Demidoff

a wealthy family of Russia. The founder of the family lived 1665-1720. He was the son of a serf. He established the first foundry in Siberia. Peter the Great employed him to cast his cannon, and gave him the working of mines that brought in wealth. His son continued the working of the copper, silver, and iron mines of the Urals; and grandsons, following the same industries of mining and casting, amassed colossal fortunes. Nicolai Demidoff, who died in 1828, had an income of $1,000,000 a year. The family is a worthy one; various members have been distinguished for philanthropy, progressive political ideas, scholarship, and taste for art.