Memoria. Alexander Baranov

On February 14, 1746, merchant Alexander Baranov, the first ruler of Russian America, was born.

Private bussiness

Alexander Andreevich Baranov (1746-1818) was born in Kargopol, Olonets province, into a townsman family, where, besides him, there were three more children: Peter, Evdokia and Vassa. Little information has been preserved about the childhood and youth of Alexander Baranov. It is known that he learned to read and write from a local sexton and from an early age began to help his father in conducting trade affairs, traveled to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and to the Makaryevskaya and Ladoga Assumption Fairs. At the age of 15, he left his family and tried to start his own business in Moscow. He joined the merchant class and traded in Moscow and St. Petersburg, mainly in Siberian furs. Upon reaching adulthood, he married the merchant widow Matryona Aleksandrovna Markova with two young children.

Until 1780, he was engaged in commercial and industrial operations in Kargopol and beyond: in the Olonets province, Moscow, St. Petersburg. In the “Kargopol City Philistine Book (1786-1788)” there is an entry: “Baranov Alexander Andreev, the son of a tradesman, has a house he built in the 1st part in the 1st quarter of the planned building No. 12.”

In 1780, Baranov moved to Siberia and, together with his wife Matryona and younger brother Peter, settled in Irkutsk. At first he managed the glass factory and brewery of merchants V.I. Sitnikova and A.E. Polevoy, was engaged in government contracts and supplies. Later he took up wine farming and began selling alcohol in Yakutia, where it was delivered from the state-owned Aleksandrovsky, Nikolaevsky and Ilginsky distilleries. In addition to maintaining a wine farm, the enterprising merchant was engaged in trade and fur fishing, making business trips to remote Siberian regions and Yakutia.

In 1784, in company with the naturalist scientist E.G. With Laxman, he sets up his own glass factory on the Taltsinka River. Soon another factory, a vodka factory, was opened. Organized several fishing expeditions to northeast Asia and Alaska.

For his articles on Siberia in 1787, Baranov was elected an honorary member of the Imperial Free Economic Society.

In May 1790, Baranov came to Okhotsk on trade business, where he met Grigory Shelikhov, who was called the Russian Columbus, because in 1775 he created a company for fur and hunting in the northern islands of the Pacific Ocean and founded the first Russian settlements there.

Already in August, Baranov accepted Shelikhov’s offer to head the management of his “North-Eastern Company” (in 1799 reorganized into the “Russian-American Company”) and became the first Chief Ruler of Russian America in North America.

Shelikhov and Baranov concluded the following agreement: “We, the undersigned, the eminent Rylsky citizen Grigory Ivanov, son of Shelikhov, Kargopol merchant, Irkutsk guest Alexander Andreev, son of Baranov, have decided this agreement on the existence of me, Baranov, in the American settlements at the disposal and management of the North-Eastern Company, located there..."

As the head of Russian settlements, he contributed to the exploration and colonization of territories adjacent to the Pacific coast of North-West America, and founded many settlements there. Under Baranov’s leadership, the fishing activities of the Russian-American Company increased significantly, and the volume of Pacific trade increased. In addition to crafts, industry also developed - shipbuilding, copper smelting and coal mining were started in Russian America, and a school was organized in Alaska.

Baranov's activities as the main ruler of Russian America were highly appreciated by the government. He is given the title of Commerce Advisor and awarded orders.

Baranov served in this post for more than 28 years. In recent years, due to poor health, he repeatedly sent requests for a replacement, but only in January 1818 a new ruler arrived. The delivery of the cases took almost six months and only in November Baranov was able to sail to his homeland. On the way he fell ill.

Alexander Baranov died on the road on April 28, new style, 1819, on the ship “Kutuzov” near the island of Java.

What is he famous for?

The name of Alexander Baranov, who has become legendary in the history of Alaska, is associated with an entire era in the life of Russian America. For almost 30 years, Alexander Baranov was the head of Russian settlements in North America. He founded most of the Russian settlements in Alaska, including Novoarkhangelsk (since 1867 - Sitka) and moved the administrative center of Russian America there from Irkutsk. Thanks to his energy and administrative abilities, trade relations between Russian settlements with California, the Hawaiian Islands and China expanded significantly; New settlements were created, and a number of expeditions were sent to explore areas of the Pacific coast.

