Andrei Andreevich Winius

Andrei Andrejewitsch Winius, self-portrait

Andrei Andrejewitsch Winius ( Russian Андрей Андреевич Виниус ; born June 4, 1641 in Moscow , † 1717 ) was a Russian translator for Dutch in the rank of Duma- Djak , first Russian postmaster and made a valuable contribution to the reorganization of the Russian artillery in 1700 lost battle of Narva against Sweden in the Great Northern War . From then on he became an artillery inspector.

Life

Andrei was born as the son of the Dutch merchant Andries Winius and his wife Geertruid van Rijn. The father Andries left Holland in 1634, settled in Moscow, accepted the Orthodox faith and became an adviser to the young Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich . The son Andrei Andreevich grew up in Moscow. When he was five years old, his mother died. He was baptized Orthodox at the age of 14 and received a good education. In March 1664 he was employed at the Legation Office as a translator for Dutch . He wrote and translated a number of books. In addition, he was also the advisor to Tsar Alexei, later also to Peter I (son of Alexei).

He then operated the Russian post office on the basis of a state license . However, Peter withdrew this profitable business from him on the grounds that Winius was too concerned about his profit, had not taken sufficient account of the needy of the state and, in particular, had failed to extend the postal service to unprofitable routes.

After the Battle of Narva (1700), the entire Russian artillery park fell into Swedish hands. A replacement urgently had to be procured in order to be able to quickly resume the war against Sweden. Winius was appointed overseer of the artillery, who managed to set up a park of 300 within a year and to double this number within a further 18 months. Although Winius was almost 60 years old and complained about the dwindling of his strength, he undertook a trip to Siberia in the summer of 1702, where he opened up new iron ore deposits for exploitation.

literature

• Denzel, Markus A. Denzel, Markus A., ed .: From commercial communication to commercial integration: Middle Ages to 19th century 100 . International Economic History Association, Universidad de San Andrés, Academia Nacional de la Historia (Argentina). Steiner. ISBN 978-3-515-08473-4 , 2004
• Jones, Maurice Bethell: Peter Called the Great . Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4179-9769-5 , 2005
• Massie, Robert K .: Peter the Great: His Life and World . New York City: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-29806-3 , 1981
• Olearius, Adam; Baron, Samuel H .: Samuel H., Baron, ed. The Travels of Olearius in Seventeenth-Century Russia . Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0219-5 , 1967
• Seymour, Henry Danby Russia on the Black Sea and Sea of ​​Azof: Being a Narrative of Travels in the Crimea and Bordering Provinces; with Notices of the Naval, Military, and Commercial Resources of Those Countries (3 ed.) . London: John Murrary, 1855
• Solovʹev, Sergeĭ Mikhaĭlovich: History of Russia 28 . Academic International Press. ISBN 978-0-87569-269-2 , 1976

Individual evidence

1. ↑ City Archives Amsterdam. [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.