Ivan Alekseyevich Vyshnegradsky (; 1 January 1832 – 6 April 1895) was a Russian financial adviser, priest and scientist who specialized in mechanics. He served as the Russian finance minister from 1887 to 1892.

Early life

Born in a priest's family, Ivan Vyshnegradsky graduated from the

Tver Theological Seminary Tver (, ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is situated where three rivers meet, splitt ...

and later from the Main Pedagogical Institute. He later taught maths and mechanics at St. Petersburg military educational institutions. He specialized in mechanics and among his contributions was a set of criteria for identifying the stability of steam engine speed governors. By the time he was appointed a government minister his fortune was nearly a million roubles due to his participation in several joint-stock companies as well as being a renowned and talented entrepreneur. In 1884 Ivan Vyshnegradsky became a member of the Council of Ministers of Public Instruction and drew up a program for technical education.

Russian Finance Minister

In 1886 Ivan Vyshnegradsky was appointed a member of the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...

and in 1887 became the head of the Ministry of Finance. Similar to his predecessor

Nikolai Bunge Nikolai Karl Paul von Bunge (23 November .S. 11 November�1823 – 15 June .S. 3 June�1895) was a German-Russian economist, academic and statesman who served as the minister of finance of the Russian Empire from 1881 to 1886. He is known as ...

, Vyshnegradsky pursued a policy aimed at the settlement of the budget deficit, stronger government interference in private railways and the nationalisation of the least profitable railways as well as the support of domestic industry and preparation of monetary reform. Ivan Vyshnegradsky achieved this by; increasing direct taxes, pushing for an export drive and increasing railway lines. Although achieving a balanced budget, accumulating gold reserves and strengthening the rouble, Vyshnegradsky's work was criticised in light of his contradictory taxes on peasants leading to the

Russian famine of 1891–92 Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vyshnegradsky, Ivan 1832 births 1895 deaths People from Vyshny Volochyok People from Tver Governorate Politicians from the Russian Empire Finance ministers of Russia Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Burials at the Isidorovskaya Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra