"No Profit Needed, Glory Would be Good": the Family of Kursk Merchants Gnuchevs in the 18th – early 20th

Abstract

Relevance. During the Soviet period, the activities of the merchant class were criticized for ideological reasons. Meanwhile, it was the entrepreneurial abilities of Russian merchants that were the most important factor in the development of the economy of the economy of the Russian state. Today, the state is making significant efforts to develop entrepreneurship. It is of interest to study the experience of developing entrepreneurship in the pre-revolutionary period.The Purpose. The study of the formation and development of the Kursk merchant dynasty of the Gnuchevs.Objectives. Within the framework of the article, the following tasks are solved: to trace the origin of the Gnuchev merchant dynasty, to identify the contribution of the Gnuchev merchants to the economy of the city of Kursk, to study the social activities of representatives of the Gnuchev merchant dynasty.Methodology. The article carried out a comprehensive analysis of archival sources and publications, used the methods of statistics and data comparison, analysis, synthesis, personal biographical method. Results. In the 18th - the first half of the 19th century, the Gnuchev dynasty of merchants developed. By the middle of the 19th century, the role of the Gnuchev merchants in the economic life of Kursk reached its maximum. In the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. there was a decrease in the importance of trade and production activities of representatives of the dynasty.Conclusion. The success of the Gnuchev merchant dynasty was ensured by the determination and hard work of several of its key representatives who managed to achieve success in the entrepreneurial field. In the Gnuchev family, they include the ancestor - Ivan, who, thanks to his own efforts, was able to move from a seedy family of service people to the merchant class, Foma Afanasyevich, who decided to move from the small town of Oboyan to the center of the Kursk province, and Afanasy Fomich, who managed to concentrate in their hands control over a number of important commercial and industrial enterprises of Kursk. None of the merchant dynasty of the Gnuchevs disgraced the honest name of the family. None of them were held accountable for misconduct related to entrepreneurial activities. And today the descendants of the Gnuchev merchant dynasty live in Kursk.