Savva frost years of life. Revolutionary Throwing Savva Morozov

A well-known philanthropist, a capitalist who helped the Bolsheviks, died 110 years ago

This happened on May 26, 1905 on the Cote d'Azur, already at that time a fashionable vacation spot for bohemians and moneybags from all over the world. In Cannes, in a room in the luxurious Royal Hotel, one of the the richest people Russia - Savva Timofeevich Morozov. He died from a pistol shot to the chest. Suicide, the official version said. However, many immediately doubted it. They said that on the eve there were no signs of a tragic denouement: Morozov was going to the casino and was in a normal state of mind ...

Savva Morozov was born in Moscow into a very wealthy Old Believer merchant family that lived according to strict laws. They did not use electric lighting in the house, considering it to be demonic power, they did not read newspapers and magazines. For poor academic performance, children were mercilessly beaten.

Savva Morozov received excellent education, graduated from the 4th Moscow gymnasium, studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, and in 1885 he was sent to England, to Cambridge, where he studied chemistry, worked on his dissertation and at the same time got acquainted with the organization of textile business in English factories. When his father fell ill, Savva returned to Russia and headed his enterprises: the partnership of the Nikolsky manufactory "Savva Morozov's son and K", as well as the Trekhgorny brewing partnership in Moscow.

When he grew up, he began to look like a Tatar Murza - dense, undersized, with intelligent, slightly slanting eyes and a wide, stubborn forehead.

In business circles, they respectfully said about him: “He is doing business widely! However, it doesn’t come out of the calculation, that’s what’s amazing!

His mother, Maria Feodorovna, had a personal capital of 16 million rubles, and by the time of her death she had managed to double it. It was fantastic money for those times. At the present time - the top lines in the list of the rich according to Forbes magazine.

The merchant Morozov was received in high society, enjoyed the favor of Prime Minister Witte, and even received the honor of being received by Nicholas II himself. For "useful activity and special work under the department of the Ministry of Finance" he was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the 3rd degree, and later - also the Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree.

But, despite the untold wealth, Morozov himself was modest and unpretentious in everyday life, wore boots with patches, like an Old Believer, did not drink vodka, and diluted wine with water. Often distinguished by very original actions. Early one morning he stopped at a tavern. Wanting to please a rich visitor, the innkeeper offered him champagne. In response, Morozov ordered a bucket of champagne to be brought and sent the horse to drink. The worker tried in vain to get the horse to drink. “You see, even a horse doesn’t drink champagne in the morning, and you stick it to me!” Savva Timofeevich told the innkeeper.

Today he would be called a "progressive entrepreneur": he cared about his workers. He built new barracks for them, established medical care, opened an almshouse for the elderly, arranged a park for folk festivals, and created libraries. At the same time, he constantly expanded production, introduced the most advanced technologies. In the Perm province, he built factories and set up the production of acetic acid, wood and methyl alcohol, acetone, denatured alcohol, charcoal and salts of acetic acid. All this was used in the textile industry.

He became famous as a generous philanthropist. He donated a lot of money for the construction of shelters and hospitals, was an ardent admirer of the famous Moscow Art Theater, regularly made donations for the construction and development of the Moscow Art Theater, and personally managed its financial part. Under his leadership, the theater building was rebuilt and a new hall for 1300 seats was created. On the badge for the 10th anniversary of the Moscow Art Theater there was an image of its three founders - Stanislavsky, Nemirovich-Danchenko and Morozov.

“This remarkable man was destined to play in our theater the important and wonderful role of a patron of art, able not only to make material sacrifices to art, but also to serve it with all devotion, without pride, without false ambition, personal gain,” Stanislavsky said about him.

The turbulent political events in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century did not pass him by.

He unexpectedly became close to the Bolsheviks - those who openly announced that they wanted to destroy the capitalists and factory owners as a class. Lenin's Iskra was published with Morozov's money, the first legal Bolshevik newspapers were founded. New life” in St. Petersburg and “Struggle” in Moscow, and even congresses of the RSDLP were held.

Morozov illegally smuggled banned literature and typographic fonts to his factory, and in 1905 he hid Nikolai Bauman, one of the Bolshevik leaders, from the police. He gave a lot of money to the political "Red Cross" for arranging escapes from exile, for literature for local organizations and to help those who were involved in the Bolshevik party work. He was friends with the "petrel of the revolution" Maxim Gorky.

Becoming a patron of the Art Theater, Morozov became an admirer of Maria Andreeva, who was said to be the most beautiful actress on the Russian stage. A stormy romance ensued, Morozov bowed before her talent. Passionate and addicted nature, Morozov behaved towards her like a boy, rushed to fulfill her every desire.

However, Andreeva was a hysterical woman, prone to adventures and adventures. She was connected with the Bolsheviks and raised money for them. Comrade "Phenomenon", as Lenin proudly called her, managed to "spin on grandmas", as they would say today, even the rich Morozov. But then Andreeva suddenly became interested in Gorky.

This was a strong blow for Savva Timofeevich. Morozov, of course, could not resist the then most popular writer and rival in Russia, relations between them deteriorated. “What a disgusting person, indeed! - Savva Timofeevich once exclaimed in his hearts, referring to the "Petrel of the Revolution." “Why does he appear to be a tramp when everyone around knows very well that his grandfather was a wealthy merchant of the second guild and left a large inheritance to the family?”

However, even after Andreeva and Gorky began to live together, Morozov still tenderly cared for Maria Fedorovna. When she was on tour in Riga, she was hospitalized with peritonitis and was on the verge of death, it was Morozov who looked after her.

Soon the millionaire began to have problems in the business sphere. When Morozov decided to give the workers the right to a part of the profits, his mother immediately decisively removed her son from capital management. And after a demonstration was shot in St. Petersburg on January 9, 1905, heading to the Winter Palace with a petition, Savva Timofeevich experienced a strong nervous shock, it became clear to him what revolutionary changes threatened the country. As a result, he completely retired, became homesick and fell into a severe depression. Gorky wrote in his article about Morozov that he confessed to him that he was afraid of going crazy.

Rumors spread around Moscow about his madness. Savva Timofeevich began to avoid people, spent a lot of time in complete solitude, not wanting to see anyone. A council of doctors made a diagnosis: a severe nervous disorder, expressed in excessive excitement, anxiety, and insomnia. Doctors recommended that Morozov be sent abroad for treatment.

And so, accompanied by his wife Zinaida Grigorievna, Savva Timofeevich left for Cannes ...

Shortly before this, Morozov stopped helping the Bolsheviks. However, this turn of affairs clearly did not suit the revolutionaries, who did not want to lose their “cash cow” at all. This is where something mysterious happened.

Shortly before his death, Morozov suddenly insured his life for 100 thousand rubles “to bearer”. In fact, it was a death sentence to himself, signed own hand.

What or who forced Savva to act in such a strange way remained a mystery. He handed the insurance policy to Maria Andreeva. A significant part of these funds was then transferred by Comrade Phenomenon to the fund of the Bolshevik Party.

