Строгановы

Stroganovy - bogatye soledobytchiki, potom barony i v kont͡se kont͡sov grafy… Oni porodnilisʹ s pravi͡ashchim domom Romanovykh i potomkami Ri͡urika, sobrali ogromnye kollekt͡sii proizvedeniĭ iskusstva i, buduchi bogateĭshimi pomeshchikami v imperii, potratili basnoslovnye summy na blagotvoritelʹnostʹ i na pomoshchʹ svoim krepostnym krestʹi͡anam. Odin iz predstaviteleĭ roda, Grigoriĭ Dmitrievich Stroganov, byl blizhaĭshim spodvizhnikom i sovetchikom Petra I, a ego vnuki i pravnuki stali izvestnymi ministrami, diplomatami i ofit͡serami-geroi͡ami. Kak khotelosʹ by, chtoby u takoĭ semʹi byli sootvetstvui͡ushchie predki. Navernoe, iz-za ėtogo zhelanii͡a v rodu Stroganovykh i poi͡avilasʹ legenda o tom, chto oni potomki Chingiskhana. No pravda li ėto? Ili predki Stroganovykh byli prosto vezuchimi i oborotistymi kupt͡sami, kotorym udalosʹ sniskatʹ raspolozhenie obeikh pravivshikh v Rossii dinastiĭ i dazhe odnogo iz t͡sareĭ vremen Smuty Vasilii͡a Shuĭskogo?Kak by to ni bylo, ochenʹ chasto upominanie roda Stroganovykh v arkhivakh i dokumentakh svi͡azano s kakim-libo znamenatelʹnym istoricheskim sobytiem. Ėto imenno te svershenii͡a, bez kotorykh ne bylo by ne tolʹko Rossiĭskoĭ imperii, no i Sovetskogo Soi͡uza, a mozhet bytʹ, dazhe i sovremennoĭ Rossii, kakoĭ my ee znaem.

The Stroganovs are rich salt miners, then barons and eventually counts.… They intermarried with the ruling house of Romanov and the descendants of Rurik, amassed huge art collections and, being the richest landowners in the empire, spent fabulous sums on charity and to help their serfs. One of the representatives of the family, Grigory Dmitrievich Stroganov, was Peter I's closest associate and adviser, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren became famous ministers, diplomats and heroic officers. I wish such a family had the appropriate ancestors. Probably, because of this desire, the Stroganov family had a legend that they were descendants of Genghis Khan. But is it true? Or were the Stroganovs' ancestors just lucky and resourceful merchants who managed to ingratiate themselves with both ruling dynasties in Russia and even one of the tsars of the time of Troubles, Vasily Shuisky?Anyway, very often the mention of the Stroganov family in archives and documents is associated with some significant historical event. These are precisely the achievements without which not only the Russian Empire, but also the Soviet Union, and perhaps even modern Russia as we know it, would not exist.