18.05.2010 - 12:50
The fate of Augustine Betancourt seems surprising to us. He did a lot for Spain and accomplished many feats for the glory of Russia, which he faithfully served until his death. But, unfortunately, in our country the name of this remarkable person is known to few.
King of the Canary Islands
The fate of the ancestors of this famous Spaniard is interesting. In the middle of the 14th century, Jean de Betancourt was born in Normandy - a future warrior and navigator who dreamed of conquering new lands. In 1402, with a team of soldiers and sailors, he went to the Canary Islands as a representative of the Castile kingdom - and far from peacefully, but with the aim of enslaving them.
First, the island of Lanzarote was captured. His fate was shared by the islands of Hierro, Fuerteventura and Homer. Moreover, Betancourt was cordially received and obeyed him - there was an ancient legend about white people, similar to gods, who would bring happiness to the islanders. But the natives paid dearly for their gullibility. All of them were taken into slavery.
Betancourt became the master of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura and the unofficial ruler of all the Canary Islands. He lived in the Canaries until the age of eighty-three and then returned to Normandy. Over the years, he has acquired numerous offspring. Many residents of the Canaries bore and still bear the surname Betancourt with and without the prefix "de". Subsequently, the islands became part of Spain. The descendants of the first king have always remained wealthy landowners - winemakers and weavers, and of a completely European warehouse.
Descendant of kings
It was in such a wealthy family that Augustine Betancourt was born. It happened on February 1, 1758 on the island of Tenerife in the city of Puerto de la Cruz. The full name of this outstanding person was also remarkable - Augustin-Jose Pedro del Carmen Domingo de Candelaria de Betancourt y Molina. The boy received the best education - visiting teachers dealt with the child in the exact sciences, taught languages, developed artistic taste.
At 22, he left his home and went to Spain to gain knowledge. Augustine graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he showed extraordinary ability in the exact sciences. At the age of 25, he demonstrated to the admiring public the rise of the first hot air balloon in Spain. The government, having appreciated a capable young man, after graduating from the Academy, sends the young man abroad to get acquainted with the engineering of Germany, Holland and France.
In 1787, the Spanish engineer graduated from the Paris School of Bridges and Roads, having acquired a good knowledge in this area. After returning to his homeland, a brilliant mechanic becomes the director of the royal cabinet of machines and mechanisms in Madrid. In this position, he did what he loved - inventing and improving various mechanisms. He came up with a steam dredge, a new type of pumps, etc. In addition, Betancourt developed new methods for bleaching wool, improving coal mining, etc.
In 1797, Betancourt went to London to help English engineers create mechanisms for extracting gold and silver. He worked so hard that he was accused of industrial espionage and sent home. A year later, Betancourt took an active part in the creation of the first telegraph in Spain. In 1799, the scientist became an inspector general of communications, and then held the positions of a provincial intendant, a member of the finance council, an army intendant, and the chief director of the post office. In 1802, Betancourt opened the Madrid School of Road, Canal and Bridge Engineers and directed it for five years.
But soon the Church accuses Betancourt of…. communication with the devil through the telegraph he built. Plus the slanders of envious people, disagreements with the government - and Betancourt turns out to be a pariah in Spain.
In Russia
Russian envoy in Madrid I.M. Muraviev-Apostol did not fail to take advantage of the predicament of a prominent engineer and invited him to serve the Russian Tsar, luring him with wonderful prospects. And the Spaniard accepted the lucrative offer. By the way, Russia has always been considered the promised land for foreigners, and more than one foreign fortune was made in our vast expanses. Betancourt is enlisted in His Majesty's retinue for special assignments with the rank of major general and serves in the Department of Railways.
Alexander I entrusts Betancourt with the development of a project for the first transport educational institution in Russia, in which both general sciences and engineering subtleties would be studied. The newly founded institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers (now the University of Railways) was located in the palace on the Fontanka, bought from Prince Yusupov, and Betancourt was appointed its inspector. He himself selected teachers, lectured to students - count and prince's sons. In addition, at the initiative of Betancourt, the School of Railway Conductors and the Military Construction School for the Training of Junior Specialists of Builders and Foremen, Masters, Draftsmen for the Department of Railways were opened, which laid the foundation for the system of secondary specialized education in Russia.