It all ended the way you might have imagined. In May, a shot rang out in Morozov's apartment in Cannes. Zinaida Grigorievna ran into her husband's room and found him shot through the heart. Through the open window, she noticed a man in a raincoat and hat running away. Near the body of the murdered police found a note in which he asked no one to blame for his death. Morozov's personal doctor noted with surprise that the dead man's hands were neatly folded on his stomach, and his eyes were closed by someone. The wife stated that she did not close her late husband's eyes.

However, the true circumstances of the death of Savva Morozov were revealed only several decades later, when his relatives were able to talk about the tragedy without fear for their own lives. Zinaida Grigorievna herself did not immediately inform the police about the runaway stranger. Probably Morozova feared for her children. She was sure that Krasin was guilty of Savva's death, for many years it was family secret, about which it was customary to speak only in a whisper.

Who was this Krasin, whom some historians actually consider the organizer of the murder of Savva Morozov? An engineer by education, Leonid Borisovich Krasin, whom Morozov appointed in 1904 to supervise the construction of his power plant, was a mysterious person. He was well versed not only in electricity, but also in the manufacture of explosive devices, heading the Combat Technical Group of the Bolsheviks. In Moscow, in Gorky's apartment, Krasin's workshop was equipped, which was guarded by the Georgian thugs of the legendary Kamo. It was here that the bombs that exploded at Stolypin's residence in August 1906 were made. “Krasin dreamed of creating a portable bomb the size of Walnut" Trotsky recalled. Krasin also personally organized bandit raids on bank crews in order to seize money. The military merits of the "engineer" were highly appreciated by his comrades-in-arms, and he was appointed treasurer of the Central Committee.

There are already completely sinister details in the biography of Comrade Krasin. So, he believed in the coming resurrection of the dead, first of all, great historical figures, believing that the achievements of science and technology would have to play a decisive role in this. It is no coincidence that Krasin was one of the initiators of the preservation of Lenin's body and the construction of a mausoleum on Red Square.

Zinaida Grigoryevna did not believe in her husband's suicide until the end of her life. But, at the insistence of the mother of the deceased, the official version was nevertheless adopted: suicide due to a nervous breakdown. “Let’s leave everything as it is,” she decided. “I won’t allow a scandal.”

There is also an incredible version that Morozov's death in Cannes was generally staged. It was known that the merchant never owned weapons and did not know how to handle them. He was not registered at the Royal Hotel, in any case, his signature was not found in the guest log.

The body of the deceased was not officially opened, but the French police already had a bullet removed from the body the next day. However, it did not match the caliber of the revolver found in the room. No fingerprints were found on the weapon.

The note was also not written by Morozov. Contrary to the rules established by the French criminal police, neither the place of death nor the body were photographed, there was not even a description of the scene ...

In Moscow, the coffin that arrived from Cannes was not opened. From Cannes, the body was transported in a coffin of bog oak, sealed in zinc, which was placed in a wooden box. The body was delivered to the cemetery in a mahogany coffin covered with lacquer. When unloading from the train, the wooden box with Morozov's coffin was carried by only two workers, the box was very light and small. This gave rise to rumors that Morozov's death at Cannes was, in fact, staged. However, why and why this could be done, and where Savva Timofeevich himself later ended up, is unknown ...

And after the death of Savva Morozov did not immediately find peace. According to Christian canons, suicide is a terrible sin, a suicide cannot be buried in church and buried according to church rites. The Morozovsky clan, using money and connections, began to seek permission for a funeral in Russia, referring to the fact that it was a suicide in the heat of passion. In the end, permission was obtained, Morozov was buried at the Rogozhsky cemetery.

The moral of this mysterious story? Apparently, first of all, in the fact that happiness is not in money. Savva Timofeevich was only 44 years old, and he had everything in his life that many could dream of - wealth, a huge business, talents. However, finding himself in the tenacious hands of adventurers who deftly extorted money from him, and himself carried away by the revolutionary chimera, which he later became disappointed with, he inevitably came to a tragic ending.

Especially for "Century"

Savva Timofeevich Morozov is best remembered as a philanthropist, merchant and textile manufacturer, and to a lesser extent as a person who indirectly supported the Bolshevik Party financially. He was a man in Russian Empire very rich, and therefore extremely influential.

Savva Timofeevich, in addition to the "family business" - a huge weaving industry, had his own mines and logging, chemical plants and hospitals, newspapers and even a theater.

And yet, not everyone knows that it was only thanks to his money that the famous Moscow Art Theater, now the Moscow Art Theater, which has become the pride of Russian culture, arose and managed to survive.

Yes, Savva Morozov gave money to the Bolsheviks - or did they extort it from him? - gave legal cover to the main militant of the RSDLP, Leonid Krasin, who worked at his company as an electrician, and the famous Nikolai Bauman. Perhaps decency and connection with very dangerous people and killed a millionaire who was found dead in a luxury hotel room in Cannes in 1905? Let's figure it out...

Love and money

At the beginning of the 19th century, the serf Morozov guessed to create his own weaving workshop and turned out to be an intelligent craftsman and resourceful businessman. Soon he managed to redeem himself from serfdom from the master and bought out all his numerous relatives. Having moved to Moscow, famous for its merchant traditions, the founder of the dynasty began to actively expand the weaving business and after his death left each of his sons with a weaving factory with a large number of hired workers.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Morozov family, who adhered to the Old Believer faith, had grown significantly and divided into several independent clans that had their own production and capital. Of these, the richest and resourceful were considered "Timofeevichi", to which Savva Timofeevich belonged. In Orekhovo-Zuev near Moscow, the Timofeevichs owned almost everything: land, factories, kept the police at their own expense, published newspapers, built churches, schools, hospitals, etc.

Maria Fedorovna Morozova (1830-1911) with her son Savva Timofeevich Morozov (1862-1905) and grandchildren Maria, Timofey and Elena

Outwardly, Savva Timofeevich resembled a Tatar Murza - dense, undersized, with slightly slanting eyes and a wide, stubborn forehead. Having received an excellent education - he graduated from the Department of Natural Sciences of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, and then successfully trained at the famous Cambridge - the millionaire liked to pretend to be a half-wit, although he was distinguished by considerable suspicion and an amazing ability to make money.

Savva was one of the first in Russia to widely use electricity, having built a power plant, imported equipment from abroad and eagerly adopted new progressive technologies.

The wealth of the Morozov family can be evidenced by the fact that the mother of Savva Timofeevich, Maria Fedorovna Morozova, when she was widowed, had personal capital in 16 million rubles , and by the end of her life she managed to DOUBLE! It was fantastically huge money for those times. The wealth of the Morozovs can be compared with the fortunes of the top ten richest people on the planet today.

Savva Timofeevich was received in high society, enjoyed the favor of the Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, S. Yu. Witte, and even received the honor of being introduced to the emperor. The millionaire merchant was awarded orders and honorary titles. He married for love a beautiful woman - Zinaida Grigorievna Morozova (Zimina), who loved her husband very much and bore him several children.

