at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair (1870s). Commissioned to make silverware for the Moscow Palace Office (1876) and the imperial palaces in Moscow (1877). Elected a delegate of the Moscow merchantry (1876) and a member of the Moscow City Duma (1877–81). Donated a large sum of money to the Church of St John the Baptist at the Dyudikovo Hermitage (1878) and opened a home for the poor and blind in Vologda (1880). Transformed the Trading House of Nikolai Nemirov-Kolodkin into an equal partnership with his four nephews (1880). Opened a factory powered by steam engines and a shop at 9 Ilinka Street (1881). Awarded the Order of St Stanislaus (1881), Order of St Anne (1882) and a bronze medal in commemoration of the coronation of Tsar Alexander III at a special ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace (1883). Elected an hereditary honorary citizen of Moscow (1883) and Vologda (1885). Died in Moscow and buried at the Don Monastery in Moscow (1886), where his work was continued by his nephews (1891–1918), who founded the Manufacturing and Trading Concern of the Heirs of Nikolai Nemirov-Kolodkin (1891), which employed a staff of thirty-nine (1897) and eighty-four on Malaya Ordynka Street (1909) and was awarded the title of purveyor to the court of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna (1910–17).