Komleva Evgeniya V.,
Candidate of Sciences (History), senior researcher, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of RAS. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Dynasty of the Yeniseisk Merchants Dementievs (Second Half of the 18th – Early 20th Century)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2018-1-1
The article on the basis of a wide range of sources covers the history of one of the most rich and numerous merchant dynasties of Yeniseisk – the Dementievs, who were the only merchant family to have remained within the local merchantry for a century and a half: from the mid-XVIII to the early XX century. The author traces the fate of the prominent representatives of several generations of this family; reveals their possible ancestors and family connections; characterizes their commercial and business activity, service in the city self-government, participation in charity and level of their material welfare; gives evidence of contemporaries about the personal qualities of some of the Dementievs and the excerpts from the documents, indicating the living conditions not only of this family, but also of the Siberian merchantry in general. Using the example of the Dementiev clan one can observe such features characteristic of the whole merchant class as unstable social status, combination of different types of entrepreneurship along with a dominant role of commerce, obligatory participation in public and charitable activities, economic activity of merchant widows. Successful trade in furs and bread, benefits from the execution of public services (good awareness, the benefits of obtaining government contracts), as well as the support of numerous relatives allowed the Dementievs to belong to the upper layers of merchantry for a long period and to make a significant contribution to the development of Yeniseisk and the Yeniseisk province.
How to cite: Komleva E.V. The Dynasty of the Yeniseisk Merchants Dementievs (Second Half of the 18th – Early 20th Century) // Historical Courier. 2018. № 1. URL: http://istkurier.ru/data/2018/ISTKURIER-2018-1-01.pdf
Links: Issue 1 2018
Keywords: Yeniseisk; merchantry; the Dementievs; commerce; entrepreneurship; public service; charity