Samuil Solomonovich Polyakov
Lazar Solomonovich Polyakov (brother)
Yakov Solomonovich Polyakov (brother)
enterpreneur philanthropist Privy Councillor
Samuil Solomonovich Polyakov was born on December 24, 1837, in Dubrovno village, Vitebsk region, Belarus in the family of a Jewish merchant Solomon Lazarevich Polyakov. He had two brothers Lazar Solomonovich Polyakov and Yakov Solomonovich Polyakov who also became famous. They were bankers.
Samuil Solomonovich Polyakov began his career as a distillery manager in the estate of Count Tolstoy. Subsequently became the manager of postal stations there. Starting from the 1860s, thanks to the patronage of Count Tolstoy, he received contracts for the construction of large railways in Russia, then becoming their shareholder and actual owner. He was famous for high-speed construction methods. He received millions of income due to a significant excess of the payment received over the real costs.
In 1867, he founded the first Railway Technical school in Russia (Yelets, Oryol governorate). Polyakov built the following roads: Kozlov-Voronezh (1867–1868, Voronezh, Somovo, Grafskaya stations), Voronezh-Rostov (1870–1871, Otrozhka, Liski, Rossosh, Kantemirovka stations), Gryaze-Tsaritsynskaya (1869-1871, Borisoglebsk, Povorino station). He directly supervised the construction of station buildings in Voronezh, without the services of subcontractors.
In 1871, he spent about 3 million rubles for charity purposes and donated 200 thousand rubles to build a gymnasium. In 1882, he donated 200 thousand to the dormitory of St. Petersburg University. Thanks to his financial support, the Krinitsa Agricultural School was opened in the Ostrogozhsky district, where he owned the estate.
In 1871, Samuil Solomonovich Polyakov became a member of the council of the House of Mercy in St. Petersburg and spent about 3 million rubles for charity purposes.
Samuil Solomonovich Polyakov was an extraordinary man. He was known for his charity activities. In 1879, he donated 800 rubles for the establishment of a scholarship named after Prince Vladimir Andreyevich Dolgorukov in the 3rd Moscow gymnasium. In 1882, donated 200 thousand rubles to the dormitory for students of St. Petersburg University. Other donations from Polyakov amount to over 2 million rubles. With his assistance, a synagogue was built in St. Petersburg. For major donations to the needs of public education, he received the title of state councillor in deed (Actual State Councillor). Late he was put up to the nobility and had the rank of privy councilor.
