Grigory Dmitriyevich Stroganov (1656 – 21 November 1715) was a Russia

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...

n landowner and statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

, the most notable member of the prominent Stroganov family in the late 17th century-early 18th century, a strong supporter of the reforms and initiatives of Peter the Great. (The surname is also transcribed as Stroganoff. Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff or Beef Stroganov is a Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with smetana or sour cream...

 is named after this family.)

Grigory Stroganov was the only son of Dmitri Andreyevich Stroganov. His name first appears in the public record in 1672, when he visited Moscow with gifts for Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

 Alexei Mikhailovich on the occasion of the birth of Tsarevich Peter. Dmitiri Stroganoff died the next year and the tsar issued a gramota confirming Grigory's inheritance of one third of the Stroganov family fortune. When the heirs of Yakov Stroganov, the senior branch of the family, died off in 1681, Grigory inherited another one third of the Stroganov lands. The last third, owned by the wife of Fyodor Petrovich Stroganov, passed to him on 18 January 1686.

According to the accounting of Fyodor Volegov (d. 1856) , this consolidation increased Grigory Stroganov's personal holdings dramatically, to more than ten million desiatinas of land (103,000 square kilometers) with more than 200 villages and 15,000 adult male serf

SERF

A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...

s. This figure does not include his estates in Moscow (e.g. Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki

Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki

Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki is an estate formerly belonging to the Stroganov and Golitsyn families of the Russian nobility. Today, it is incorporated into Kuzminki-Lyublino historical park located in Moscow's Kuzminki District...

), Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

 and Solvychegodsk

Solvychegodsk

Solvychegodsk is a town in the southern part of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right-hand bank of the Vychegda River northeast of Kotlas. Administratively, it is a part of Kotlassky District. Municipally, it is incorporated as Solvychegodskoye Urban Settlement of Kotlassky Municipal...

. Grigory Stroganov was the largest Russian landowner after the tsar.

Beginning in 1682 he regularly assisted the government in its financial difficulties. In 1700 Stroganov funded the construction of several military ships for the nascent Imperial Russian Navy

Imperial Russian Navy

The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

. For his services Grigory Stroganov received numerous awards, honorary distinctions and additional lands.

A major factor in Stroganov's power was his saltern

Saltern

Saltern is a word with a number of differing meanings. In English archaeology, a saltern is an area used for salt making, especially in the East Anglian fenlands....

 enterprise, whose efficiency greatly improved under his management. However, he lost this advantage in 1705, when the state established a salt monopoly.

Grigory Stroganov married twice, first to Princess Vassa Meshcherskaya

Meshchersky

Meshchersky is a princely family whose title was recognized by the Russian Empire.- Origin :Its origin is from the medieval independent rulers of the Meshchera tribe. This family was somewhat arbitrarily grouped in documentation together with Tatar princely families of the Russian Empire...

, and then to Princess Maria Novosiltseva. Three children from the second marriage survived children: Alexander (b. 1699), Nikolay (b. 1700) and Sergey (b. 1700).