“Columbus of Russia is buried here:
Said the seas, discovered unknown countries;
And it’s in vain that everything in the world is decay,
He sent his sails to the heavenly ocean,
Look for mountain treasures, not earthly ones,
Treasure of the good!
May You rest his soul, O God!”
Gabriel Derzhavin
“As kingdoms fell at Catherine’s feet,
Ross Shelikhov, without troops, without thunderous forces,
Flowed into America through stormy abysses,
And he conquered a new region for her and God,
Don't forget, descendant,
That Ross, your ancestor, was also loud in the East!»
Acting State Councilor Ivan Dmitriev
These lines are contained in the epitaph on the grave of the Russian explorer, navigator, industrialist and merchant Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov.
Grigory Ivanovich was born in 1747, in the city of Rylsk, into the family of a wealthy merchant. And already at a young age he was accustomed to commercial and economic activities. When he was about 28 years old, his parents died, and Shelikhov decided to move to Siberia permanently, because earlier, on behalf of his father, he began to conduct trade business with the Siberians.
In 1773 he came to Irkutsk and a year later he organized his first own business in partnership with a merchant from Yakutia. Merchants who traded in Siberia had already begun to explore the islands in the Pacific Ocean, where the sea beaver lived. Grigory Ivanovich was inspired by their example, going to Kamchatka and returning from there with a large load of furs.
In 1783, Shelikhov, together with his companions, the Golikov brothers, went to the shores of Alaska. At that time, the local population lived there, who managed to kill a group of Russian hunters. In view of this, Grigory Ivanovich was dissuaded from the idea of locating on the shore and nearby islands. But the “Russian Columbus” was adamant. He founded the first settlement on Kodiak Island, and planned to colonize the mainland in the future. Shelikhov and his people did not plan to wage hostility with the local population. Moreover, he visited them more than once. However, for some reason (they point to a solar eclipse as a bad omen for the Eskimos), the local population attacked the colonialists. The camp with difficulty repelled the onslaught of the natives, capturing some prisoners.
Expedition ships in Alaska
In 1791, Shelikhov founded the North-Eastern Company, later transformed into the Russian-American Trading Company.
The activities of Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov were recognized. He was awarded a gold medal and a silver sword "for the discovery of islands in the Eastern Ocean." Participated in the construction of new schools, museums and churches. Established good relations with many government officials and researchers. He constantly expanded his business and planned to start trading with China.
Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov died in Irkutsk at the age of 47 and was buried at the Znamensky Convent. His widow, Natalya Shelikhova, erected a marble monument on his grave. He made a huge contribution to the development of new territories, the development of the merchant business, and the establishment of the city of Irkutsk as a center of trade and culture.
A bay in the Sea of Okhotsk, a strait between Alaska and Kodiak Island, a bay on the island of Paramushir, a city are named in honor of Shelikhov. Shelekhov in the Irkutsk region.
The grave of Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov at the Znamensky Convent. Monuments in Shelekhov and Rylsk
Sh Elikhov (Shelekhov) Grigory Ivanovich (25...30.I.1749 – 22(31).VII.1795) - merchant, navigator, one of the founders of Russian America.
Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov was born in 1747 in the provincial town of Rylsk, Kursk province, into the family of a small merchant.
The boy learned his initial literacy from a sexton. At the age of eleven, at the insistence of his father, Grigory dropped out of school and began working at the counter. He spent fourteen long years in the Rylsk warehouse. During the plague epidemic of 1770, he lost his mother and younger brother.
In 1772 G.I. Shelikhov moved to Kursk and then to Siberia. In 1773 he appeared in Okhotsk as a clerk for the Vologda merchant M. Okonishnikov. After some time, he moved to the service of his fellow countryman - Kursk merchant I.L. Golikov. Cooperation with the rich and influential Golikov helped him firmly stand on his feet. This was especially facilitated by his advantageous marriage in 1775.
Over the next eight years, Shelikhov participates in the activities of ten fishing companies. His fortune and influence are growing. I.L. Golikov, whose clerk he remained until 1781, treated him with increasing respect. Finally, they become full partners, and Grigory Ivanovich sets off on his famous voyage to the shores of America. The expedition was organized by the American Northeast Company, created by I.L. Golikov, M.S. Golikov and G.I. Shelikhov. In 1783, three galliots were built and equipped: “Three Saints”, “St. Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess", "St. Archangel Michael." Moreover, one ship was built by Shelikhov exclusively at his own expense. Almost two hundred working people were hired. The command of the ships was entrusted to experienced sailors - G.G. Izmailov, D.I. Bocharov, V. Olesov. The flotilla set off for the shores of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and some other western territories of the Pacific coast of America on August 16, 1783. Together with her husband, Natalya Alekseevna Shelikhova and their 4-year-old son Mikhail set off on a difficult journey. The expedition was successful. Having landed in 1784 on the island. Kodiak - the largest of the Aleutian Islands, Shelikhov founded the first permanent Russian settlement with a fortress, thanks to which Alaska became part of Russia. There he taught the local population crafts and agriculture, opened a school for Aleut children, carried out diverse research work to study new lands, and compiled detailed inventories and maps.
In May 1786, Grigory Ivanovich sailed back to Okhotsk, taking with him furs worth 56,000 rubles. Returning to Russia, Shelikhov immediately got involved in work - conducting business correspondence with clerks, checking documentation, drawing up a report to Governor General I.V. Jacobi, sends a report on his achievements and a sailing map to I.L. Golikov. Having set sail as a junior partner of respectable merchants, he returned as a man confident in his abilities, with the firm intention of taking the whole matter into his own hands. In a note addressed to I.V. Jacobi, he unfolds a broad plan for the company’s activities under his, Jacobi’s, patronage: with permanent settlements in America, with its own armed forces of up to 100 people, with the sending of Orthodox priests to the colonies, with the right to bring the aborigines into citizenship, to establish “arable farming, plants and factories "
In 1788 I.L. Golikov and Shelikhov go to St. Petersburg with a petition in the Tsar's name to petition for privileges and a government loan for their company. Consideration of the project “Golikov and the Communists” continued in the capital from February to September 1788. Catherine II reacted sharply negatively to the project. She did not like her partners' claims to a monopoly; she also argued that “much spreading in the Pacific would not bring lasting benefits. Trading is another matter, taking possession is another matter.” She had no time for America at all - there was another war with Turkey. The “royal favor” ultimately manifested itself only in the awarding of companions with gold medals, silver swords and certificates of commendation.
However, although Shelikhov’s projects were rejected, his position after his visit to the Court was greatly strengthened. He gained fame. Many metropolitan businessmen without hesitation provided him with substantial loans. In Irkutsk, he built himself a new house in the most prestigious area of the city. In his native Rylsk, he also started construction on a site that belonged to him. Every spring, starting from 1789, he now travels to Okhotsk on maritime business, leaving everything in Irkutsk in the care of his wife. Showing extraordinary resourcefulness, he does his best to attract capable people to the service of the company.
The last years of G.I.’s life Shelikhov were filled with vigorous activity. He regularly sends expeditions to the American shores, fights with competitors, driving them out of fishing grounds. In 1790–1791 I.L. Golikov and Shelikhov established the North-Eastern, Unalashka and Predtechensk companies to expand the fishery. In 1791, he undertook the publication of his book, in which he spoke about all the details of the two-year voyage and about what he saw on the Aleutian Islands. For the first time, it described in detail the flora and fauna, as well as the life and customs of the Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians, and covered almost all aspects of their material and spiritual culture. The collected ethnographic information is of great value, because it contains much of what subsequent researchers did not find. A new edition was published in 1793, and a little later Shelikhov’s work was republished three times in German, and then twice in English. Thanks to this, his name became known abroad.
In 1794, through the efforts of his companions, the first Orthodox mission, headed by Archimandrite Joasaph, was finally sent to Kodiak. At the same time, government permission was received to send artisans and cultivators to America. Grigory Ivanovich is making plans for landing settlers on the Kuril Islands. With the help of his younger brother Vasily, he carries out trading operations at almost all Siberian fairs and trades with the Chinese through Kyakhta. He acquired important allies through family ties, thereby strengthening his position at court and in commercial circles. In 1795, Shelikhov organized the Atkha Company, the purpose of which was to fish on the Kuril, Commander and Andrean Islands, as well as on the Pribilof Islands. Her forces founded a settlement on the Kuril Island. Urup, which existed until 1805.
According to reviews from contemporaries who knew him directly, he had an extraordinary mind and literally absorbed knowledge. He had remarkable abilities as an entrepreneur and organizer, strong will and courage, the ability to establish business connections, sense changing situations and take reasonable risks. He was distinguished by his excellent knowledge of commercial, industrial and financial affairs, slow decision-making, resourcefulness and intuition, as well as foresight and flexibility in choosing previously developed schemes.
At the same time, this outstanding, truly almost legendary person, who played a huge role in the Russians’ exploration of the Aleutian Islands and the creation of “Russian America,” was a power-hungry, withdrawn and cruel person. He arrogated to himself the right to “execute and hang” in order to establish discipline in his American trading posts. Ruthless and suspicious of competitors, he sometimes kept double-entry bookkeeping. The circumstances of his early death remain very mysterious to this day.
Death found him in the midst of business, preventing him from completing many plans. He died suddenly “in the middle of exercises that were so important to him, in full health and in the middle years of his life.” The suddenness and unclear circumstances of the death of a prominent merchant, who left a considerable inheritance, gave rise to a wide variety of rumors in Irkutsk. The circumstances of his early death remain very mysterious to this day.
On November 10, 1797, by imperial decree, Shelikhov’s widow and children “for the merits of her husband and father” were granted nobility “with the right to trade.”
Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov was buried in Irkutsk in the Znamensky Convent opposite the church altar. In 1800, through the efforts of his wife, a marble monument was erected at the grave with a bronze bas-relief of the deceased and with an incised epitaph of G. Derzhavin: “...Columbus of Russia is buried here: he sailed the seas, discovered unknown countries...”.
A strait and a lake in Alaska and a city in the Irkutsk region are named after Shelikhov. In his homeland on Red Square in Rylsk on August 24, 1908, a monument to him by I.Ya. Gintsburg. Funds for the monument were collected through an all-Russian subscription. In 1928, the monument was dismantled, but in 1957, by decision of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, a new monument by sculptor V.I. was installed in its place. Ingala.
Name G.I. Shelikhova bears a large bay of the Sea of Okhotsk, a strait between the coast of Alaska and Kodiak Island, a number of lakes and rivers in North America.
On December 11, 7255, the founder of Russian America, the creator of the Russian-American Trade Campaign, the first person to begin exploring Alaska, Grigory Shelekhov, was born.
Russian navigator, founder of Alaska, Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov
The outstanding Russian navigator, merchant, traveler Shelikhov was born on Christmas Eve, on Christmas Day, December 24, 1747 in a new style, in the Siberian city of Rylsk. The ancient Rylsk family of the Shelekhovs traces its ancestry from time immemorial and was engaged in gold mining and fur-bearing animals, recorded in the house book of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1621, and for the transformation of the Rylsk fortress into the richest trading region in the South-West of Russia, Peter I granted this family personalized gilded ladles with deeds of gift inscriptions. One of Peter’s ladles in the shape of a Russian boat was inherited by Grigory Shelikhov, which he kept as a relic, which probably prompted him to travel by sea.
The Rila merchants maintained close business ties with Siberian fishermen, and in 1773, at the age of 26, Grigory went to establish business connections in Irkutsk, where he signed up to serve as a clerk for the merchant Golikov. Two years later, having built a house, in 1775 he married the young widow of a rich merchant, Natalya Alekseevna, but the next year they went with her to Okhotsk, where he developed independent vigorous activity in organizing an expedition to the shores of America to hunt fur-bearing animals there. He simply didn’t know about gold and oil in Alaska at that time.
Already in 1776, Grigory Shelikhov sent his first ship for fur-bearing animals, and from that moment until 1783, ten sea campaigns are known in which the energetic and enterprising Russian merchant from Rylsk took part.
Shelekhov
Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov - Russian navigator, founder of Russian America, creator of the Russian-American Trading Company, the first person to begin exploring Alaska, “Tradition”, born on December 11December
Free Russian Encyclopedia
Other names:, Grigory Ivanovich.
And in 1777 Shelekhov went on an expedition to the Kuril Islands. During his expeditions in the Bering Strait, many new Islands were discovered, one of which was named after his assault on Pribilof.
USSR stamp. Shelikhov. Three Saints Harbor, Kodiak, Alaska. Russian America
So that other Powers do not have time to annex fertile lands and do not take possession of the profitable islands discovered by them for fur production, the Russian merchant himself creates a shipyard on the Sea of Okhotsk for the construction of ships, and builds three more ships. And already in the summer of next year, August 16, 1783 Shelikhov with ships"Three Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom", “Saint Simeon and the “God-Receiver” and “Anna the Prophetess” and “Saint Michael.” is heading to the shores of America to found a Russian fortress there.
On the ships equipped by Shelikhov there were more than 200 “working people” - sailors, trappers and fishermen, stocks of corned beef and barrels of cabbage.
But together with Shelikhov, his wife Natalya Alekseevna and two children also set off on a long voyage. Like Bering’s wife Anna, Natalya Alekseevna decided to share with her husband all the hardships of sea navigation in the harsh, little-explored northern latitudes of the Quiet Ocean. But the Pacific Ocean was not so quiet, in whose honor Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was named the Quiet.
Natalya Alekseevna clearly demonstrated her extraordinary nature during a joint trip with her husband to the shores of North America. On August 16, 1783, from the mouth of the Urak River, located about 20 km from the main Russian Far Eastern port of that era - Okhotsk, she left on three ships - trade and fishing galliots. He himself was on the ship “Three Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom” together with Natalya Alekseevna, who, in his words, “wanted to follow me everywhere and wanted to endure all the difficulties.” During this trip, the Shelikhovs had a daughter, Avdotya.
Stuck in the ice, the expedition spent a harsh winter on an uninhabited island, living directly on the ships, and only in the spring of 1785 the ships Three Saints, St. Michael, and Anna the Prophetess landed on Kodiak Island, having passed the Bering Strait. Here Shelikhov, his wife and team founded a permanent Russian settlement. Having established themselves on Kodiak and having thoroughly studied the coast and interior of the island, they began to explore and develop the coast of the American mainland inland and the adjacent islands, establishing friendly trade mutually beneficial relations with the local residents.
On the coast and islands, arriving Russian entrepreneurs settled down, built fortresses with St. Andrew's flags, put up Orthodox crosses in churches, and everyone already understood that this was serious and these territories belonged to the Russians.
Along with the exploration of the new region, its economic and cultural development was carried out, and the beginning of agriculture and cattle breeding was laid. On Kodiak Island, G.I. Shelikhov established a parochial school for the children of local residents, in which they learned Russian literacy.
During his two years on Kodiak, Shelikhov firmly established himself in the north of the American Continent, now separated from Russia by the Bering Strait. But it was time to think about the affairs left in Siberia, about consolidating their rights with the Siberian administration, about the official recognition of Alaska, Kodiak and other islands adjacent to them as Russian possessions.
And in the spring of the next year, on May 22, 1786, Shelikhov headed to his native shores. In January of the following year he arrived in Okhotsk, three months later - in Irkutsk. Here he presented the Irkutsk Governor-General Jacobi with a description of his journey, a map of the explored lands and plans for fortresses erected to protect against the possible capture of the colony he founded. The governor reported this to St. Petersburg, and Shelikhov was summoned to the Capital.