At his factories, Savva Timofeevich tried to create the most favorable conditions for the workers, and there were legends about this. What prompted this outstanding person to have a fatal connection with the militants of the Bolshevik Party, which was distinguished by extreme intolerance, cynicism and was an implacable enemy of capital? Naturally, in the event that the capital could not get at its own disposal.

The building of the Moscow Art Theater in Kamergersky Lane, 1900s

It is believed that the tragic events began with the fact that Savva Morozov undertook to help create the Moscow Art Theater. Unlike other Moscow moneybags, who promised to give money to the theatrical fan from the factory owners Alekseev, who took the stage name Stanislavsky, only Morozov really gave them!

Stanislavsky hoped that his wealthy relatives would help him, but they did not give a penny. Then he began to ask for patrons, but only Morozov responded with a deed. Subsequently, the theater actually existed at his expense, and the "grateful" Nemirovich literally survived Savva Timofeevich from the board.

Morozov himself found a building for the theater, gave money and received Active participation in creating the future pride of Russian culture. But he didn't get the glory.

Among Stanislavsky's acquaintances, who played on the amateur stage, there was a couple of gentlemen Andreevs. Them real name was Zhelyabuzhsky. The head of the family had the rank of general of a real state councilor. His wife - Maria Fedorovna Andreeva (Zhelyabuzhskaya) - came from an impoverished noble family, her father served as chief director at the Alexandrinsky Theater.

Maria Andreeva

Maria began her career as a professional actress, but soon got married. Subsequently, she returned first to the amateur stage, and then to the professional one, at the Art Theater. Through her son's tutor, she met revolutionary youth and became involved in militant organization RSDLP, led by Leonid Krasin.

Andreeva had party nicknames "Phenomenon" and "White Crow".

Savva Morozov, who was greatly carried away by her, did not know anything about this. Andreeva skillfully extracted large sums from him, and he, enchanted by her, gave money to those who cynically used him.

Unhappy love and death

In one of his private letters, unaware of Andreeva's connections with the Bolshevik terrorists, Stanislavsky bitterly reproached her for a truly terrible disregard for the feelings of such a worthy person as Savva Morozov. But this did not make any impression on Maria Feodorovna. With her secret mediation at the Morozov enterprise, Leonid Krasin, the head of the military organization of the RSDLP, got the opportunity to legalize.

In one of Morozov's estates, Nikolai Bauman worked as a veterinarian, who was killed in the troubled days of 1905. Receiving money from Morozov, the Bolsheviks often wrote in their Iskra deliberate lies about the situation of workers at the enterprises of a millionaire: allegedly people were starving and dying from overwork. This was one of the forms of their "gratitude" to the one who gave money for the existence of their press organ and covered the party functionaries from the political police.

Maria Fedorovna Andreeva Andreeva with her son and A.M. Gorky. 1905

Soon Andreeva got along with Maxim Gorky, but Morozov still continued to fulfill all her whims: the matter concerned mainly money for party needs. Or did they manage to take the millionaire firmly by the throat?

The Bolsheviks managed to incite the workers of Orekhovo-Zuev to an armed uprising, which was quickly and brutally suppressed by the troops. And then Savva Timofeevich experienced a mental breakdown. No, he did not go crazy, as they tried to imagine later, but he felt empty. He lost a woman with whom he was unrequitedly in love, his wife took him back and even bore him a son, but Morozov saw that she would never forgive him to the end. The workers, for whom he sincerely tried to create the best conditions in Russia, betrayed him too. The theater, which without it simply would not exist in nature, having received decent money, threw it away with the hands of its artistic directors.

What a disgusting person, - Savva Timofeevich once exclaimed in his hearts, once again quarreling with Maxim Gorky. - Why does he appear to be a tramp when everyone knows that his grandfather was a wealthy merchant of the second guild and left a large inheritance?

The proletarian writer added, telling that Morozov allegedly guarded him and followed him everywhere with a Browning, so that Gorky would not be attacked by the Black Hundreds and Okhrana agents. This shameless lie aroused Savva Timofeevich's indignation.

An unpleasant surprise for the Bolsheviks was that the millionaire manufacturer flatly refused them financial support. He saw WHAT Bolshevism would bring to Russia, and did not want to feed his own murderer and gravedigger.

Krasin repeatedly turned to Morozov for money and even threatened him, but received a firm refusal. Morozov was followed by suspicious people. Krasin and the company tried to convince the manufacturer that this was the tsarist secret police, but in fact they were Bolshevik people: they tried to put pressure on Morozov psychological pressure. It is possible that it was Andreeva and Gorky who deliberately spread rumors that the family had declared Morozov crazy.

All this was not true. Zinaida Grigorievna Morozova loved her husband. The family decided to temporarily hide Savva Timofeevich from his former dangerous acquaintances and at the same time give him the opportunity to rest and heal. Together with his wife, the manufacturer went abroad. But even there he was tracked down by Bolshevik militants, who still did not lose hope of getting money.

Even during the period of courting Andreeva, the millionaire insured his life for one hundred thousand rubles - fabulous money at that time - and gave the insurance policy to the actress. Andreeva kept the insurance policy, but Morozov did not demand it back. Why? Secret…

Savva was resting in Cannes when Krasin came to him - to ask, beg, finally demand money! Morozov flatly refused, and an angry Krasin left with nothing.

A few days later, on May 13, 1905, a shot rang out in the most expensive hotel on the Cannes Riviera, the Tsarskoye. In the room where the millionaire Savva Morozov was resting. When Zinaida Grigorievna ran into the room, she saw her husband lying on the sofa, and nearby, on the floor, lay a small nickel-plated Browning. The window was ajar, and the woman saw a man running away: so she maintained until the end of her days. There was a note on the dressing table: "I ask you not to blame anyone for my death." However, the wife said that her husband's handwriting had been changed and Savva would never have decided to commit suicide.

Zinaida Morozova

Did you close his eyes? - the first thing they asked the wife of a millionaire. After all, before the arrival of the police, no one touched the body of the philanthropist. The fact is that suicides and those killed do not close their eyes, another person does it for them. Who did it - the wife or the killer? Secret…

The French police officially declared suicide, and the case was quickly closed. In order to bury Morozov according to the Orthodox rite - suicides were not buried in the ground consecrated by the church - they had to declare that poor Savva had lost his mind. Then his body was buried in the earth as it should be. To relieve tension in the powerful Morozov clan, the Moscow mayor Count Shuvalov came to the funeral.

Soon, Madame Andreeva coolly presented an insurance policy for one hundred thousand rubles for payment. Forty of them went to pay her debts, and sixty were immediately taken by the Bolshevik Party. It is believed that it was this fatal policy that became a death sentence for a well-known philanthropist and industrialist. For the greedy Bolsheviks, he was the only way to get Morozov's money. But who killed Savva? This has remained a mystery...