What you need to know

Alexander Baranov tried with all his might to strengthen the peaceful relationship between Russian colonists and local aborigines - Aleuts, Eskimos, and Indians. It was during the years of Baranov’s rule that comfortable settlements, shipyards, workshops, schools, and hospitals were created on the territory of Russian America. Plowing, gardening, and cattle breeding were encouraged. Marriages between Russians and representatives of the local population became a custom, and by 1816 there were already more than 300 Creoles in Russian America - children from mixed marriages.

The Russian-American company tried to provide education to children from mixed marriages. They were trained not only on the islands, but also in Okhotsk, Yakutsk, Irkutsk and even sent to St. Petersburg. As a rule, they all returned to their native places to serve the company.

Baranov himself was married for the second time to the daughter of the leader of an Indian tribe and had three children from her - a son and two daughters.

Direct speech

Yu.F. Lisyansky about Baranov: “Based on his talents, he deserves all respect... The Russian-American company cannot have a better boss in America...”

G.I. Davydov, an officer of the navy of the Russian-American company about Baranov: “His firmness of spirit and the constant presence of reason are the reason that the wild respect him without love for him, and the glory of the name of Baranov thunders among all the barbarian peoples inhabiting the northwestern shores of America to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Even those living in remote places sometimes come to see him, and are amazed that such enterprising things can be accomplished by a man of such small stature. Baranov is below average height, blond, dense and has very significant facial features, not erased by either work or age, although he is already 56 years old.”

Government Envoy Nikolai Rozanov about Baranov: “I will tell you, dear sirs, that Baranov is a very original and, moreover, a happy work of nature. His name is loud all over the West Coast as far as California. The Bostonians honor and respect him, and the natives from the most distant places offer him their friendship. A true patriot will fully appreciate it...”

8 facts about Alexander Baranov:

• Initially, his last name was spelled Boranov. Only after 1780 did he begin to write his last name as Baranov.
• For “...his zeal for establishing, establishing and expanding Russian trade in America” in 1799, Emperor Paul I awarded Baranov a personalized medal on the ribbon of St. Vladimir. This was the first personalized gold medal in Russian history awarded to a person from the merchant class. In 1806, Baranov was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 2nd degree, for repelling the raids of the Koloshe Indians.
• Baranov called himself “Russian Pizarro,” comparing him with Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador.
• Alexander Baranov was distinguished by impeccable honesty and selflessness. “When the cases were handed over, all the company’s property, which was considered to be present, was found not only in perfect order, but even in quantities exceeding what was indicated in the inventories. The size of the unexpected excess is impressive; they expected to find property worth 4,800,000 rubles, but it turned out to be worth seven million. All the ill-wishers, who had been spreading rumors for many years that Baranov was quietly getting rich, immediately bit their tongues..."
• By order of Baranov, Fort Ross in California was founded in 1812 to supply Alaska with food - the southernmost Russian settlement in North America. The name Fort Ross is a literal translation into English of the Russian name "Fortress Ross". According to some reports, the Indians allowed the Russians to use the land to create a fortress for three blankets, three pairs of pants, two axes, three hoes and several strings of beads.
• Alexander Baranov has no grave. He fell ill and died on the ship "Kutuzov" on the way to his homeland and his body was lowered into the waters of the Indian Ocean.
• In Alaska, an island, a river, a lake, a museum in Kodiak and a hotel in the current capital, Juneau, are named after Baranov.
• In 1989, a monument to Baranov was erected in Sitka. Another monument was erected for his 250th anniversary in Kargopol in 1997.

Materials about Alexander Baranov:

The first chief ruler of Russian America

Baranov Alexander Andreevich. Biography on the Kargopol website

Article about Alexander Baranov in Irkipedia

article on Alexander Baranov Wikipedia