Demidov
History
The Demidov () family, also Demidoff, were probably the richest Russian people after the Tsar in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Their progenitor, Demid Antufiev, was a free blacksmith from Tula, where their family necropolis is preserved as a museum. His son Nikita Demidov (March 26, 1656 - November 17, 1725) made his fortune by his skill in the manufacture of weapons, and established an iron foundry for the government. Peter the Great, with whom he was a favorite, ennobled him to princely status in 1720. For two centuries, the Demidov plants produced a large portion of Russia's iron and steel. The Palace of Westminster was one of many notable buildings constructed of Demidov metal products.
Nikita's son, Akinfiy Demidov (1678-1745), increased his inherited wealth by the discovery and working of gold, silver and copper mines. He also founded the Siberian town of Barnaul, whose central square still bears his name. His nephew, Pavel Grigoryevich Demidov (1738-1821), was a great traveller and benefactor of Russian scientific education who befriended Carolus Linnaeus and Pallas. He established the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl, the Demidov chair in Natural history at Moscow University, and founded an annual prize for Russian literature, awarded by the Academy of Sciences. A to him was installed in Yaroslavl in 1828.
Pavel's nephew, Nikolay Nikitich Demidov (1774-1828), fought in the Napoleonic War with distinction, raised and commanded a regiment to oppose Napoleon's invasion of Russia, and carried on the accumulation of the family wealth from mining; he contributed liberally to the erection of four bridges in St Petersburg, and to the propagation of scientific culture in Moscow.
Nikolay's son Pavel Nikolayevich Demidov (1798-1840) fought as an officer in his father's regiment and received his baptism of fire at the battle of Borodino in 1812. After the war he entered the Chevalier Guards regiment. He received his discharge in 1831 with the rank of captain when he entered civil service as governor of the province of Kursk. In 1834 he entered service in the Ministry of the Exterior as court Huntsmaster, later State Councillor. Pavel Demidov is best known for his philantropy, primarily for having founded the Demidov Prize. He married the well-known society beauty and maid-of-honour to her majesty the Empress Alexandra Feodorovnya Aurore Stjernvall (1808-1903) in 1836. Their son, Pavel Pavlovich Demidov, was the grandfather of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia.
Nikolay's second son, Anatole Nikolayevich Demidov (1813-1870), was a well-known traveller and patron of art. In 1837, he acquired the Italian title of Prince de San Donato and married Princess Mathilde, daughter of Jerome Bonaparte. His Villa Demidoff is a minor landmark of Florence. Anatole's great grand nephew, Crown Prince Pavel, was regent of Yugoslavia between 1934 and 1941.
Hereditary Commanders of the Knights Hospitaller
In 1798, Prince Nikolay Nikitich Demidov was made a Hereditary Commander of the Russian Grand Priory of the Order of Saint John, by Czar Paul I. Those favoured by Czar Paul and his son Alexander I of Russia, had been given beneficed Commanderies, and others were encouraged to use their wealth to create their own Commanderies; it is these which were known as Family or Ancestral Commanderies. The senior ranking direct descendent inherits the prerogatives of a Hereditary Knight Commander of Russian Grand Priory. Alexandre Tissot Demidoff of Paris currently holds this distinction. 
Ancestral Commanderies established during the reigns of Paul I and Alexander I of Russia include those of:
Narychkine, Count Chéréméteff, Prince Youssoupoff †, Stroganov †, Count Samoiloif ‡,
Prince Belosselsky, Prince Dolgoroukov, Davydov, Prince Barytinsky, Prince Démidoff, Prince Troubetzkoy, Count Worontzoff, Maruzzi †, Beklechev †, Prince Tioufiakine †, Count Olsoufieff, Gerebtzoff, Count Strogonoff †, Boutourline, Potemkine †, Tchirikoff †, Prince Khilkoff ‡, Prince Odoevsky †, and Prince Youssoupoff †.
Key. † Direct Male line from the first Commander extinct. ‡ Direct Male line is extinct, but the family was reinstated via the female line by the Imperium.
See also
 Sancy - the most famous of diamonds, in possession of the Demidovs from 1828 to 1865
Leaning Tower of Nevyansk - a tower commissioned by Akinfiy Demidov
Demidov Prize - the oldest scientific award established in 1831 by Pavel Nikolaevich Demidov
The Last Day of Pompeii - a painting commissioned by Anatole Demidov
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey - another painting from his collection
Chicken Demidoff - a food named after Prince Anatole
Publications
Anatole Demidoff, Travels in Southern Russia, and the Crimea; through Hungary, Wallachia, & Modavia, during the Year 1837, London, J. Mitchell, 1853,
External links
History and portraits of the Demidovs
Genealogy of the Demidovs as Princes di San-Donato
Anatole and Mathilde: Story of Their Marriage
History of the Demidov Family (from the website of the Demidov University)
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