The Investigation That Wasn't

More than a hundred years have passed since the mysterious death of the manufacturer Savva Morozov, but the Cannes murder case continues to interest historians and politicians to this day. Since 1905, a negligible number of documents related to the death of Savva Timofeevich have been preserved: neither in the French nor in the Russian archives is there material evidence of the incident, in addition to Morozov's death certificate and his suicide note. This once again confirms that for some reason no one was interested in disclosing the real circumstances of the death of a well-known Russian businessman.

Neither the French police, nor representatives of the Russian security department, nor the relatives of the deceased took up the case of Savva Morozov - no one protested the version of the millionaire's suicide, although many facts suggested that Savva Timofeevich was killed in a Cannes hotel room.

The fact that Morozov was not a suicide was also evidenced by a seven-shot automatic Browning gun found on the floor next to the body of an entrepreneur.

The weapon that belonged to Savva was designed for 7.65 mm cartridges, but many historians testified that the bullet extracted from the manufacturer's body had a completely different caliber and could not fit his Browning.

The Browning itself, which served as important material evidence, mysteriously disappeared shortly after the incident. It could have been destroyed back in France, after the body of Savva Morozov was sent to Russia, or during the years of Soviet power, when valuable documents related to this case were carefully sought out and destroyed.

As you know, Morozov's body was for some time under examination in the morgue, which worked at the city clinic. It was there that an autopsy was probably performed, in which the bullet would have been removed. However, the documents confirming this, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. To date, it is impossible to find out whether the bullet remained in the body of the manufacturer, or whether it ended up in the hands of the French police.

Savva Morozov during the construction of the Moscow Art Theater

Morozov's case did not seem to have been investigated at all. This was also facilitated by the events that took place in Russia in 1905. At that time, huge amounts of money were required to suppress the revolution that had engulfed Russia. It is known that Russia managed to negotiate with the French authorities on obtaining a large loan on favorable terms for France.

Just at that moment, a well-known Russian politician and the largest millionaire died in Cannes. It is quite understandable that the French side sought to close this case as soon as possible.

For the French police, the version of Morozov's suicide was the most convenient. However, experienced Hungarian and Yugoslav experts admitted that with such an arrangement of a pistol and a right hand, it was worth raising a murder case with subsequent staging.

What or who forced the French police to deviate from official rules remains also unknown. It is only known that the issue of terminating the investigation of the case related to the death of the Russian millionaire was agreed upon at the highest interstate level.

Murder of Savva Morozov's doppelgänger?

According to unofficial data, there was still an investigation of this complicated case by Russia. And, allegedly, Nicholas II himself entrusted the investigation to a certain counterintelligence officer Sergei Svirsky. However, the solution of the Morozov issue was temporarily postponed by the uprising on the battleship Potemkin. Only in September Svirsky again reminded the ruler of this investigation.

Svirsky reported to Nicholas II that, on the basis of the data he had collected, it was impossible to either refute or confirm the suicide of Savva Timofeevich. The French police report on Morozov's death was drawn up from the words of a man who wished to remain anonymous; There were no photos from the crime scene either.

The version of historians about the double of Savva Morozov appeared as a result of one small detail. The fact is that the coffin with the body of Savva Morozov was delivered to Moscow through Revel on board a yacht called Eva Yuhanson, which belonged to the yacht club Savva's second cousin, Foma Panteleevich Morozov.

At the funeral, for some reason, they decided not to open the coffin. By religion, Savva Morozov, like all representatives of his dynasty, was an Old Believer, among whom suicide has always been considered the most terrible and unforgivable sin. Savva Timofeevich knew perfectly well that suicide entailed the renunciation not only of the church and faith, but also of the family and children. This is further evidence in favor of the version that he could not have committed suicide.

Savva Morozov was buried at the Old Believer Rogozhsky cemetery in Moscow, in a tomb, next to his grandfather and father. No speeches were made at his funeral, as this was not accepted according to the Old Believer traditions. They buried in complete silence, and together with Savva Timofeevich, they seemed to be burying terrible secret his death.

According to some data, many foreign accounts of Savva Morozov were bequeathed to a very mysterious person - Foma Morozov.

Savva's second cousin, who lived in the Nizhny Novgorod province, and the entrepreneur himself from early childhood were incredibly similar to each other. This similarity did not disappear even over the years: it is known that at the Nizhny Novgorod fair, where Savva Timofeevich was a member of the stock exchange committee, Foma often replaced him, putting on a suit and cutting his hair a little. Foma himself was well versed in financial matters, since he owned a brokerage firm.

After a more thorough study of the Morozov case, it turned out that Foma Morozov, who died in 1903, was buried in the village cemetery, located not far from the town of Lahti. The fact of the death of Foma Morozov was not particularly advertised, and his brokerage firm continued to work according to existing documents. The co-owner of the office at that time was Nikita Morozov.

It was he who, many years after the news of the suicide of Savva Morozov, told his grandson that the manufacturer until his death lived according to the documents of his second cousin.

There were rumors among the Old Believers that until October 1967, there was a grave with a huge cross and an inscription at the Malokhtensky cemetery, indicating that the body of Savva Morozov was buried here in October 1929. By order of the secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU, this cross was demolished. Perhaps the legend that went around among the workers after the death of Savva Timofeevich that he actually survived was not fiction. However, the writer Gorky claims that the factory workers themselves came up with the legend, refusing to believe what happened. The workers were very fond of Morozov.

There are many mysteries and secrets in this story, but the solution to this tangled story becomes more than obvious if you follow the fate of Savva Morozov's family members after the tragedy.

The fate of members of the Morozov family after the death of Savva Timofeevich

On May 29, about fifteen thousand people gathered for the funeral of Savva Timofeevich. All the actors and workers of the Moscow Art Theater were present at the cemetery, except for one artist, Maria Andreeva. On this day, she allegedly fell ill and remained in bed. The woman, because of whom he may have paid with his life, citing ill health, did not want to spend him in last way.

Zinaida Grigoryevna after Morozov's funeral

A. A. Kozlov, the then Governor-General of Moscow, at Morozov's funeral, approaching Zinaida Grigorievna, whom he knew well and whose house he had been, expressed condolences to her and said bluntly:

“I don’t believe in talking about suicide, Savva Timofeevich was too significant and respected person. It's a huge loss for everyone."

After the tragedy that happened to Savva Morozov, a lot of suffering and tragic moments awaited his family. Some time later, Timothy, the eldest son of Savva, actively began investigating the murder of his father. He probably still managed to find some facts or important evidence. Timothy, trying to start the investigation of this case again, was immediately arrested. In 1921 he was sentenced to death penalty and shot. The younger son of Morozov, Savva, was sent to the Gulag.

Portrait of Zinaida Grigorievna Morozova with children: Timofey, Maria, Lyulyuta, 1900 - 1903

His daughter Masha, recognized as mentally ill, ended up in an insane asylum, where she died under very strange circumstances. Only the younger Elena managed to escape from the reprisals of the authorities: after the revolution that swept the country, she was able to leave for Brazil. The widowed Morozova, who inherited a large amount of money from her husband, remained in Russia. A few years later, she married Governor General Rainboat. In her possession remained a mansion on Spiridonovka and a country estate Gorki with a huge park and a greenhouse.