In 1816, Betancourt received the rank of lieutenant general and headed the Committee for Buildings and Hydraulic Works in St. Petersburg, and in 1819 he became director of the Main Directorate of Communications. He traveled extensively in Russia, getting acquainted with its system of land and waterways. In his report to the emperor, he noted that numerous means of communication were poorly used in Russia, and suggested methods for solving one of the two main Russian troubles. In 1818-1822, with the participation of Betancourt, the first major highway in Russia, St. Petersburg - Novgorod - Moscow, was built.
glorious deeds
Augustine Betancourt was known as an extremely decent and gentle person in relations with his subordinates. He gathered professionals into his team and tried to provide everyone with an opportunity for the full and comprehensive manifestation of talents and abilities. Moreover, Betancourt knew how to do everything himself - to the last engineering detail.
Under his leadership, the Tula Arms Plant was reequipped - steam engines were installed there, and a foundry for the production of guns was erected in Kazan.
Maritime affairs also did not go unnoticed by the engineer. According to his calculations, the port in Kronstadt was deepened. With the help of the steam dredging machine invented by Betancourt, a canal was laid between the Izhora plant and St. Petersburg.
In 1817, in Moscow, under his leadership, the Manezh was built - a building measuring 166 by 44 meters. Its peculiarity was that there was not a single column here. Such a bold decision was applied for the first time in world practice and required precise calculations from Betancourt. The arena has survived a lot, but the unique structure was only damaged by a strong fire that happened last year. The restorers worked to restore the unique building exactly in accordance with the intention of its creator.
In Nizhny Novgorod, Betancourt created a fair complex (cathedral, Gostiny Dvor, canals), which had no equal in the then urban planning. Betancourt himself believed that through many years of work he created an architectural ensemble, "one of the most remarkable in Europe, the production of which I believe will be of real benefit to Russia."
According to Betancourt's designs, St. George's Church was also built at the Bolsheokhtinsky cemetery and the Taitsky water supply system, which supplies water to Tsarskoe Selo.
money and bridges
One of the most outstanding achievements of Betancourt is the building of the Expedition for the production of government papers (now Goznak). He also took an active part in equipping it with new equipment. Moreover, the engineer was also involved in the design of Russian money and even their protection against counterfeiting. So, the method of protecting banknotes proposed by Betancourt (“double embossing”) has found application in banknotes of a number of countries, including banknotes of the Bank of Russia of the 1997 model.
After the completion of these grandiose works, Betancourt was closely involved in construction, and became one of the founders of Russian bridge building. Under his leadership, arched bridges were built in Izhora, Peterhof, Tula, on the Moscow highway, St. Isaac's pontoon bridge across the Neva, a bridge across the Malaya Nevka between Aptekarsky and Kamenny islands in St. Petersburg ... By the way, the latter is the only bridge that survived in St. Petersburg during the flood of 1824.
Among the many duties of an outstanding engineer-architect was work as a member of the commission for the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Scaffolding and lifting mechanisms, created according to the drawings of Betancourt, made it possible to raise and install all the columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral. The Spaniard was personally involved in the calculations of foundations, designing scaffolding and lifting mechanisms. Later, after the death of the engineer, the Pillar of Alexandria was erected according to the same principle.
On July 14, 1824, Augustine Betancourt died. Auguste Montferrand erected a monument to the brilliant engineer at the Smolensk Lutheran cemetery in St. Petersburg. In 1979, the ashes of Betancourt and the tombstone were transferred to the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
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I want to dwell on the personality of the amazing fate of a man, an engineer Augustine Augustinovich de Betancourt and Molina. He was born in the Canary Islands, served in Spain and France, where he became a recognized connoisseur of engineering. Then began his fruitful service in Russia, where he became a lieutenant general, chief manager of communications, a prominent engineer and statesman. He did many useful things for the glory of Russia; he built bridges, roads, factories, hydraulic structures, created a number of important inventions. His posthumous fate is also interesting: he was buried at the Smolensk Lutheran cemetery, but in 1979 his ashes and tombstone were transferred to the 18th-century Necropolis (the former Lazarevsky cemetery) in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
The article provides a biography of the engineer and statesman and information about his grave.
Biography:
BETANCOUR Augustin Augustinovich (Augustin Jose Pedro del Carmen Domingo de Candelaria de Betancourt and Molina) ( February 1, 1758 - June 14, 1824) - lieutenant general (since 1809).
From an old Spanish noble family. Son of Lieutenant Colonel Augustin de Betancourt and Castro by his marriage to Leonora de Molina and Briolis. Born in Puerto de la Cruz, on the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. In July 1777 he entered the Spanish service. In 1780 he graduated from the Royal School of Saint Isidore in Madrid, at the same time he studied drawing at the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts; in the 1780s he continued his studies in Paris, and in the 1790s he improved in the field of engineering in England; was inspector general of the corps of road and bridge engineers, quartermaster of the provinces, member of the council of finance, director of the royal cabinet of machines, quartermaster of the army and chief director of the post office. In 1807-1808 he lived in Paris, where he published on French a number of his scientific works (including "Course on the construction of machines", 1808), since 1809 a corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. In 1807 he came to Russia.
In September 1808, he was introduced to Emperor Alexander I in Erfurt and, as a skilled engineer, in November 1808 he was accepted into the Russian service with the rank of major general, enrolled in the retinue of E. I. V. and assigned to the department of communications. In August 1809 he was promoted to lieutenant general. From 1809 he was a member of the board of the Corps of Railway Engineers; carried out an inspection and developed a project for the reconstruction of the Vyshnevolotsk, Tikhvin and Mariinsky water systems; in the same year he prepared a project for the reconstruction of the Tula Arms Plant. In 1810-1811, according to the project of Betancourt, the first dredge was built at the Izhora plant to clean and deepen the water area of the Kronstadt port, in 1812, according to his project, a foundry and cannon plant was built in Kazan. In 1816-1818, under the leadership of Betancourt and according to his project, the building of the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers in St. Petersburg was erected (production is equipped with machine tools and mechanisms designed by Betancourt). According to Betancourt's designs, bridges were also built on the Moskovsky tract across the Slavyanka and Izhora rivers near St. Petersburg, Kamennoostrovsky and Paper bridges in St. Petersburg, Manege in Moscow. Supervised the technical part of the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Betancourt is one of the organizers of engineering education in Russia: according to his project, the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers was opened in St. Petersburg in 1810 (until the end of his life, Betancourt was its inspector, head of the economic and educational department and at the same time lectured on engineering). In 1816, he organized and headed the Committee for Buildings and Hydraulic Works in St. Petersburg, which was entrusted with "examination of drawings for all, without exception, public, state and private buildings and other buildings in this capital." In the autumn of 1816 he was appointed chairman of the Committee for the Transfer of the Makariev Fair to Nizhny Novgorod. In 1818-1822 he participated in the design and construction of the first major highway in Russia, St. Petersburg - Novgorod - Moscow.
In April 1819 - August 1822 the chief director of the Main Directorate of Railways. On his initiative, in 1819-1820, the Military Construction and Conductor Schools were created in St. Petersburg, which trained specialists for the department of communications. From February 1824 retired. He was awarded a number of the highest Russian orders, up to and including the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1811). Died in St. Petersburg at the age of 66; buried in the same place at the Smolensk Lutheran cemetery.
A prominent engineer who did a lot for Russia, Betancourt, according to contemporaries, was a man of short stature, a large high forehead and large, intelligent and slightly sad eyes. People who knew him remembered him as a kind and good person, very benevolent towards his employees and subordinates, quick-tempered, like all southerners, and too trusting. According to F. F. Vigel, “he had an abyss of mind, and his conversation was entertaining. The aristocratic feeling, however, never left him, even at the machine for which he worked when he had no other business. Not knowing the Russian language, he even signed in French, and his official papers during his management of communications were often also written in French. Despite the fact that he had strong enemies in Russia, he enjoyed the unwavering support of Emperor Alexander I.
From marriage (from 1790) with Anna Jourdan (died in 1853) he had three daughters and a son, Alfons Avgustinovich (1805-1875), who served as an officer in the guard, and then a lieutenant general and adjutant general.
Biography published by:
Grave:
Avgustin Avgustinovich(Augustin José Pedro del Carmen Domingo de Candelaria) de Betancourt and Molina died on June 14, 1824 in St. Petersburg.
And was buried in Smolensk Lutheran cemetery, but in 1979 he was reburied in 18th century necropolis.
Buried in 18th century necropolis(former Lazarevsky cemetery) in Alexander Nevsky Lavra in the town St. Petersburg. The grave is located on the path, which is named after him. Betancourt. It goes to the left from the entrance to the necropolis museum, towards the gate church and the Moskva Hotel. The tombstone on the grave of A. A. de Betancourt and Molina is the highest in this necropolis.
Izyaslav Tveretsky,
June 2010
.
Betancourt Avgustin Betancourt Career: Architect
Birth: Spain, 1.2.1758 - 26.7
Augustine Betancourt - Spanish, then Russian statesman, scientist, lieutenant general of the Russian service, architect and engineer, organizer of construction and transport in the Russian Empire. Born February 1, 1758. The main scientific works of Betancourt: On the expansive power of vapors (Paris, 1790); On the new system of inland navigation (Paris, 1807); Guide to the compilation of machines (together with H. M. Lanz, Paris, 1808 , 1st edition; 1819, 2nd edition; 1840, 3rd edition, posthumous).
Born into a Spanish noble family. In 1417 his ancestor, the French navigator Jean de Betancourt, conquered the Canary Islands and declared himself king.
Having been educated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid (1781), B. continued his studies at the Paris School of Bridges and Roads. Then - a trip to England, where he gets acquainted with steam engines.
By the age of 30, B. has become a major research engineer. This contributed to his fast-paced career. In 1788 he became director of the Royal Cabinet of Machines in Madrid. In 1798 he was appointed to lead the construction of the first telegraph in Spain (Madrid-Cádiz). He used a binary encoding of information in his telegraph, each letter was assigned an 8-bit code (as in modern computers), thereby ahead of Samuel Morse by 47 years.
From 1800 - inspector general of the Corps of Communications he created, and also of all roads and bridges in Spain, quartermaster of the provinces, member of the Council of Finance, 1803 - main quartermaster of the army and general chief of the post office.
In 1807, due to political changes in the country, he left Spain and moved to France. In 1808 he was invited to serve by the Russian government with the rank of Major General and sent to the Department of Railways.
For 16 years of his service in Russia, B. made every effort to turn Russia into a technologically advanced country. Under his leadership, the following was carried out: the re-equipment of the Tula Arms Plant with the installation of steam engines made according to his drawings; construction of a new cannon foundry in Kazan; re-equipment of the Aleksandrovskaya cotton manufactory (Pavlovsk); the deepening of the port in Kronstadt and the construction of a canal between the Izhora plant and St. Petersburg using a steam dredger invented by him in 1810.
On his initiative, in 1810, the Institute of Communications was established in St. Petersburg, which B. headed until the end of his life. They developed and proposed a training project, according to which general engineers were trained, capable of doing any construction work. The main goal of the educational institution B. formulated as follows: "... to supply Russia with engineers who, right after leaving the institution, could be assigned to work in the Empire." The institute, which he headed until the end of his life, laid the foundations for the future national engineering school.
The organizational abilities of a talented engineer-inventor were duly appreciated, as evidenced by his appointment to the post of head of the Committee for Buildings and Hydraulic Works in St. Petersburg (1816), and then the chief director of communications in Russia (1819).
According to the plans and under the direct supervision of B., the construction of the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers was carried out (1818). The need to improve the production of banknotes was dictated by the huge number of fake banknotes that were in Russian circulation after the war with Napoleon. The whole city was built, which housed the construction of the paper-making department, the printing department, the mechanical, engraving, numbering and form workshops, the board, apartments for officials and employees, barracks for workers, guards.
At the same time, B. worked on the technology of making paper and banknotes. Shortly after the start of production, Expedition's paper received a high quality rating and began to be supplied abroad. The report on the work done earned the "highest favor" from the emperor. By decree of Alexander I B. was awarded the Order of Vladimir 2nd degree.
He took part in the construction of the Manege in Moscow. When working on the project, B. had to set the task of covering a huge area at that time (166 x 45 m), and build it without intermediate supports, so that the interior space would be suitable for reviews and parades. The construction turned out to be solid, and soon a single regiment of soldiers marched unhindered under its arches. (The original name of the Manege is Exercirhaus).
At the beginning of the 19th century, Nizhny Novgorod became a center of international trade. The construction of the Nizhny Novgorod fair began in 1817. B. was entrusted with determining the site for the construction of a permanent fair. In 1820, on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod fair, Gostiny Dvor was built according to the project of B., and in 1821 the fair was a hefty commercial complex. The construction was completed by the followers of the great scientist. At present, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral has been preserved from the buildings of the fair.