Shelikhov's services to the Fatherland were undeniable. Catherine II reacted very favorably to Shelekhov’s undertakings and it was proposed to equip two more expeditions to the Far East, and Shelikhov himself was awarded diamonds, a sword and a diploma, which allowed him to continue the work begun to develop new territories and annex them to Russia.
In St. Petersburg, the founder of Russian America was a frequent guest in the house of A.E. Polevoy, the father of the famous writer, publisher and editor of the Moscow Telegraph magazine Nikolai Polevoy. The house of A.E. Polevoy, a man of exceptional energy and enterprise, who lived for forty years in Siberia, was known as one of the most cultured and hospitable houses, it was visited by all travelers, all celebrities who visited Irkutsk, even ambassadors who traveled to China.
Returning to Irkutsk, Shelikhov develops vigorous activity. He asks for government support for his enterprise and develops plans to establish trade relations with Japan, China, India, the Philippines and other countries. He comes up with bold plans to explore Siberia, the Pacific and Arctic oceans. From Irkutsk, Shelikhov leads the life of Alaska, where his people at that time were developing more and more new territories. In 1790-1794, with the participation of Shelikhov, several more merchant companies were organized, thanks to which in 1799 the largest and most famous Russian-American trading company was created throughout the world. Now Russia bears the flag of this company.
In 1789, a book by G. I. Shelikhov was published in St. Petersburg entitled “The Russian merchant Grigory Shelikhov’s wanderings from 1783 to 1787 from Okhotsk along the Eastern Ocean to the American shores and his return to Russia.”
Illustration for Shelikhov’s book “The Russian merchant of the eminent Rylsky citizen Grigory Shelikhov’s first journey from 1783 to 1787 from Okhotsk along the Eastern Ocean to the American shores.” The poems placed under the picture are written by M. V. Lomonosov. Shelekhov
The book attracted everyone's attention, causing joy and jubilation. G.I. Shelikhov in his homeland was proclaimed a “famous citizen of Rylsk.” This title was firmly assigned to him, and the new edition of his book, published in 1793, already had the title “The First Wanderings of the Russian Merchant of the Eminent Rylsk Citizen Grigory Shelikhov.” In the same year, Shelikhov’s work was republished three times in German, and later twice in English. Thus, a native of the small Russian town of Rylsk became a world-famous navigator and encouraged the whole of Europe to capture America.
Therefore, having aroused such interest, in the midst of his vigorous activity, at the age of only 48 years, Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov suddenly died on July 20, 1795 in Irkutsk, where he was buried.
In the city on the Angara, near the Znamensky Monastery, on the grave of the brave Russian traveler, there is a pyramidal monument.
In the will of G.I. Shelikhov, it was written to the city of Rylsk to issue 30 thousand rubles for the development of the city.
Therefore, in his homeland in the city of Rylsk, at his insistence, the Shelikhov hospital and the Ascension Church were built on which Shelikhov’s plaque was installed. The following names are named after the merchant Shelekhov: A bay in the Sea of Okhotsk, a strait separating Kodiak Island from the Alaska Peninsula, the largest lake in Alaska, the Main Harbor of the Russian City of Alaska and a bay on Kruzov Island. Not far from Irkutsk, over time, a new industrial city of Shelikhov grew up, built with money from the Russian-American Campaign. And secondary school No. 1 in the homeland of the navigator and entrepreneur, the city of Rylsk, bears his name, as well as one of the streets.
On July 20, 1895, the city of Rylsk celebrated the centenary of the death of its outstanding fellow countryman. On this day, flags were hung on public buildings and citizens' houses. A ceremonial meeting of the City Duma was held, at which a report on the life and work of Shelikhov was heard. The State Duma, at the request of the Russian Geographical Society and the Russian Economic Society, decided to build a monument to the great navigator Shelekhov in Rylsk.
Shelikhov's grave in Irkutsk with a cross - a modern view.
On August 24, 1903, its opening took place. On the monument, cast from the old naval cannons of his ships, G. I. Shelikhov is depicted at full height in a noble uniform with a gold medal around his neck and with a sword. On the pedestal there are the words: “Sailed the seas, discovered unknown seas.”
The monument was erected on the cathedral square in front of the entrance to the city garden. Funds for it were collected through all-Russian subscription.
Shelikhov's grave in Irkutsk without a cross in the USSR
The opening of the monument was significant not only for Rylsk, but for all of Russia. The Russian Geographical Society sent its representative to the celebration - the secretary of the society A. A. Dostoevsky. The opening of the monument was reported in the provincial and capital press.
The great Russian poet Gabriel Derzhavin dedicated his poems to the navigator Shelikhov:
"Columbus of Russia is buried here,
Having sailed the seas, discovered unknown countries,
And it’s in vain that everything in the world is decay,
He sent his sail into the heavenly ocean -
Look for mountain, unearthly treasures..."
These words are engraved on the monument to Shelikhov in Irkutsk, on his grave:
And on the other side of the monument there is a poetic epitaph of another author - the poet Ivan Dmitriev:
"As kingdoms fell at Catherine's feet,
Ross Shelikhov without troops, without thunderous forces
Flowed into America through stormy abysses
And he conquered a new region to Her and to God.
Don't forget, descendant,
That Ross - your ancestor - was also loud in the east.
Passer-by, honor the decay in this tomb.
Monument to Shelikhov in Rylsk
Interest in the vigorous activity of the “Russian Columbus” still does not subside, both in Russia and abroad. In 1990, the East Siberian Book Publishing House published Sitnikov’s book “Grigory Shelikhov”. and I am sure that this is not the last book exploring the life of a wonderful Russian man with a capital R, entrepreneur and navigator Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov.
Even during the life of G.I. Shelikhov On January 24, 1795, his 14-year-old daughter Anna was married to 30-year-old Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, the son of the chairman of the Irkutsk Conscience Court, Pyotr Gavrilovich Rezanov. Since childhood, Nikolai Petrovich was enrolled in the Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment, and at the age of 20 he was promoted to the rank of army captain. A few years later he switched to the civil service, serving in the St. Petersburg Treasury Chamber, in the Military Collegium, and in the Admiralty Collegium. His excellent service was recognized in 1791 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1792, he served in the department of the Cabinet of Her Imperial Majesty under the command of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, and in January 1794 he was sent from the Empress’s favorite Count Platon Zubov “with personalized dispatches to Irkutsk by courier” to the Irkutsk Governor-General. Both matchmaking and engagement took place there.
Apparently, at first Natalya Alekseevna did not really trust her son-in-law’s business qualities. Favorable and influential Nikita Nikitovich Demidov wrote to her at the end of 1795: “And he, your son-in-law, is not, it seems, a fool, as you describe him.”.
But in the course of joint efforts to defend the interests of the widow and her children regarding the inheritance of the Shelikhov company and the creation of a monopoly Russian-American company (RAC), Natalya Alekseevna most likely changed her mind. N.P. After the death of the Empress, who did not favor the idea of creating a monopoly trading company in the Pacific North, and the occupation of the throne by Paul I, Rezanov managed to defend the interests of the Shelikhov clan. It seems that it was his merit that after the establishment of a unified RAC and the granting of significant rights and privileges to it, the imperial decree determined that a representative of the Shelikhov family must necessarily be one of the four directors of the company.
On December 2, 1799, the supreme rule in St. Petersburg over the RAC, according to the decree of Paul I, passed to N.P. Rezanov, who became the main confidant of the company at court in St. Petersburg. Apparently, N.P. played a significant role. Rezanov that in November 1797 a decree should be issued on the elevation of “the widow and children of citizen Shelikhov for the merits of their husband and father to the dignity of nobility, granting them the right to conduct trade.”
But closer to Shelikhov’s wife, Natalya Alekseevna, is her second son-in-law - Veliky Ustyug merchant Mikhail Matveevich Buldakov, one of the richest and most famous fur dealers (later corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, court adviser). He was a capable organizer, participated in the preparation of several circumnavigations, including the 1st Russian circumnavigation expedition of I.F. Krusenstern and Yu.F. Lisyansky, after receiving news of its successful implementation in 1806, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree. Probably the commercial experience of M.M. Buldakova helped Natalya Alekseevnev a lot in the first years after her husband’s death in streamlining the company’s affairs and in creating conditions for gaining strong positions in the newly established RAC, where it was M.M. Buldakov was one of the main directors for more than twenty years.
Buldakov was a famous book lover; his library, considerable at that time, was partially preserved in the collections of the Veliky Ustyug Local History Museum. Japanese books were received from him in the collections of the Imperial Public Library in 1814.
Natalya Alekseevna's sons-in-law got along well with each other. Historians believe that Rezanov trusted Buldakov as himself. He left his children to him (his wife Anna had died by that time), leaving in 1803 for a circumnavigation of the world.
Natalya Alekseevna died in 1810 at the age of 48. She was buried in Moscow at the Donskoy Monastery cemetery
After the formation of the RAC, Russian influence on the west coast of North America strengthened and spread to new areas. New Russian settlements appeared on the coast of Alaska, and then in its interior regions. Active study and development of this remote region of the Russian Empire continued.
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Eternal Memory to the Discoverers and Founders of the Russian Lands! Happy birthday according to the old style of Shelekhov!
Famous travelers Sklyarenko Valentina Markovna
Grigory Shelikhov (1747 - 1795)
Grigory Shelikhov
(1747 – 1795)
How kingdoms fell at Catherine's feet,
Ross Shelikhov, without troops, without thunderous forces,
Flowed into America through stormy abysses
And he conquered a new region for her and God.
Don't forget, descendant,
That Ross - your ancestor was loud in the east.
I. Dmitriev. “Epitaph to G. Shelikhov”
Russian industrialist who conducted geographical exploration of the northern Pacific Islands and Alaska. Founded the first settlements in Russian America. The strait between the island is named after him. Kodiak and the North American continent, a bay in the Sea of Okhotsk, a city in the Irkutsk region and a volcano in the Kuril Islands.
Nowadays, few people know that in the 18th century, quite a large part of the North American continent belonged to Russia. This was the so-called Russian America, occupying all of Alaska. Russian trading posts were located on the coast of North America all the way to California. The initiator and organizer of the development of these lands was the Russian industrialist Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov (sometimes another spelling of the surname is found - Shelekhov).
The remarkable Russian merchant, geographer and traveler, nicknamed by G. R. Derzhavin “Russian Columbus”, was born in 1747 in the city of Rylsk, Kursk province, into a bourgeois family. He learned to read and write early, and from childhood he was distinguished by his energy, curiosity and enterprise. Already at a young age, having started working behind the counter of his father’s shop, he managed to organize his own small trading business and successfully ran it. However, Gregory strived for more. An expensive silver ladle, once given to one of the Shelikhovs by Peter I himself, became a symbol of success for him and, in his own words, prompted him to “be an imitator of his ancestors.”
Life in a poor provincial town did not provide the opportunity to develop. Many acquaintances from Rylsk and even Kursk left for other regions to improve and expand their trade. Therefore, at the age of twenty-five, the future organizer of Russian colonies and large trade operations went to seek his fortune, first in Irkutsk, and then in the Far East.
Overcoming the space from Irkutsk to the Lama (Okhotsk) Sea became his first journey. Together with a group of the same seekers of the best places for business, Shelikhov in 1774 from the headwaters of the Lena descended its course, then climbed up the Aldan and along the May, along the Yudoma, walked to the portage through the difficult, snow-covered ridge Dzhundzhur, overcame it and rafted along the Okhota River to the sea coast. Here the industrialist looked for a place to build ships and over time began to think about an expedition to the shores of Alaska (“Alyaksy,” as Shelikhov called it), as well as the founding of Russian settlements on the Aleutian Islands. This promised great profit, since it was known that these places were rich in fur and sea animals.
In Irkutsk, Shelikhov first served with the merchant Ivan Golikov, then with the Okhotsk industrialist Okonshchinikov. Later, in company with Golikov, and then on his own, he took up the fur and marine trade and managed to earn a fortune. He associated this activity with the exploration and development of new territories.
Some time later, the promising industrialist married a certain Natalya Alekseevna, the young widow of a wealthy Irkutsk merchant. His wife brought serious money into the house, and this made it possible for Shelikhov to speed up the implementation of his plans.
By 1776 Shelikhov became the owner of the ship “St. Pavel" and on it went to the Aleutian Islands for fur. The voyage was successful, and this confirmed the industrialist in the correctness of his chosen path. From 1777 to 1780 Shelikhov’s ships “St. Andrew the First-Called", "Nicholas", "St. John the Baptist" and "John of Rylsky" visited the Aleutian and Japanese (Kuril) islands more than once.
On his initiative, on August 17, 1781, a permanent Northeast Company was created, which received exclusive rights to trade and industrial activities on the islands and shores of America. To achieve a monopoly, Shelikhov, together with his former owner Golikov, made a long trip to St. Petersburg. In the capital, they enlisted the support and financial assistance of many influential dignitaries who believed in the benefits of the enterprise.
The creation of the company contributed to the intensification of activity in the discovery and development of new lands. In the same 1781, Gavriil Pribylov, navigator of the St. Georgiy”, owned by Shelikhov, discovered two islands in the Bering Sea and named them in honor of his own and another ship belonging to the Shelikhov company. However, Shelikhov named them the Pribilof Islands in 1789, and this name has remained with them to this day.
Shelikhov also had other navigators under his command who contributed to the discovery of lands in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. Among them, it should be noted Evstrat Delarov, who led the Shelikhov trading posts in Russian America for four years, co-navigators Gerasim Izmailov, Dmitry Bocharov. All of them, on the orders of Shelikhov, carried out expeditions and at different times discovered the Delarova Islands, Yakutat Bay, and described many kilometers of the Alaskan coast. For some time, the remarkable discoverer of the territories of Russian America, Alexander Baranov, who founded the famous Fort Ross in California, also worked under the leadership of Shelikhov.
The fortune of the successful industrialist grew, and this opened up new opportunities to satisfy his passion for developing new lands. Since it was not possible to establish permanent contacts with Japan, which at that time was closed to all Europeans except Dutch merchants, Shelikhov turned his gaze to the north.
In 1783, he built three more ships - “Simeon and Anna”, “St. Michael" and "Three Saints" and in August of the same year, together with his wife and two young sons, he set off on them to Alaska to find new islands and rookeries of sea animals. In addition to the crew, 192 industrialists sailed on the ships, ready to settle in new places.
Having lost the ship “St. Mikhail", which, as it turned out later, was carried by a storm to the Kuril Islands and remained there for the winter, the expedition, passing about. Alaid (Atlasova) and Fr. Noise, I got to Fr. Bering (Commander Islands). We had to spend the winter here. Shelikhov knew about the sad fate of Bering and his team, so he took a number of measures to prevent scurvy. He found out that on the island there were “cutagorum and saran root”, as well as various animals. This made it possible to eat fresh meat and “vegetables”. As a result, during the winter, no one not only died, but did not even get scurvy. Throughout the rather harsh winter, travelers went out on foot and on skis to hunt and explore the island.
In mid-June 1784, the expedition moved on. We agreed on a meeting place in case the ships lost each other. When going to o. This is exactly what happened to Copper in the Fog. Both ships moved to the Captain's Harbor on the island. Unalaska, as agreed. However, after 23 days on the Aleutian Islands, “Three Saints” and “Simeon and Anna” safely found each other.
Together we swam to the island. Unalaska, where we met industrialist Potap Zaikov. He had just returned from the American coast and said that a group of Russian industrialists had been destroyed by the Indians. He warned Shelikhov and his companions against traveling to these regions, but the leader of the expedition firmly decided to move on, striving to “achieve the goal of society’s intentions and my own.” However, for security reasons, he decided to build the first Russian fortress on one of the islands, where it would be easier to defend against attacks and bring the natives to submission. His choice settled on Fr. Kodiak off the coast of Alaska. It was here that the first Russian settlement was founded in 1784, which remained the center of Russian America for 20 years.
The local residents called themselves Kanyagmyuts, and the Russians changed this self-name into something more familiar to them and began to call the natives konyags. The horses were quite aggressive. There was a large rock on the island that was their gathering place. It probably had some kind of cult significance. Shelikhov decided that in order to eliminate the threat from the natives, first of all it was necessary to take possession of this rock. He had only 130 people at his disposal. But the Russians had guns. This settled the matter. The battle was bloody - after all, Shelikhov’s detachment was opposed by about 2 thousand horses. However, none of Shelikhov’s companions was killed, and those seriously, but not mortally wounded, soon recovered. Half of the natives, frightened by the gun salvoes, fled. The rest were taken prisoner, about 600 people were released, and the rest were brought to their harbor. At night, a “Kulibino lantern” was installed on the ship - something like a modern searchlight. The “sun” that the white people knew how to light at night, as well as the instant destruction of the rock, convinced the local residents of the power of the white people. But Shelikhov acted not only through intimidation.
Despite the fact that weapons were used to seize the territory from the very beginning, he was undoubtedly a fairly humane person. The industrialist wrote: “After... incomprehensible, wonderful and at the same time terrible phenomena for them, all the horses of the island abandoned their efforts to oust us, for I, avoiding as much as possible, the shedding of blood... imagined to them that I wanted to live with them in friendship, and not to wage war... This and many examples of affectionate treatment and small gifts completely pacified them. Thus, I acquired such great favor from them that they finally called me their father.”
At the same time, some Western researchers prefer to consider Shelikhov a “destroyer of the Aleuts.” They claim that even after several months it was impossible to approach Kodiak due to the unbearable stench of corpses.
However, something else is known. The Russians allowed the prisoners to live peacefully 15 versts from their settlement. Shelikhov found a leader for them among the horses. The natives were given boats and fishing gear. But “to be sure,” hostages were still taken - 20 boys, for whom Shelikhov created a school where they taught Russian literacy, mathematics and music. Other children of the horses who lived nearby also attended it. The merchant wanted “that over time they would become sailors and good sailors.” Very pleased with their successes in the sciences, he wrote: “I must give this people justice in the sharpness of their minds...” Later, the entrepreneur ensured that children of Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts began to be brought to Russia to study, who over time did a lot to explore Russian America.
On Kodiak, travelers built good-quality wooden houses and began work to describe the shores and search for new islands. By the summer of 1786, Shelikhov's people were able to discover many islands in the Komandorsky, Aleutian archipelagos and other island groups near Kodiak. Large rookeries of fur seals, sea otters, and sea lions were also found. Many beavers, arctic foxes, a thousand pounds of walrus ivory and 500 pounds of whalebone were caught on the islands.
Over the course of two years, from 1784 to 1785, Shelikhov, who lived on Kodiak, organized several more settlements on the northwestern shores of America and constantly sent small expeditions to explore the northern shore of the Gulf of Alaska. As a result, high-quality wooden huts of industrial cooperatives appeared on the shores of many bays and bays, and on the Kenai Peninsula and on the island. Afognak fortresses and settlements were erected.
Finally Shelikhov decided that the Russians in the area had sufficiently strengthened their position, and decided to return to Russia with a new project. Instead of himself, he left the Yenisei merchant K. A. Samoilov as the boss in Kodiak, who, in addition to spreading Russian influence in Alaska by exploring new territories and creating settlements there, was also supposed to collect ethnographic collections, buying household items, costumes, and ritual items from the indigenous residents . It is noteworthy that most of the Russian sailors remained on Kodiak. Instead, 40 natives set sail to the shores of Siberia, who, as Shelikhov claims, expressed a desire to visit Russia.
In 1787, the conqueror of Alaska came to Irkutsk to visit the Governor-General of Siberia I. Jacobi, and from there he went to St. Petersburg with a new plan, this time consolidating Russia in the Amur region and the Kuril Islands. However, Catherine II, due to the fact that Russia was at war with Turkey, refused financial support, limiting herself to awarding Shelikhov and Golikov with swords and medals. The merchants were also denied a monopoly right to trade in the Pacific coast area. The Empress did not want to limit other entrepreneurs.
Shelikhov's gaze turned again to Alaska. As a result, from this year the systematic settlement of North American territories by Russians began. Shelikhov understood that in order to secure the territories he had developed for Russia, it was necessary to establish a state border here. As a result of his activities, this was done. On 15 boards dug into the ground it was engraved: “Land of Russian Dominion” and displayed copper Russian coats of arms. The exploration of Russian America continued by the ships left in Alaska, which penetrated along the coast almost to the level of San Francisco.
The vigorous activity of this man - an ardent patriot, a tireless entrepreneur, a discoverer and a humanist - only ceased with death. Shelikhov, at the age of forty-eight, died suddenly on July 20, 1795, probably from peritonitis. According to one eyewitness, he “had extreme pain in his stomach and such inflammation that, in order to quench the fire for a moment, one might say, he swallowed a whole plate of ice.” He was buried in Irkutsk on the territory of the former Znamensky Monastery (modern Znamenskaya Church).
The enormous respect that Shelikhov enjoyed among his contemporaries was best expressed by G. Derzhavin in the epitaph carved on the tombstone of the merchant traveler:
After the death of the industrialist, Natalya Alekseevna and the sons of Grigory Ivanovich were granted nobility. In addition, Emperor Paul I granted the widow monopoly rights in America. And in 1798, on the basis of the Shelikhov merchant company, the Russian-American Company was created, the leadership of which continued the work of the founder. Geographical exploration of the territory of North America was headed by Alexander Andreevich Baranov, already known to us, who lived continuously in Russian America for 28 years and permanently led the company here.
During his travels, Shelikhov not only discovered unknown islands and contributed to the study of the North American coast. He collected huge ethnographic collections and was the first to give detailed descriptions of the customs and morals of the Eskimos and Alaska Indians. They are still of great value to science.
During the author’s lifetime, in 1791, the report “The Russian merchant Grigory Shelikhov’s first journey from 1783 to 1787 from Okhotsk along the Eastern Ocean to the American shores,” written back in 1787 and slightly revised, was published. Then the book was reprinted many times, the last time this happened in 1971.
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From the book Popular History - from electricity to television author Kuchin VladimirIn the 80s of the 18th century there were already several Russian settlements on the northwestern coast of America. They were founded by Russian industrialists who, hunting for fur-bearing animals and fur seals, undertook long voyages across the Sea of Okhotsk and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. However, industrialists then did not yet have a fully realized goal of founding Russian colonies. This idea first arose from the enterprising merchant Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov. Understanding the economic importance of the coast and islands of North America, which were famous for their fur riches, G. I. Shelikhov, this Russian Columbus, as the poet G. R. Derzhavin later called him, decided to annex them to the Russian possessions.
G.I. Shelikhov was from Rylsk. As a young man, he went to Siberia in search of “happiness.” Initially he served as a clerk for the merchant I. L. Golikov, and then became his shareholder and partner. Possessing great energy and foresight, Shelikhov convinced Golikov to send ships “to the Alaskan land, called American, to known and unknown islands for fur trade and all sorts of searches and establishment of voluntary bargaining with the natives.” In company with Golikov, Shelikhov built the ship "St. Paul" and in 1776 set off for the shores of America. After being at sea for four years, Shelikhov returned to Okhotsk with a rich cargo of furs totaling at least 75 thousand rubles at the prices of that time.
To implement his plan for the colonization of the islands and coast of North America, Shelikhov, together with I. L. Golikov and M. S. Golikov, organizes a company to exploit these territories. The company's particular attention was attracted to Kodiak Island for its fur riches. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries (from 1784 to 1804), this island became the main center of Russian colonization of the Pacific coast of North America. During his second expedition, launched in 1783 on the Three Saints galliot, Shelikhov lived for two years on this island, the largest of the islands adjacent to the coast of Alaska. On this island Shelikhov founded a harbor, named after his ship, the Harbor of the Three Saints, and also erected fortifications. 
A small fortification was built on the island of Afognak. Shelikhov also became acquainted with the coast of Alaska, visited Kenayok Bay and visited a number of islands surrounding Kodiak.
In 1786, Shelikhov returned from his voyage to Okhotsk, and in 1789 - to Irkutsk.
News of his activities off the American coast and the founding of colonies there reached Catherine II, upon whose call he went to St. Petersburg.
Catherine II perfectly understood the significance of Shelikhov’s activities and received him very favorably. Returning to Irkutsk, Shelikhov equipped two ships to explore the Kuril Islands and the coast of America and gave instructions to their commanders, navigators Izmailov and Bocharov, to “affirm Her Majesty’s authority in all newly discovered points.” During these expeditions, a description of the North American coast from Chugatsky Bay to Litua Bay was made and a detailed map of it was compiled. At the same time, the network of Russian settlements off the coast of America is expanding. The head of the Russian colony, left by Shelikhov, Delarov, founded a number of settlements on the shores of the Kenai Bay.
Shelikhov, through his various activities, sought to expand and strengthen the network of Russian settlements in Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands.
He developed a number of projects to bring the Russian colonies into a “worthy form.” Shelikhov instructed his manager Baranov to find a suitable place on the shores of the American continent to build a city, which he proposed to call “Slavorossia”.
Shelikhov opened Russian schools on Kodiak and other islands and tried to teach crafts and agriculture to the local residents, the Tlingit Indians, or Koloshes, as the Russians called them. For this purpose, on Shelikhov’s initiative, twenty Russian exiles who knew various crafts and ten peasant families were sent to Kodiak.
In 1794, Shelikhov organized a new “Northern Company”, one of the main goals of which was the establishment of Russian colonies on the coast of Alaska.
After Shelikhov’s death (in 1795), his activities to expand Russian colonization off the coast of Alaska and exploitation of its wealth were continued by the Kargopol merchant Baranov. Baranov turned out to be no less persistent and enterprising leader of the new Russian colonies than Shelikhov himself, and continued the work begun by Shelikhov to expand and strengthen Russian possessions on the northwestern shores of America.