Although Zinaida Grigorievna could well have left Russia after the victory of the Bolsheviks, she did not take advantage of this opportunity. For some time she lived in Gorki, however, having received a document from the authorities stating that her house with the artistic and historical furnishings in it belonged to the state, she was forced to leave the estate. For the rest of her life, Zinaida rented a dacha in the village of Ilyinsky, where she lived until last days. She died after World War II in oblivion and poverty.

Maria Andreeva under Soviet rule became a well-known party worker and received many top government awards. Urns with the ashes of Krasin and Gorky are kept in the Kremlin wall to this day.

150 years ago, on February 15, 1862, the famous Russian industrialist and philanthropist Savva Timofeevich Morozov was born.

Savva Timofeevich Morozov was born on February 15 (3 according to the old style) February 1862 in a very rich Old Believer merchant family, was a hereditary honorary citizen of Moscow. He belonged to one of the most famous families in the history of Russian business.

Savva Morozov received a good education: in 1881 he graduated from the 4th Moscow gymnasium, studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, where he attended lectures by Vasily Klyuchevsky on history, and in 1885 he went to England, to Cambridge, where he studied chemistry, worked on dissertation and at the same time got acquainted with the organization of textile business in English factories.

In 1886, after his father's illness, he was forced to return to Russia and take charge of affairs. He headed the share partnership of the Nikolsky manufactory of Savva Morozov son and Co., as well as the Trekhgorny brewing partnership in Moscow.

Having become the head of the Nikolskaya manufactory, Savva Morozov paid much attention to improving the social, living and working conditions of workers. He built new barracks for the workers and provided exemplary medical care. An almshouse was opened for the elderly workers. Morozov also took care of the leisure of the workers - in Nikolskoye, at the expense of the manufacturers, a park was arranged for folk festivals, libraries were organized, and the building of a stone theater was laid.

In 1888, Savva Morozov married his divorced relative Zinaida Grigoryevna Zimina. For his wife, Morozov built on Spiridonovka, a quiet aristocratic Moscow street, a mansion with a garden (now the Reception House of the Russian Foreign Ministry). The mansion was built by the architect Fyodor Shekhtel in the Neo-Gothic style that was fashionable at the end of the 19th century.

The house quickly became a popular place. To receive an invitation to a reception from the wife of Morozov was considered an honor by the highest-ranking officials of the city. Morozov himself did not like these high-society salons, rarely appeared there and felt superfluous.

In business circles, Morozov enjoyed great influence: he headed the committee of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, was a member of the Moscow branch of the Council of Trade and Manufactories and the Society for Promoting the Improvement and Development of the Manufactory Industry, was elected an elector of the Moscow Exchange Society and remained so until the end of his life.

In 1892 Savva Morozov was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the 3rd degree "for useful activities and special works under the department of the Ministry of Finance", in 1896 he was once again awarded one of the highest awards of the Russian Empire - the Order of St. Anna of the 2nd degree .

Morozov was engaged in the development of the chemical industry and at the Ural factories. In the early 1890s, he acquired property in the Perm province, rebuilt factories there and launched the production of acetic acid, wood and methyl alcohol, acetone, denatured alcohol, charcoal and acetic acid salt. All these products have been used in the textile industry.

Legends about the untold wealth of Morozov roamed among the people. At the same time, he was modest and unpretentious in everyday life. He is doing charity work and donating money to build shelters and hospitals.

Great was Morozov's help to national culture. He was an ardent admirer of the Moscow Art Theater, rendered him great assistance, regularly made donations for the construction and development of the Moscow Art Theater, and was in charge of its financial part. Under his leadership, the theater building was rebuilt and a new hall for 1300 seats was created. This construction cost Morozov 300 thousand rubles, and the total amount spent by him at the Moscow Art Theater approached half a million.

"This remarkable man was destined to play in our theater an important and wonderful role of a patron who knows how not only to make material sacrifices to art, but also to serve it with all devotion, without self-love, without false ambition, personal gain," Konstantin said about Savva Morozov Stanislavsky.

On the badge for the 10th anniversary of the theater there was an image of its three founders - Stanislavsky, Nemirovich-Danchenko and Morozov.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Morozov became keenly interested in politics. He maintained relations with the leaders of the liberal movement, semi-legal meetings of the Cadets took place in his mansion on Spiridonovka. Then revolutionary views led him to close contact with the Bolshevik Party. With his money, the Iskra newspaper was published, the first legal Bolshevik newspapers Novaya Zhizn in St. Petersburg and Borba in Moscow were founded, party congresses of the RSDLP were held. Morozov illegally smuggled forbidden literature and typographic fonts to his factory, and in 1905 he hid Nikolai Bauman, one of the leaders of the Bolsheviks, from the police. He was friends with Maxim Gorky, was closely acquainted with Leonid Krasin.

In February 1905, when Morozov decided to carry out extreme transformations at his factory, which were supposed to give workers the right to a part of the profits, his mother removed him from management, and the events of January 9, 1905, which went down in history as " Bloody Sunday", became a real shock for him. In addition, Morozov began to have problems in family life because of his passion for actress Maria Andreeva.

As a result, Savva Morozov actually retired, fell into a deep depression and avoided communication. The council, convened by relatives, diagnosed him with a severe nervous disorder, expressed in excessive excitement, anxiety and bouts of melancholy.

On the recommendation of doctors, Morozov, accompanied by his wife, left for Cannes. Here, May 26, 1905, on the shore mediterranean sea, in the Royal Hotel room, the 44-year-old magnate was found dead, shot through the chest. According to the official version, Morozov committed suicide. Many circumstances of this suicide are still not clear. They said that on the eve there were no signs of a tragic denouement - Morozov was going to the casino and was in a normal mood.

Savva Morozov did not immediately find peace after death. According to Christian canons, a suicide cannot be buried according to church rites. The Morozovsky clan, using money and connections, began to seek permission for a funeral in Russia. The authorities were presented with confusing and rather contradictory testimonies from doctors that the death was the result of a "sudden onset of passion", so it cannot be considered as an ordinary suicide. Finally, permission was granted. The body of Savva Morozov was brought to Moscow in a closed metal coffin and buried at the Rogozhsky cemetery. The tombstone on his grave was made by the sculptor Nikolai Andreev, the author of the famous monument to Nikolai Gogol.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Quote message Mysterious death in Cannes. Savva Morozov.

Mysterious death in Cannes

IN Everyone knows that the famous industrialist and philanthropist, one of the main sponsors of the Bolshevik Party, Savva Morozov, was found dead in one of the hotels French city Cannes. The debate about whether it was suicide or someone dealt with Savva Timofeevich has been going on for more than a hundred years. The authors of the film found new unexpected arguments in favor of each of these versions and
expanded the circle of suspects. However, the most unexpected find was evidence that the death of Savva Morozov was only a staging. The film includes interviews of the descendants of S.T. Morozov and competent experts, chronicle footage, documentary materials, as well as game episodes. The film is attended by: Marina Smolyaninova, Irina Morozova, Fyodor Morozov (descendants of S.T. Morozov), Lyubov Syroezhkina (director of the Orekhovo-Zuevsky Museum of Local Lore), Lyudmila Kaminskaya (head of the Museum of the History of the Moscow Police of the KC Central Internal Affairs Directorate for Moscow) , Mikhail Vinogradov (doctor of medical sciences), Metropolitan Kornely (primate of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church) and others.

Let's start with the pedigree of Savva Timofeevich Morozov.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the first Savva did not have a middle name. And it was simply called “Sava son Vasiliev”, since he was born a serf. An enterprising peasant in the Vladimir province opened a workshop that produced silk lace and ribbons. He worked on the only machine tool himself, and he himself walked to Moscow, 100 miles away, to sell goods to buyers. Gradually, he switched to cloth and cotton products. He was lucky. For 17 thousand rubles - huge money at that time - Savva received a "free" from the nobles of the Ryumins, and soon the former serf Morozov was enrolled in the Moscow merchants of the first guild.
Having lived to a ripe old age, Savva Vasilievich did not overcome the letters, but this did not prevent him from doing excellent business. He bequeathed to his sons four large factories, united by the name "Nikolskaya Manufactory". His son turned out to be a clever and resourceful heir. Timothy was literate and, although he “did not graduate from universities,” he often donated quite large sums to educational establishments and for publishing.
On January 7, 1885, a strike of workers, the Morozov strike, broke out at the Nikolskaya manufactory. When the instigators of the unrest were tried, Timofey Morozov was summoned to court as a witness. The hall was overcrowded, the atmosphere tense to the limit. The anger of the public was caused not by the defendants, but by the owner of the factory.
Savva Timoffevich recalled that trial: “They look at him through binoculars, like in a circus. Shouting: “Beast! Bloodsucker!" The parent got lost. He went to the witness stand, fussed, stumbled on the smooth parquet - and with the back of his head on the floor, as if on purpose in front of the dock itself. Such a mockery arose in the hall that the chairman had to interrupt the meeting.” After the trial, Timofey Savvich lay in a fever for a month and got out of bed a completely different person. He didn’t want to hear about the factory: “Sell it, and the money goes to the bank.” And only the iron will of his wife saved the manufactory from sale. Timofey Morozov refused to conduct production affairs at all: he transferred the property to his wife, since the eldest son, in his opinion, was young and hot.

Savva Timofeevich, mother - Maria Fedorovna Morozova and wife Zinaida Grigoryevna Morozova

Savva Timofeevich Morozov
The future capitalist and freethinker was brought up in the spirit of religious asceticism, in exceptional severity. On Saturdays, underwear was changed in the house. The brothers, the elder Savva and the younger Sergei, were given only one clean shirt, which usually went to Seryozha, his mother's favorite. Savva had to wear the one that his brother took off. More than strange for the richest merchant family, but this was not the only eccentricity of the hostess. Occupying a two-story mansion with 20 rooms, she did not use electric lighting, considering it to be demonic power. For the same reason, she did not read newspapers and magazines, she shied away from literature, theater, and music. Afraid of catching a cold, she did not take a bath, preferring to use colognes. And at the same time she kept her family in her fist so that they did not dare to rock the boat without her permission. At the same time, “forms of education” tested for centuries were used - for poor academic success, the young merchant growth was mercilessly beaten.

Representatives of 4 branches of the Morozov family (4 Morozov manufactories):
Morozov Abram Abramovich, Morozov Timofey Savvich, Morozov Vasily
(Makar?) Zakharovich, Morozov Vikul Eliseevich

Moscow. Photo by Bergner A.(?)

Savva was not distinguished by special obedience. In his own words, while still at the gymnasium, he learned to smoke and not to believe in God. His character was paternal: he made decisions quickly and forever.
He entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. There he seriously studied philosophy, attended lectures on the history of V.O. Klyuchevsky. Then he continued his education in England. He studied chemistry at Cambridge, worked on his dissertation and at the same time got acquainted with the textile business. In 1887, after the Morozov strike and his father's illness, he was forced to return to Russia and take charge of the affairs. Savva was then 25 years old.
He ordered the latest equipment from England. The old man was disgusted by his son's innovations, but in the end he gave in: fines were canceled at the manufactory, prices were changed, new barracks were built. Timofey Savvovich stamped his feet on his son and scolded him as a socialist.
- And in good moments, very old - he stroked me, it happened, on the head and said: “Oh, Savvushka, you will break your neck.”
But the realization of the disturbing prophecy was still far away.

Secretly, Maria Fedorovna was proud of her son - God did not deprive him of either intelligence or mastery. Although she got angry when Savva first ordered in his own way, as he saw fit, and only then approached: “Here, they say, mama, let me report ...”
On the love front
In Moscow, Savva Timofeevich made a lot of noise by falling in love with the wife of his cousin-nephew Sergei Vikulovich Morozov - Zinaida. There were rumors that Sergei Vikulovich took her from the weavers at one of the Morozov factories. According to another version, she came from the Zimin merchant family, and her father, Bogorodsk merchant of the second guild, Grigory Zimin, was from Zuev. Zinaida Grigoryevna adored luxury and reveled in social success. Her husband indulged her every whim.

Savva Morozov and Zinaida Grigorievna, his wife

Morozov was lucky to have powerful, arrogant, intelligent and very ambitious wives. Zinaida Grigorievna only confirms this statement. An intelligent, but extremely pretentious woman, she entertained her vanity in a way that is most understandable to the merchant world: she adored luxury and reveled in secular success. Her husband indulged her every whim.
The personal apartments of Zinaida Grigoryevna were luxuriously and eclectically furnished. Bedroom "Empire" made of Karelian birch with bronze, marble walls, furniture covered with blue damask. The apartment resembled a dishware shop, the amount of Sevres porcelain was frightening: even the mirror frames were made of porcelain, porcelain vases stood on the dressing table, tiny porcelain figures hung on the walls and on brackets.
The study and master bedroom looked alien here. Of the decorations, only the bronze head of Ivan the Terrible by Antokolsky on a bookcase. These empty rooms resembled a bachelor's dwelling.
In general, mother's lessons were not in vain. In relation to himself, Savva Morozov was extremely unpretentious, even stingy - he walked at home in worn-out shoes, on the street he could appear in patched shoes. In defiance of his unpretentiousness, Madame Morozova tried to have only “the very best”: if toilets, then the most unthinkable, if resorts, then the most fashionable and expensive.
Savva looked through his fingers at his wife's affairs: mutual frenzied passion soon grew into indifference, and then into complete alienation. They lived in the same house, but practically did not communicate.

Savva Timofeevich Morozov with children.

