November 26 1844 years
В Petersburg the count was born Sergey Sheremetev. Historian, collector, and public figure. An airport—the largest in Moscow and Russia—is named after him.
He was fascinated by history from childhood. Like many noblemen, he traveled throughout Europe: he made his first trip at the age of 17.
By then, that fashion had already been established, that feverish movement to the West, which harmed our nobility much more than other misfortunes.
At 22 he became an adjutant to the Tsarevich. Alexander III and his friend for life.
Alexander III spoke to Europe with the firm language of the ruler of a people of many millions, threatening no one, but fearing no one, demanding nothing, but yielding nothing.
He was elected as a district deputy and served as a justice of the peace. He took part in the Russo-Turkish War.
Upon his return, he became involved in public activities. He oversaw orphanages, elementary schools, and the Imperial House for the Poor.
He was the leader of the Moscow nobility and a member of the State Council.
He founded the Society of Lovers of Ancient Literature and the Society for the Revival of Old Russian Clothing. He headed the society, which opened free public libraries in various cities. He published dozens of volumes of Russian chronicles, charters, and historical documents at his own expense.
Liberal reforms Nicholas II He did not support it (in private, he addressed him informally, while the Count addressed him informally). He believed that the Duma was an institution of a "foreign spirit" that could not be an "exponent of the Russian spirit."
He helped icon painters revive and maintain church traditions.
Our castles are our monasteries, beacons of enlightenment, engines of colonization, hotbeds of charity
(from a note to Emperor Nicholas II)
In 1900, he lobbied for the opening of a railway station in his forests near Moscow—the count planned to lease these plots for dachas. The station was named after him, and in the 50s, a railway station was built here. Sheremetyevo Airport.
In 1903, he was the first in Russia to open his own Ostafyevskaya estate for public viewing: it contained more than 600 paintings, 10 thousand engravings, 32 thousand books, rich collections of art glass, ceramics, porcelain, furniture and weapons.
By the beginning of the February Revolution he had lands in 11 provinces, 3 houses in Petersburg and 2 in Moscow. Owned bonds and rented out real estate.
After the October Revolution, all property passed to the Bolsheviks. He refused to emigrate and tried to preserve his palaces, at least as museums. He compiled inventories of valuables and sought to obtain protective orders.
He died in December 1918 at his home in Moscow. A couple of weeks earlier, security officers had raided his home and confiscated correspondence and jewelry worth 10 million rubles in gold.
The possible arrest did not take place due to the count’s grave condition – he was lying with gangrene in his legs.
He asked to be buried in Novospassky Monastery — the Sheremetev family tomb. But by that time, it had already been plundered, and the monastery itself had been converted into a concentration camp.
He was buried near the outer wall of the monastery, and an unmarked cross was placed on his grave (which disappeared after a few months).
At the end of the 19th century, in his diary, he seemed to have a premonition of future upheavals:
Something will happen... Where should Russia go in the future, where will its current rulers lead it? Perhaps historians will later come along who will argue that this was inevitable. No, a thousand times no! After all, after such a legacy, everything was in our hands... Just go straight and honestly along this path, without prevarications or tricks, without lies.
(Sheremetev, 1899)