Aleksey Alchevsky

Oleksiy Kyrylovych Alchevskyiy
Born	1835 Sumy, Russian Empire
Died	1901 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Occupation(s)	Industrialist, philanthropist, entrepreneur
Known for	Founder of the first financial conglomerate in Imperial Russia; founding multiple banks and industrial enterprises in Sloboda Ukraine

Oleksiy Kyrylovych Alchevskyiy (1835, Sumy, Russian Empire – 1901, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a prominent Ukrainian industrialist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur within the Russian Empire. He pioneered the first financial conglomerate in Imperial Russia and played a key role in founding multiple banks and industrial enterprises throughout Sloboda Ukraine. His significant contributions to Russian industry led to the city of Alchevsk in the Donbas region being named in his honor in 1903.

Biography

Originating from Sumy, Kharkov Governorate, Alchevsky was born into a family of modest grocery merchants with Cossack heritage. After completing his education at the Sumy County School, he relocated to Kharkiv in 1862. Early in his career, he embraced left-wing populist ideologies and became involved with the Hromada movement while managing a tea business and engaging in self-directed learning.

Amid the banking expansion in Russia during the late 1860s and early 1870s, Alchevsky founded the Kharkov Mutual Society in 1866. By 1868, holding the status of a merchant of the 2nd Guild, he co-established the Kharkov Trade Bank with an initial capital of 500,000 rubles, marking it as Russia’s third commercial bank after those in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Progressing to merchant of the 1st Guild by 1871, he contributed to launching Russia’s inaugural mortgage bank, the Kharkov Land Bank, capitalized at 1 million rubles. Alchevsky served as chairman of this institution until his passing in 1901.

In 1879, he created the Alekseyevskoye Mining Society with a capital investment of 2 million rubles, overseeing substantial anthracite coal mines located in Slovianoserbsk county (Yekaterinoslav Governorate). By the turn of the century, this enterprise produced roughly 45 million poods of coal annually, ranking third in output within Donbas. Furthermore, he initiated metallurgical ventures such as the Donets-Yuryevka Metallurgical Society (established in 1895 with an 8 million ruble capital) near Yuryevka station (present-day Komunarsk in Alchevsk) and also founded the Russian Providence Society close to Mariupol (which later became part of Illich Steel and Iron Works). By 1900, his wealth was estimated at about 30 million rubles.

In collaboration with his wife Khrystyna Zhuravlyova in 1899, Alchevsky commissioned Vladimir Beklemishev to sculpt the first monument dedicated to Taras Shevchenko, a white marble bust. Due to prevailing anti-Ukrainian sentiments, this tribute was discreetly installed in their private garden behind their Kharkiv residence. Following Alchevsky’s death, their mansion was sold and the subsequent whereabouts of the monument remain unknown.

Confronted with financial strain during the economic crisis from 1899 to 1902 and unable to secure assistance from the Ministry of Finance, Alchevsky ended his life by suicide on May 20, 1901, at Tsarskoselsky railway station in Saint Petersburg.

Family

Alchevsky was married to educator and pedagogue Khrystyna Zhuravlyova. Their children included:

• Grigory Alchevsky, composer
• Khrystyna Alchevska
• Ivan Alchevsky
• Anna Alchevskaya
• Dmitry Alchevsky, who perished during the Red Terror in Crimea
• Nikolay Alchevsky

Legacy

In response to workers’ requests in 1903, Yuryevka train station along with its neighboring settlement were renamed Alchevske, now known as the city of Alchevsk.

External links

• Oleksiy Alchevsky featured in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine