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Savva Timofeyevich Morozov (Russian:Са́вва Тимофе́евич Моро́зов, 15 February [O.S. 3 February] 1862,Orekhovo-Zuevo,Bogorodsky Uyezd,Moscow Governorate, Russian Empire – 26 May [O.S. 13 May] 1905,Cannes, France) was a Russian textile magnate and philanthropist. Established bySavva Vasilyevich Morozov (1770–1862), theMorozov family was the fifth-richest in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.[1][2]
Savva Timofeyevich Morozov came from anOld Believer merchant family which held the hereditary civil rank of honorary citizens (Russian: Почётные граждане). His father wasTimofei Savvich Morozov, his motherMaria Feodorovna Morozova. This gave him freedom from conscription, freedom from corporal punishment, and freedom from taxation (Russian: Подушный оклад).[a] He grew up at the Morozov house at Trehsvyatitelskaya Lane 1-3c1 (Russian:Большой Трёхсвятительский переулок) on Ivanovo Hill (Russian: Ивановская горка) in the White City (Russian:Белый город), now the boulevards, of Moscow.[3] He attended the nearby gymnasium at Pokrovsky Gates.[3] His family home was the most expensive home in Moscow and its Morozov gardens (Russian: Морозовский сад) became a favourite haunt ofSergey Aksakov, F.Dostoevsky, A. Ostrovsky, L.Tolstoy, and P.Tchaikovsky.[4] He later studied physics and mathematics atMoscow University (1885) where he wrote a study on dye and met Mendeleev.[3] Beginning on 7 January 1885, at 10 o'clock in the morning, textile workers at the Morozov factories in Bogorodsk, especially Orekhovo-Zuyevo, went on strike for several weeks (Morozov strike [ru]).[3] In 1885–1887 he studied chemistry at theUniversity of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. While in England he studied the structure of the textile industry in Great Britain, especially in Manchester.[3]
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Savva Morozov married his second-cousin's former wife Zinaida Grigorievna, née Zimin (Russian:Зинаида Григорьевна Зимина).[5][b] They hosted lavish parties and balls which many distinguished Russians and Moscovites attended includingSavva Mamontov,Botkin,Feodor Chaliapin,Maxim Gorky,Anton Chekhov,Konstantin Stanislavski,Pyotr Boborykin, and others.Olga Knipper recalled one of these balls: "I had to go to the ball at Morozova: I've never seen such luxury and wealth."[3]
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Morozov was the largest shareholder of theMoscow Art Theatre (MAT) under Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko.[6][7][8] During the summer of 1902, with participation of bothIvan Fomin andAlexander Galetsky, Savva fundedSchechtel's improvements to the Lianozov-owned[c] theatre built in 1890 at Kamergersky Lane 3 in Tverskoy.[6][7][8] The renovations incorporatedAnna Golubkina's high-relief plaster ofThe Wave above the right entrance of the theatre.[9][10] In 1903 he funded the electrification of the theatre with its own electrical power station, and added another small stage which is isolated from the main building to allow full rehearsals during performances on the main stage.[8] All of this made the MAT the most advanced theatre in Russia.[8] For the fifth and sixth seasons (1902–04), Morozov funded the entire cost of the equipment and the operating costs of the building, too.[8] This new theatre had seating for 1200 (a third more than the older building) and greatly enhanced MAT's profitability. However, the rent increased for the seventh season (1904–05) and Morozov ceased paying for the leasehold and the operating cost. He would only pay back the principal for the cost of the improvements, which took 9 years.[8] When Gorky'sSummerfolk was not well received by Nemirovich-Danchenko and Stanislavski, Gorky left the theatre and Morozov followed.[7]
Influenced byMaxim Gorky, Morozov and his relativeNikolai Pavlovich Schmidt[d] were significant financial contributors to theBolshevik faction of theRussian Social Democratic Workers Party, including making payments to the newspaperIskra.[11][12]
According to the authorSuzanne Massie, writing inLand of the Firebird, Morozov had approached his mother and family matriarch about introducingprofit-sharing with factory workers - one of the first industrialists to propose such an idea. His mother angrily removed Savva from the family business, and one month later the apparently despondent Morozov shot himself while inthe south of France. Morozov died from a gunshot wound inCannes, France. His death was officially ruled a suicide but various murder theories exist.[e]
