Johann Karl Girard

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann Karl Girard (* 9. December 1732 in Rastede in Oldenburg ; † February 3 . Jul / 14. February  1799 greg. In Tallinn ) was an Estonian entrepreneur.

Life, entrepreneurship, politics

The Girard family originally came from the French countryside of Languedoc-Roussillon . Johann Karl's father, the surgeon Stephan Karl Girard († around 1740), moved to Moscow via Aurich in East Frisia in 1738 . The mother, Anna Erika Steinrücker, came from Korbach . The family posed as Huguenot nobles who had to flee France because of religious persecution.

In 1770 Johann Karl Girard moved to the Estonian capital Tallinn. Four years later he was granted citizenship there. He quickly demonstrated economic and political skill in the Baltic States .

In 1782 he married the daughter of the mayor of Tallinn, Karl Nikolaus Hetling , who had died the previous year , Anna Dorothea Hetling (1746-1815). As a result, he became (co-) owner of the Tallinn trading company Thomas Clayhills & Son , which was founded in 1636 and into which the Hetling family had married. After the male line of the Clayhills family died out and Anna Dorothea Hetling married, Johann Karl Girard became the sole owner of the company through inheritance, which he continued to expand.

At the end of his life, Johann Karl Girard was given important political offices. 1797/98 he was councilor in Tallinn. On January 18, 1798, he was elected mayor of Tallinn.

Johann Karl Girard's son, Johann Karl Girard de Soucanton (1785–1868), continued to run Thomas Clayhills & Son after the death of his father in 1799 . In 1862 he was raised to the nobility as a baron by Tsar Alexander II . His eldest son, Edmund Girard (1810–1861) and his third son Arthur Girard de Soucanton (1819–1884) worked as successful entrepreneurs in the Thomas Clayhills & Son company . Johann Karl Girard de Soucanton's youngest son Johann Karl "John" (1826–1896) founded the cement works in Kunda in 1870 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00000601/images/index.html?id=00000601&fip=eayayztsewqeayaxssdasyztsqrseayaxs&no=&seite=114
personal data
SURNAME Girard, Johann Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1732
PLACE OF BIRTH Rastede near Oldenburg
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 1799
Place of death Tallinn