Alfons Koziełł-Poklewski (1809–1890) is one of the richest and most important entrepreneurs in Siberia. He was the owner of, among others metallurgical plants, department stores; He was also involved in mining gold and silver. But the Pole gained the greatest fame as the largest producer of spirits after the Urals, thanks to which he was nicknamed "vodka general", "king of vodka" and "king of monopoly".
Although Siberia is traditionally associated with the suffering of the Polish nation and exile, for thousands of our countrymen these areas have become a real promised land. (in the 1830s, there was only one secondary school in Siberia, attended by about 200 people every year, which was a drop in the ocean of needs). That is why Koziełł-Poklewski, an official in St. Petersburg born in the Vitebsk governorate, concluded that only state institutions in Siberia offered the possibility of a spectacular career.
A good start
Alphonsus set off for the Urals in 1837. First, he worked in the office of the Tomsk Guberniya Office, but he was quickly promoted to new, increasingly better-paid positions. Was, among others an official for special assignments, overseeing deliveries to the military and trade in liquor products. He has also received several state awards for "impeccable service".
Alfons Koziełł-Poklewski became one of the richest entrepreneurs in Siberia in the 19th century
At the same time, the Pole decided to take up business. In 1843, while still holding a state job, he bought a ship, modernized it, and two years later launched the first regular inland navigation in the history of Siberia. In 1846, Poklewski-Koziełł, together with a Siberian merchant named Szwiecow, founded a transport company, receiving the right to navigate the largest Siberian rivers:Irtysh, Yenisei, Lena.
At the same time, the man took care of supplies for the army. From 1853, he devoted himself entirely to business:he founded two large department stores in Tyumen and Tobolsk and opened the first phosphorus factory in Russia. He became the owner of several gold and silver mines, glassworks, sulfuric acid and porcelain factories. In the years 1878–1882 he leased a large emerald mine in the Urals.
King of Monopoly
The Pole gained the greatest reputation for the production of alcoholic products. In 1869 he bought a dilapidated distillery, which he invested in and quickly restored its profitability. In the following years, he acquired eight more bankrupt enterprises whose owners preferred to sell their firms rather than incur losses. This is how Alfons Poklewski-Koziełł created his vodka empire which before the First World War produced about 800,000 buckets of beer and over 800,000 buckets of spirit annually. In order to increase the consumption of his production, the entrepreneur set up a network of taverns where his products were sold.
Beer was very popular among consumers. Many types of this product were offered:Bavarian, Viennese, Russian, national. Its price was low and the quality was high, thanks to which the beer produced by the Pole received many awards and medals at national and international exhibitions.
Alfons Koziełł-Poklewski made a huge fortune and at the same time supported charity
Behind the Urals, vodka and beer produced by Poklewski-Koziełła were sold in every restaurant and ham. This caused the jealousy of the competition, which wrote complaints to state institutions about the unfair methods of Alfonso's activities. However, they had no effect. First, the production of the Polish plant was defending itself. Second, Poklewski-Koziełł achieved such a high position in the business world that these complaints did not affect his business. His influence reached so far that on the route of the Trans-Siberian Highway, one of the stations - at the request of the Pole - was located near Yekaterinburg, in the vicinity of which most of his companies were located.
Greatness and decline
Poklewski-Koziełł conducted extensive charity activities. He assisted schools, hospitals and libraries. He founded Catholic churches and Orthodox churches. In the town of Talica, which he made his seat, he established a school for boys, which he maintained entirely. In the years 1881–1882 he became the main founder of a new building for a three-class gymnasium in Jałutorowski. He supported schools at mosques. He financed the construction of a sewage system in the city of Tyumen.
He also built a sumptuous headquarters in Yekaterinburg. Representatives of local authorities and high-ranking guests from St. Petersburg were there. The unusual character of the Pole fascinated the Russian writer Dmitry Mamin-Sibiriak, who modeled him on the heroes of his novels - entrepreneurs Lachowski in Millionowy inheritance and Majstabrowski in Chleb.
Alfons died in 1890. At the time of his death, he owned 19 properties and 56 houses. His account balance was 1.4 million rubles, real estate was valued at 1.6 million rubles (the current equivalent is approximately $ 220 and approximately $ 250 million, respectively).
The heirs of the entrepreneur managed their empire until the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution, as a result of which their property was nationalized. The Polish family left Russia in 1919.
Back to the roots
The new rulers destroyed everything that citizens could associate with tsarist times. That is why, among others, the headquarters of the Poklewski-Koziełłów.
But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the memory of the Polish entrepreneur began to be restored . In the former residence of the family in Yekaterinburg there is a room in which memorabilia of Poklewski-Koziełły were collected.
State-owned liquefied companies were privatized. The owners of one of them - located in the city of Zawodoukowsk - wanted to honor the founder of the company and in 1995 they started producing "Poklewski" vodka.