Even four children did not save this marriage.
Captivating, with an insinuating look and an arrogant face, complexed because of her merchant class, and all hung with pearls, Zinaida Grigorievna sparkled in society and tried to turn her house into a secular salon. She "easily" visited the queen's sister, the wife of the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. Evenings, balls, receptions followed in succession ... Morozova was constantly surrounded by secular youth, officers. A.A. Reinbot, an officer of the General Staff, a brilliant boyfriend and socialite, enjoyed her special attention.

Zinaida Grigoryevna Morozova - Wife of Savva Morozov

Later he received the rank of general for the fight against the revolutionary movement. And two years after the death of Savva Timofeevich, he married Zinaida Grigoryevna. One must think that her vanity was satisfied: she became a hereditary noblewoman.

Savva Timofeevich and Maria Fedorovna Andreeva
Keeping a strict account of each ruble, Savva did not skimp on spending thousands for the sake of a good, in his opinion, business. He gave money for the publication of books, donated to the Red Cross, but his main feat was the financing of the Moscow Art Theater. Only the construction of the theater building in Kamergersky Lane cost Morozov 300 thousand rubles.
In 1898, the Moscow Art Theater staged the play "Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich" based on the play by Alexei Tolstoy. Savva Morozov, accidentally stopping by the theater in the evening, experienced a deep shock and since then has become an ardent admirer of the theater.
Savva Timofeevich was an enthusiastic and passionate nature. Mother Maria Fyodorovna was not without reason afraid: “Hot Savvushka! .. will be carried away by some innovation, will contact unreliable people, God forbid.”

"Portrait of M.F. Andreeva" 1905

God did not save him from the actress of the Art Theater Maria Fedorovna Andreeva, ironically - the namesake of his mother.
The wife of a high-ranking official A.A. Zhelyabuzhsky, Andreeva, was not happy in the family. Her husband met another love, but the couple, keeping up appearances, lived in one house for the sake of two children. Maria Fedorovna found solace in the theater - Andreeva was her stage name.
Having become a regular at the Art Theater, Morozov also became a fan of Andreva - she had the glory of the most beautiful actress on the Russian stage. A stormy romance ensued. Morozov admired her rare beauty, bowed before her talent and rushed to fulfill any desire.

Stanislavsky about Andreeva and Morozov
“The relationship of Savva Timofeevich to you is exceptional ... These are the relationships for which they break their lives, sacrifice themselves ... But do you know what sacrilege you reach? .. You boast publicly to outsiders that Zinaida Grigorievna, painfully jealous of you, is looking for your influence over her husband. For the sake of acting vanity, you are telling right and left that Savva Timofeevich, at your insistence, is contributing a whole capital ... for the sake of saving someone ....
I love your mind and views and I do not like you as an actor in life at all. This actress is your main enemy. It kills the best in you. You start telling lies, stop being kind and smart, become harsh, tactless both on stage and in life.

M.F. Andreeva

Passion and revolution
Andreeva was a hysterical woman, prone to adventures and adventures. Only the theater was not enough for her (or rather, she was stung by the undoubted artistic genius of Olga Knipper-Chekhova), she wanted a political theater. She was connected with the Bolsheviks and raised money for them. Later, the Okhrana would establish that Andreeva collected millions of rubles for the RSDLP.
“Comrade Phenomenon,” as Lenin called her, managed to force the largest Russian capitalist to fork out for the needs of the revolution. Savva Timofeevich donated a significant part of his fortune to the Bolsheviks.

M.F. Andreeva. Artist I.I. Brodsky M.F. Andreeva. Artist I. Repin.

Passionate, carried away, nature in everything going “to the end”, “to the complete death in earnest”. Rogozhin in the novel “The Idiot” seems to have been written off by Dostoevsky from Morozov - or the great writer knew the very type of a talented Russian businessman who was bored with his money, went crazy from the surrounding vulgarity and vanity, and put everything in the end on a woman and on love.
A Russian rich man, as soon as he becomes educated, falls in love with a fatal intellectual who embodies for him culture, progress and passion at the same time. And then either he dies, unable to overcome the marginality of his existence, or ... becomes an intellectual.

Andreeva and Gorky

“Pity humiliates a person”
The tragedy began with the fact that Stanislavsky quarreled with Nemirovich-Danchenko.
And they quarreled because of the artist Andreeva, who made a scandal because of the artist Knipper-Chekhova. The genius talent of Olga Leonardovna Knipper was recognized by absolutely everyone.
Andreeva was given secondary roles - she demanded the main ones, complained to Stanislavsky and Morozov about Nemirovich-Danchenko. In the end, the two co-owners of the theater hated each other so much that they could not talk calmly. Morozov resigned his directorship. Together with his close friend Maxim Gorky and Maria Fedorovna, he started a new theater.

Andreeva and Gorky

But then Andreeva and Gorky fell in love with each other. This discovery was a severe shock for Savva.
Actor A.A. Tikhonov spoke about it this way:
“A bare, shoulder-length female hand in a white ball glove touched my sleeve.
- Tikhonych, dear, hide this for now ... I have nowhere to put it ...
Maria Fedorovna Andreeva, very beautiful, in a white dress with a deep neckline, handed me a manuscript with Gorky's poem "The Man". At the end, a donation was made - they say that the author of this poem has a strong heart, from which she, Andreeva, can make heels for her shoes.
Morozov, who was standing nearby, grabbed the manuscript and read the dedication.
- So ... a New Year's gift? Fall in love?
He pulled out a thin gold cigarette case from the pocket of his tailcoat trousers and began to light a cigarette, but from the wrong end. His freckled fingers were shaking.”

Rivals - S.T.Morozov and A.M.Gorky

Morozov could not resist the venerable rival, and was forced to improve relations with his wife, and not without success. A year later, their fourth child was born - the son of Savva. “What a disgusting person, indeed! - Savva Timofeevich once exclaimed in his hearts, having a strong quarrel with Maxim Gorky. “Why does he appear to be a tramp when everyone around knows very well that his grandfather was a wealthy merchant of the second guild and left a large inheritance to the family?”

The fatal mistake of Savva Morozov
Savva Timofeevich lived according to the laws of Russian literature, where suffering from love and indulging bitches and hysterics was revered as a virtue. Even after Andreeva and Gorky began to live together, Morozov still anxiously cared for Maria Fedorovna. When she was on tour in Riga, she was hospitalized with peritonitis and was on the verge of death, it was Morozov who looked after her. He bequeathed to her an insurance policy in the event of his death. After the death of Morozov, Andreeva received 100 thousand rubles from insurance.

