To the history of mining-factories business in Russian Lapland of the 18th century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of mining-factories business in Russian Lapland in the first half of the Annian rule. Based on archival and published official documents, it examines the transformations that took place in 1730–1736 in the mining business of the Russian Empire. It tells about the history of the discovery and the beginning of the mining of silver ores in Pomorie on the Medvezhiy Island. The article focuses on the biography and history of the invitation to Russia of the Saxon Ober-Berg-Hauptmann and chamberlain, Baron Kurt Alexander von Schönberg, who in 1736 became General-Berg-Director, head of the entire mining industry of the Russian Empire. The roles of the chief chamberlain and favorite of Anna Ioannovna, Graph Ernst Johann von Biron and the “soul” of the Cabinet of Ministers, Vice-Chancellor Graph Andrei Ivanovich Osterman in the invitation and activities of Schönberg in Russia are outlined.