Achilles Alferaki
Encyclopedia
Sergei Alphéraky
Sergei Nikolaevich Alphéraky was a Russian ornithologist and entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.Sergei Alphéraky was born into a noble Greek family of Alferakis, brother to composer Achilles Alferaki, his father Nikos Alferakis owned the Alferaki Palace in Taganrog...
. He was born in Kharkov (present-day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
). He spent all of his childhood in the city of Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
in the magnificent palace on Catholic Street (currently "Alferaki Palace
Alferaki Palace
Alferaki Palace is a museum in Taganrog, Russia, originally the home of rich merchant Nikolay Alferaki. It was built in 1848 by the architect Andrei Stackenschneider in the downtown Taganrog on Frunze Street ....
" on Frunze Street). Achilles received good home education and easily entered the historical and philological faculty at the Moscow University, where he also studied music theory. Music was his favorite pastime, but he could not dedicate all of his time for it. The family business made him return to Taganrog, where he settled in the end of 1870.
In 1880 Achilles Nikolayevich Alferaki was elected Mayor (городской голова) of Taganrog. During his chairmanship he made many useful public affairs. He made Taganrog beautiful and clean and took part in establishing different charitable institutions. During his mayor’s period of office, the city's streets and roads were covered with cobblestones, trees were planted along the pavements, and the first boulevards were introduced. Mayor Alferaki contributed to the establishment of The Society for the Relief of the Aged Poor, established in 1883, and to development of elementary education system in the city.
At the city council meetings, Achilles Nikolaevich Alferaki introduced many new proposals. Some of them looked fantastic and wasteful for Taganrog's politicians, but some of them were realized. For example, Alferaki's proposals to erect a monument to Peter I The Great and to make a major reconstruction of Taganrog's harbor were realized.
Even his mayoralty could not make him forget his passion - the music. He took part in the activity of Taganrog's Music and Dramatic Society. The first music classes and a symphony orchestra, directed by famous hand-master and composer V.I. Suk opened in Taganrog.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In 1880, when the Greek composer lived in Taganrog in his mansion on the Catholic Street, he gathered the whole beau monde of the city. Achilles Alferaki was also a talented artist. A large collection of caricatures is now kept at the Taganrog Museum of Local Lore (the Alferaki Palace
Alferaki Palace
Alferaki Palace is a museum in Taganrog, Russia, originally the home of rich merchant Nikolay Alferaki. It was built in 1848 by the architect Andrei Stackenschneider in the downtown Taganrog on Frunze Street ....
). With these rare sketches and drawings, we have a chance of seeing the people, who lived in Taganrog some hundred years ago through the eyes of a contemporary, getting the spirit of parties and balls of that time.
In 1888 Alferaki gave his resignation and moved to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, where he became Chancellor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1891, and later Director of the Russian Telegraph Agency. Alferaki devoted much of his time to music. In the former capital of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
he wrote more than 100 romances, compositions and two operas St. John's Eve and The Erl King. Achilles Alferaki died in 1919.
External links
- Alferaki PalaceAlferaki PalaceAlferaki Palace is a museum in Taganrog, Russia, originally the home of rich merchant Nikolay Alferaki. It was built in 1848 by the architect Andrei Stackenschneider in the downtown Taganrog on Frunze Street ....
- Sergei AlphérakySergei AlphérakySergei Nikolaevich Alphéraky was a Russian ornithologist and entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.Sergei Alphéraky was born into a noble Greek family of Alferakis, brother to composer Achilles Alferaki, his father Nikos Alferakis owned the Alferaki Palace in Taganrog...
- Official Web Site of the City of Taganrog, English
- Official Web Site of the City of Taganrog, Russian