M.F. Andreeva in the play

... It was already the beginning of 1905. A revolution broke out. A strike broke out at the Nikolskaya manufactory. In order to negotiate with the workers, Morozov demanded from his mother a power of attorney to conduct business. But she, outraged by his desire to negotiate with the workers, categorically refused, and she herself insisted on removing her son from business. And when he tried to object, she shouted: “I don’t want to listen! If you don’t leave, we will force you.”
The circle of loneliness was inexorably shrinking. Morozov remained in complete isolation. A talented, intelligent, strong, rich man could not find something to rely on.
Love proved impossible and untrue. The secular wife was annoying. He had no friends in his circle, and in general it was unimaginably boring among the merchants. He contemptuously referred to his colleagues as a "wolf pack." The “flock” answered him with timid dislike. Gradually, an understanding came of the true attitude towards him on the part of the “comrades”: the Bolsheviks saw him as just a stupid cash cow and shamelessly used his money. In the letters of Gorky's "sincere friend" there was a frank calculation.
Savva fell into a severe depression. Rumors about his madness spread around Moscow. Savva Timofeevich began to avoid people, spent a lot of time in complete solitude, not wanting to see anyone. His wife was vigilant that no one came to him, and seized the correspondence that came in his name.
At the insistence of his wife and mother, a council was convened, which made a diagnosis: a severe nervous disorder, expressed in excessive excitement, anxiety, insomnia, and bouts of depression. The doctors recommended sending the “patient” abroad for treatment.
Accompanied by his wife, Savva Timofeevich left for Cannes. Here, in May 1905, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in the room of the Royal Hotel, the 44-year-old chintz magnate shot himself. They said that on the eve there were no signs of a tragic denouement - Savva was going to the casino and was in a normal mood.

Suicide or Murder?
A significant role in shaping the revolutionary mood of the workers of the Morozov manufactory was played by Leonid Krasin, who was assigned by Savva to supervise the construction of the power plant back in 1904. Krasin was well versed not only in electricity, but also in the manufacture of explosive devices. No wonder he headed the Combat Technical Group under the Bolshevik leadership. Krasin's expropriations consisted in organizing bandit raids on bank crews in order to seize money. In Moscow, Krasin's workshop was equipped in Gorky's apartment, which was vigilantly guarded by the Georgian militants of the legendary Kamo. It was here that the bombs that exploded at Stolypin's residence in August 1906 were constructed. This time Stolypin was unharmed, but the explosion killed 32 people and injured dozens. Terrorist actions were gaining momentum. “Krasin dreamed of creating a portable walnut-sized bomb,” Trotsky recalled. Krasin's military merits were highly appreciated by his comrades-in-arms, and he was appointed treasurer of the Central Committee. Finally, Savva realized what a threat to society the fiery revolutionaries posed, and stopped injecting money into their treasury. Such a turn did not suit the Bolsheviks, they tried to put pressure on the sponsor, but Savva was adamant, the Bolsheviks too. Many researchers of this dark affair believe that Krasin was the organizer of the murder.

1870 Leonid Borisovich Krasin
I repeat. Shortly before his death, he insured his life for 100 thousand rubles. He handed over the insurance policy “to bearer” to Maria Andreeva along with a handwritten letter. According to her, in the letter, “Savva Timofeevich entrusts the money to me, since I alone know his desires, and that he cannot trust anyone but me, even his relatives.” A significant part of these funds was transferred by Phenomenon to the fund of the Bolshevik Party.
Most of Morozov's fortune went to his wife, who shortly before the revolution sold the shares of the manufactory.
The reasons for allegedly suicide were called different, including a conflict with the mother. Perhaps his mother's actions hurt his pride, but did not affect his material wealth. Morozov remained a wealthy industrialist. He owned mines, logging, chemical plants, hospitals, newspapers. The break with Andreeva occurred several years ago and also could not cause a nervous breakdown. The act of the forty-three-year-old Savva to draw up his insurance policy for a huge amount of money at that time, one hundred thousand rubles, without indicating the name of the recipient, that is, “bearer”, is surprising. In fact, it was a death warrant signed with his own hand. What or who forced Savva to act in such a reckless way remained a mystery. When the time came to collect the money, the bearer was found. The document ended up in the hands of Andreeva, and, according to Morozov's former lover, this was an act of caring for her.

Later, Zinaida Grigorievna recalled that some suspicious personalities were constantly wiping around their house in France. On May 13, a shot rang out in Morozov's apartment. Zinaida Grigorievna ran into her husband's room and found him shot through the heart. Through the open window, she saw a man running away. Near the body of the murdered police found two notes. In one it was written: “Debt - payment. Krasin. In the other, Savva's posthumous appeal, in which he asked no one to blame for his death. The handwriting of the last note was similar to Krasin's. Morozov's personal doctor noted with surprise that the dead man's hands were neatly folded on his stomach, his eyes were closed. The doctor doubted that the suicide could have done this unaided. Until the end of her life, Zinaida Grigoryevna did not believe in Savva's suicide and claimed that Krasin visited her husband in Cannes. At the insistence of the mother of the deceased, the official version was adopted - suicide due to a nervous breakdown. “Let's leave everything as it is. I will not allow a scandal, ”she decided. “There is something mysterious in this death,” Gorky wrote to E. L. Peshkova, having heard about Morozov’s death and still not knowing what had happened. Morozov's relatives protested Andreeva's right to dispose of the policy, but lost the case. “Krasin was in charge of all these operations,” Andreeva wrote in a letter to N. E. Burenin, Lenin’s ally. Most of the money received under the policy went to the Bolshevik cash desk. About 28,000 rubles were transferred to E.F. Crete, Andreeva's sister, who raised her children. Andreeva herself, together with the "petrel of the revolution," began to carry out a new task for the Bolshevik committee to raise money. To this end, they went to New York with a letter of recommendation from the Executive Committee of the RSDLP and a personal note from Lenin. Maxim Gorky, in his passionate speeches to the Americans, exposed the bloodthirsty policy of tsarism and asked for money to support the revolution in Russia. After the victory of the revolution in 1917, Ilyich did not forget the merits of Andreeva, and handed her the briefcase of the commissioner of theaters and spectacles of Petrograd and its environs. The new government remembered Savva Morozov as a wealthy exploiting manufacturer, trying to oblivion his large cash contributions, which went to the revolutionary cause. But the memory of this outstanding man remained in the hearts of ordinary people.

150 years ago, on February 15, 1862, the famous Russian industrialist and philanthropist Savva Timofeevich Morozov was born.

On the badge for the 10th anniversary of the theater there was an image of its three founders - Stanislavsky, Nemirovich-Danchenko and Morozov.

In February 1905, when Morozov planned to carry out extreme transformations at his factory, which were supposed to give workers the right to a part of the profits, his mother removed him from management, and the events of January 9, 1905, which went down in history as "Bloody Sunday", became a real shock for him. In addition, Morozov began to have problems in family life because of his passion for actress Maria Andreeva.

On the recommendation of doctors, Morozov, accompanied by his wife, left for Cannes. Here, on May 26, 1905, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in the room of the Royal Hotel, the 44-year-old magnate was found dead, shot through the chest. According to the official version, Morozov committed suicide. Many circumstances of this suicide are still not clear. They said that on the eve there were no signs of a tragic denouement - Morozov was going to the casino and was in a normal mood.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources