Artemy Tereshchenko

Artemy Yakovlevich Tereshchenko (Russian: Арте́мий Я́ковлевич Тере́щенко; Ukrainian: Арте́м Я́кович Тере́щенко; 1794 – 1873 ) was the first entrepreneur in Tereshchenko family and the founder of the Tereshchenko dynasty, which is in the list of the most wealthiest families in the world.

Biography

Artemy Tereshchenko was a merchant of the first guild (May 12, 1870), a hereditary honorary citizen (1862), hereditary nobleman (1870). Burgermeister of the Hlukhiv city magistrate (1842-1845). In 1885 the Tereshchenkos had a solid, thriving business and even purchased and developed their own salt mines in the Kherson region and district town Bakhmut. The reservoir, which Tereshchenko chose will become the largest in the salt sea, opened to the south-east of Ukraine, also in 1916 the Tereshchenko mines will produce 2 million pounds of salt. Thus, the mine entered the top 10 of the largest salt mines of the time. (The Tereshchenko mine will be later become known as "Sverdlov mine").

Tereshchenko earned the nickname "Karbovanets". He established production of sugar beet in Ukraine, contributing this way into the fight against hunger and at the same time he donated a significant amount of the income to charity.

Napoleonic Wars

In 1815, at the age of 21, as a young Cossack, he was drafted into the army and sent to fight against the French invaders.

In order to maintain the morale of the Cossacks, the Tsar has promised to give the hand of his daughter, the Grand Duchess, to a Cossack, who would bring him the head of Napoleon. Cossacks rushed into the fight, which brought them to the town of Paris. But soon the regiment, where Tereshchenko served, was ordered to stay at the apartments outside the French capital. For a few months, Tereshchenko and his fellow Cossacks stayed near the town of Beauvais, where the fertile soils of the Bree valley were producing beets just like at his homeland Ukraine. At the same time, there was the ongoing blockade, the British announced to France, hindering deliveries of sugarcane from the Antilles. And one of the Napoleon's plans was to set up production of sugar from beets. The French began implementing the state plan enthusiastically and in northern France this strategically important production had started establishing.

Tereshchenko decided to take advantage of his stay in the suburbs of Paris to study French. In addition, he became friends with a group of young scientists who have worked on the problem of the production of sugar from beets at the University of Beauvais under the leadership of Jean-Say Basta, and learned the ins and outs of the process. He was delighted and immediately realized that if he would use sugar beet in production at his homeland, as there were growing beets of excellent quality, this could be one of the stages to win a fight against hunger. Tereshchenko studied all the material, which he had an access to, gathered as much information about the extraction of sugar from beets and vowed to apply this knowledge in practice as soon as he returned to Ukraine.

In 1816, the Grande Armée was finally defeated. The war finally ended and a regiment of Tereshchenko was sent home.

Birth of the dynasty

Shortly after arriving home, Tereshchenko met Euphrosyne Gregorievna Steslyavskaya, and proposed her to become his wife. The wedding took place on 15 January 1819. From this marriage, on 14 October the same year, their first son Nikola was born. His three sons Nikola, Fyodor and Simon joined him in the business. Tereshchenko's right-hand has always been his son Nikola. At his thirty, he was elected as a mayor. It was him, who came up with an effective way, which gave a powerful impact to his father's business: a trade credit. He offered a good price to product manufacturers, who came to sell to the local fair, but with the condition of deferred payment until the return of the convoy. This made it possible to increase its turnover tenfold. However, such transactions require, as a condition, and the key to success, its inviolability of the word. And since a father and a son did never break their word, the surname Tereshchenko became known, throughout the whole Russian Empire, as a synonym of "guarantor" for sellers and buyers.

Crimean War

In 1853, the Crimean War began. The Emperor Nikolai I had to keep the expeditional corpus of the Russian army in the difficult conditions of the Crimean peninsula, which was in the hands of the Sultan. Tsar knew that the Russian soldiers were badly prepared for a combat on mountainous terrain, where it was easily to be ambushed. Being aware of the reputation of Artemy Tereshchenko and knowing him as of stubborn and strong-willed old Cossack, who also knew very well the routes in the south of the state, the Tsar instructs chumak Tereshchenko to supply Crimean contingent of Russian troops with bread and firewood. It was known, that no matter how complex the weather conditions would be, the Russian army, wherever it was, has never been left without food and warmth during these three years of war, including heavy days of the Siege of Sevastopol.

Charity activities

Tereshchenko was also engaged in charitable activities. From the family fortune they built a vocational school, male and female gymnasiums, a Pedagogical Institute, a bank, the free hospital of St. Euphrosyne, an orphanage, and a Three Anastasias Cathedral.

Honors and awards

Tereshchenko became the first guild merchant, and by a Royal Decree of 12 May 1870, he, for the special services and charity activities, was awarded by Emperor Alexander II of Russia, with all the offspring of the male line to the hereditary nobility of the Russian Empire. He was also awarded with a Gold medal of the Holy Synod.