Background
Grigorii was born in 1747 in Rylsk, in the government of Kursk, Russia. He was the son of a merchant, Ivan Shelekhov, lived with his parents in Rylsk until their death, and about 1775 left his birthplace for Siberia.
(Translated by Marina Ramsay. Edited with an introduction ...)
Translated by Marina Ramsay. Edited with an introduction by Richard A. Pierce. Alaska History number 19. Includes index. Bibliography on pages 146-152.
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Grigorii was born in 1747 in Rylsk, in the government of Kursk, Russia. He was the son of a merchant, Ivan Shelekhov, lived with his parents in Rylsk until their death, and about 1775 left his birthplace for Siberia.
Nothing is known about his education.
Shelekhov settled in Kamchatka region, the base from which Russian merchants carried on a trade in arctic furs, began to send out his boats after furs, usually in partnership with other merchants, to the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, and was successful in his very first ventures.
In 1783 he organized in Irkutsk a fur-trading and exploring expedition to Alaska in partnership with Ivan Larionovich Golikov, a merchant of Kursk, and his nephew, Capt. Mikhail Sergeevich Golikov. Near the harbor of Okhotsk the company built and equipped three vessels, armed them with several cannon, engaged a crew of 192 men, and on August 27, 1783, set sail with Shelekhov at the head of the expedition.
Not until a year later, on August 14, 1784, did Shelekhov reach Kadiak Island, where he founded the first Russian colony in America, naming the harbor "The Three Saints. " He conquered the native tribes with ease by the use of diplomacy and with the aid of his well-armed crew. Soon afterward Shelekhov expanded his activities and conquests to the other islands and to the mainland of Alaska.
He spent about a year and eight months in the new colony, and, leaving it in charge of one of his company's employees, Samolov, who was later replaced by Delarov, sailed back to Siberia, where he submitted a report of his achievements to the local governor-general, followed by a petition to Empress Catharine II for financial and military assistance for his company, and, especially, for a trade monopoly in the new Russian territories discovered by the company. In spite of the very favorable support and recommendations of the governor-general and the special commerce commission in St. Petersburg, the petition was not granted by the Empress. The petitioner, however, was explicitly denied a trade monopoly.
Shelekov established his headquarters in Irkutsk and managed his enterprises quite successfully from there, organizing several Russian fur-trading companies. In 1790 he appointed Alexander Andreevich Baranov to the position of general-manager of the new colony.
He died in Irkutsk, however, before his plans materialized.
Grigoriï Ivanovich Shelekhov was known first of all as he founded the first Russian colony in America. Shelekhov was undoubtedly one of the outstanding leaders of Russian commerce, a shrewd business man who organized new Russian fur-trading companies under extremely severe physical conditions with headquarter in Irkutsk. He can hardly be considered a statesman, for he risked his life and suffered hardships primarily for the sake of gain; but he did help to make Russia's dominion over Alaska a fact, as until his coming her control was merely nominal, endangered by other powers, especially Great Britain. Empress Catharine II gave Shelekhov and I. L. Golikov special gold medals, silver swords, and a laudatory charter, which permitted them to continue their exploits for the benefit of Russian commerce
(Translated by Marina Ramsay. Edited with an introduction ...)
In 1781 he was married to a wealthy merchant-woman in Irkutsk, a person of great courage, energy, and business ability. Her first and middle names were Natalia Alekseevna, her last name before her marriage to Shelekhov being unknown. His wife was with him on board the vessel, The Three Saints, the first white woman to sail Alaskan waters. His widow continued plans of her husband after his death. Thus in 1799 the famous Russian-American Company came legally into being, and Emperor Paul ordered that the principal director of the company be selected from the members of the Shelekhov family.
He had son, Ivan, and his two sons-in-law, Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov and Mikhail Matveevich Buldakov.