In 1820, on the initiative of B., the School of Railway Conductors and the Military Construction Educational Institution for training junior specialists in construction and foremen, foremen, and draftsmen for the Department of Railways were opened, which laid the foundation for the state system of specialized secondary technical education in Russia.
He was a member of the commission for the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral and created the necessary technical means for its construction. Scaffolding and lifting mechanisms built according to his designs allowed Montferrand to raise and define the columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column on Palace Square.
B. was another of the founders of bridge building in Russia. Stone bridges on the Moskovsky highway, St. Isaac's pontoon bridge across the Neva, an arched bridge across the Malaya Nevka between the Aptekarsky and Kamenny islands in St. Petersburg are the fruits of his engineering thought. Participated in the construction of many other structures, among which: the first major highway in Russia, St. Petersburg - Novgorod - Moscow (1818-1822); Taitsky water supply; Mint in Warsaw; St. George's Church at the Bolsheokhtinsky cemetery in St. Petersburg.
B. invented the first machine for working in a mercury mine, a unit for cleaning technological coal, an optical telegraph, was the first to launch a balloon in Madrid, developed a winding plant for the production of wool, invented and brought into existence a unit unique for that time - a water dredge , and besides the machine for underwater cutting of piles. The activities of the "Russian Spaniard" for the benefit of Russia did not go unnoticed, and B. was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.
In 1823, B.'s beloved daughter died suddenly, which greatly affected her state of health. In February 1824 he resigned. According to some reports, the initiator of the resignation was Arakcheev. On July 14 of the same year he dies. The burial took place in St. Petersburg at the Smolensk Lutheran cemetery. A majestic monument was erected on the grave, made at an iron foundry in Nizhny Novgorod according to a drawing by Montferrand. It was a present from Nizhny Novgorod merchants as a sign of gratitude to the founder of the fair's ensemble. Reburied in 1979 in the Necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
On July 27, 1995, the Ministry of Railways of Russia established a commemorative medal named after Betancourt. The medal number 2 was awarded to King Juan Carlos of Spain.
B. lived in St. Petersburg at the following addresses: nab. R. Fontanka, 115; Sadovaya st., 50-a; Moskovsky pr., 9, Bolshaya Morskaya st., 19.
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Like many other architects and engineers of that time, Augustin de Betancourt y Molina came to Russia from abroad. In 1808, at the invitation of the Russian ambassador to Spain, he arrived at a meeting in Erfurt with Emperor Alexander I. Since then, the Spanish engineer acquired not only a new job, but also a new name - Augustine Augustinovich Betancourt.
french accent
It seemed impossible for Betancourt to remain in his native Spain. In a victorious march, Napoleon marched across Europe and in 1807 overtook Spain, whose royal dynasty was forced to abdicate. However, the Spanish people did not want to surrender to their long-time sworn enemy - France, and waged one of the most fierce guerrilla wars in the history of Europe.
Any ruler would have been honored to have such an engineer as Augustin de Betancourt on his staff of scientists, and Napoleon could not miss this opportunity. The conqueror offered the Spaniard cooperation, but was refused, despite the generous promises of the emperor and the close ties of Betancourt himself with the French scientific school.
The blood of French ancestors flowed in the veins of a Spanish subject. His distant great-grandfather Jean de Betancourt was a French conqueror who first opened a future stronghold for communication with South America - the Canary Islands, and almost became the king of the archipelago, if not for the confusion of the natives. Since then, the Betancourt family has lived in the Canary Islands, where the hero of our story was born.
A message from Madrid to Cadiz was telegraphed in 50 seconds
During his life, the engineer several times visited his ancestral home - France, where he received an excellent education and competed with his colleague Chapp for the right to be called the creator of the first optical telegraph. This, in fact, was the first race of "technical weapons" in the history of Europe, and its result depended on who would be the first to gain an advantage in command of the troops scattered throughout the region.
Optical telegraph station
The French government preferred the less advanced Chappe model. But later, by order of the Spanish king Charles IV, Betancourt designed a telegraph line from Madrid to Cadiz. The encoded message covered a distance of more than 600 km in 50 seconds, which for a person of that time looked like “witchcraft” - this is how the Holy Inquisition called this great achievement of the Spanish engineer, accusing Betancourt of serving the devil.
miraculous transformation
Since 1808, a new era began in the fate of Betancourt, which lasted until the end of his days. Arriving in Russia, the engineer immediately received not only a salary of 20 thousand rubles a year, but also an instruction to create an Institute of Communications in St. Petersburg.
The Yusupov Palace on the Fontanka was chosen as the educational building, which they sold for the use of the state at a symbolic price. Betancourt adapted the system by which he himself was taught in Paris, and invited foreign colleagues. The first graduates from the student bench immediately ended up in the engineering regiments of the Russian army: in the war of 1812, newly minted engineers helped with the construction of crossings and bridges, which Field Marshal M. B. Barclay de Tolly noted in a special order. Subsequently, Betancourt considered this his personal contribution to the fight against Napoleon the invader.
Graduates of the Institute of Communications participated in the War of 1812
Before coming to Russia, Betancourt was already a world-famous scientist. In Russia, he also revealed himself as a teacher and a skilled organizer of large-scale projects. It was he who, after the war of 1812, was entrusted with the arrangement of St. Petersburg. Despite the recently completed century, the capital of the Russian Empire still did not match the level of other European cities. Under the leadership of Betancourt, Nevsky Prospekt was transformed into the main artery of the city we now know: sidewalks were made, and oil lamps were lit in the evenings. Betancourt wanted to install gas stations on smaller streets - Gorokhovaya and Bolshaya Morskaya, but, as always, his idea was ahead of its time and was not implemented.
Nevsky Prospekt at the beginning of the 19th century
Augustin Augustinovich Betancourt was appointed head of the Hydraulic Works Committee. Thanks to the Spanish engineer, water supply and sewerage were established in St. Petersburg, the building area and the canal network were expanded. Instead of dilapidated wooden bridges across the Neva, on the instructions and project of Betancourt, majestic bridges were thrown, including Kamennoostrovsky. It was this bridge that survived the terrible flood of 1824, described by Pushkin in the poem "The Bronze Horseman".
The bridge built by Betancourt survived the terrible flood
The name of Betancourt is immortalized in the creation of such marvels of the "open-air museum" as St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexandrian Column. Firstly, it was he who proposed to invite the young and then little known Auguste de Montferrand to work on both projects. Secondly, the engineering genius designed the lifting structure, which made it possible to install the gigantic elements of St. Isaac's Colonnade and the pearl of Palace Square.
Installation of the Alexandrian Column using the Betancourt mechanism
Another grandiose building, to which Betancourt is directly related, is, as mentioned earlier, the Moscow Manege. In terms of scale, the Manege is close to Piazza San Marco in Venice, and its creators were faced with the task of covering a space 45 meters wide with a roof without additional clutter inside the building. Bettencourt designed a unique ceiling of 45 roof trusses, based solely on the walls of the Manege. Fortunately for posterity, the master left a detailed manual on his innovative development, thanks to which in 2004 he was able to restore the collapsed roof.
Spanish-Russian soul
For the first 10 years in Russia, Augustin Augustinovich Betancourt managed to settle well. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, he was thin and small in stature, he loved to eat deliciously, and Russian dishes quickly entered his diet. True, he never learned the Russian language, making do with French, common in high society. On Sundays, instead of a Spanish aperitif, he drank two glasses of vodka before dinner and liked to take a steam bath in a Russian bath in the company of another foreigner - Martos, the author of the monument to Minin and Pozharsky.
Yusupov Palace on the Fontanka, where Betancourt lived and worked
Betancourt also had extremely friendly relations with the Russian emperor. He was one of the few who entered the office of Alexander I without asking for an audience and with whom the rather secretive emperor shared his thoughts on state affairs. Avgustin Avgustinovich even contributed to foreign policy Russian Empire, advising the sovereign to approve the Cadiz Cortes - the constituent assembly of revolutionary Spain - and the constitution adopted by them in 1812. By the way, later the Cortes abolished all religious orders operating in the territory of part of Spain and the activities of the Holy Inquisition, which had once reproached Betancourt with "witchcraft".
Augustine Betancourt was friendly with Emperor Alexander I
However, over time, Avgustin Avgustinovich began to gain more and more enemies among influential people and architects who envied the success of the master. He was accused of inexpedient waste of public money on too large-scale projects. In addition, at the Institute of Communications, the already aged Betancourt had a competitor - the Duke of Württemburg, who was a relative of the emperor. The merits of the Spanish engineer before the Russian Empire were soon forgotten. The last straw was the appropriation of all the achievements in the development of the brainchild of Betancourt - the Institute of Communications - to his rival, the Duke of Württemburg. Augustin Augustinovich Betancourt died suddenly, and his name remained in oblivion for a long time.
Date of birth: February 1, 1758
Birthplace: Canary Islands, Spain
Date of death: July 26, 1824
Place of death: St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Augustine de Betancourt ( Betancourt Augustin Augustinovich) - Spanish and Russian statesman, architect.
Augustin de Betancourt was born on February 1, 1758 in Tenerife. By origin he was a nobleman, the ancestor of a navigator who declared himself king of these islands.
In 1781 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and entered the School of Bridges and Roads in Paris. Then he went to England to get acquainted with steam engines.
Already at the age of 30 he became a famous engineer and researcher engineering sciences. In 1788, Betancourt was appointed director of the Royal Cabinet of Machines in Madrid and head of the construction of the telegraph.
Betancourt was the creator of the binary encoding, with the assignment of an eight-bit code to each letter. Thus, he became the first information encoder, almost 50 years ahead of Morse and his alphabet.
In 1800, Augustus created a communications corps, where he worked as an inspector general. All Spanish roads and bridges were under his control. Then he works as a provincial intendant and is a member of the Council of Finance.
In 1803 he became the main quartermaster of the army and general chief of the post office.
In 1807 he left for France, and a year later for Russia, where he was invited to the Department of Railways.
He stayed in Russia for 16 years, and during this time he carried out many operations to strengthen the technical power of the country.
So, Betancourt created new drawings for the Tula weapons plant and installed steam engines there. He also deserves credit for the construction of the Kazan foundry for the production of cannons, the re-equipment of manufactories for the production of cotton fabrics in Pavlovsk. Betancourt carried out a project to deepen the port of Kronstadt.
In 1810, he created a steam engine for scooping earth and used it in the construction of a canal between St. Petersburg and the Izhora plant.
In the same year, 1810, he founded the Institute of Communications and became its rector and head. At his institute, he applied a special educational technique that trains engineers.
In 1816, he was appointed head of the Committee for Buildings and Hydraulic Works, and 3 years later, director of the country's communications.
In 1818, the construction of the Expedition for the preparation of state papers began according to the drawings developed by Betancourt. Her need was to protect the official currency from counterfeiting. It was Betancourt who worked on the creation of a special paper for money.
For his work, he received the Order of Vladimir and the recognition of the emperor, as well as the paper produced at his factory received the right to export abroad.
Betancourt owns the project for the construction of the Manege in Moscow.
In 1817, he worked on buildings in Nizhny Novgorod: he built the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, and in 1820 Gostiny Dvor on its territory.
In 1820, he puts forward an initiative to create a School of Railway Conductors and a Military Construction Educational Institution for the training of junior construction personnel.
Betancourt was part of the commission assembled to organize the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, and also created all the equipment for its construction.
He came up with and brought to life several bridges: Stone, St. Isaac's, arched through the small Nevka.
From 1818 to 1822 he built the St. Petersburg-Novgorod-Moscow highway, the water supply system in Taitsk, the Warsaw Mint and St. George's Church in St. Petersburg.
Betancourt invented machines for organizing work in mines, machines for the extraction of mercury, a device for cleaning coal from impurities, an optical telegraph, a winder for wool, a water dredger and machines for sawing piles.
For all these inventions he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
Achievements of Augustine Betancourt:
Laid the foundation for the system of special secondary technical education
invented many machines and built a huge number of buildings
launched the first hot air balloon
Dates from the biography of Augustine Betancourt:
February 1, 1758 - born in Spain
1781 - studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Paris School of Bridges and Roads
1788 invented the telegraph
1807 - moving to France
1808 - moving to Russia
July 14, 1824 - death
Interesting Augustine Betancourt Facts:
A commemorative medal was approved in his honor
raised three daughters, one of whom died a year before his death, and a son
his name belongs to a street in Nizhny Novgorod