The Wawelbergs were a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

family whose banking house was active in both

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

Hyppolite Wawelberg

The Russian branch was founded by

Hyppolite Wawelberg Hipolit Wawelberg (1843–1901) was a Polish Jewish banker, and one of the most prominent members of the Wawelberg banking family. He was a known Polish patriot and a lifelong philanthropist. In 1869, following the January Uprising, Hipolit Wawelb ...

(1843–1901). The first Wawelberg

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

had its origins in a

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific d ...

that began operating in the early 1840s. In 1869 young Hyppolite Wawelberg moved to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

where he launched a new venture, the

Wawelberg Bank The Wawelbergs were a Polish family whose banking house was active in both Congress Poland and the Russian Empire. Hyppolite Wawelberg The Russian branch was founded by Hyppolite Wawelberg (1843–1901). The first Wawelberg Bank had its orig ...

. Hyppolite Wawelberg's Polish-Jewish connections (Wawelbergs were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

) remained strong, and the

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

was generally known as having two separate centers - in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

and in

. The first location of Wawelberg Bank was 25

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street ( high street) in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. It takes its name from the Alexander Nevsky ...

in St. Petersburg (House of the Parish of Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral, now housing

Stockmann Stockmann plc is a Finnish retailer established in 1862. Stockmann's eight company-owned department stores are in Finland (six), Estonia (one), and Latvia (one). There also was an additional nine Stockmann-branded department stores in Russia ow ...

department store and SAS - Scandinavian Airlines System offices). Hyppolite Wawelberg made a fortune in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

though he was equally well known as a generous philanthropist. The new

Polish Kingdom The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...

( pl, Królestwo Polskie; russian: Korolevstvo Polskoe), as created by the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, was a Polish entity but was in personal dynastic union with

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

, since the reigning

Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the te ...

was also king of Poland. Though based in

, the Wawelbergs were instrumental to the development of finance in the Polish Kingdom. They were to Congress Poland what the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

s were to Florence, the Fuggers to Augsburg, the

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

s to France, and the Mellons to the late-19th-century United States. By 1900 Hyppolite Wawelberg was at the helm of the

and held the title of honorable citizen of

, an appellation that could be passed on like a

title of nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...

. He was also a member of the

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

board of the Warsaw Bank of Commerce (Bank Handlowy w Warszawie). Back in St. Petersburg he was a member of the treasury of the Jewish Colonist Society, honorable member of the Jewish Educational Society (Общество распространения просвещения среди евреев) and benefactor of the Roman Catholic Beneficial Society (Римско-католического благотворительное общества). In 1875, in Warsaw, Poland, Hyppolite Wawelberg co-founded the Museum of Industry and Agriculture (''Muzeum Przemysłu i Rolnictwa w Warszawie''). It was in a physics laboratory there that, in 1890–91, Maria Skłodowska (Marie Curie), future investigator of radioactivity and future double

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ...

, did her first scientific work. In 1895 Hyppolite Wawelberg founded the Warsaw Mechanical-Technical School with his faithful friend and collaborator, Stanislav Rotwand (Cтанислав Ротванд, Stanisław Rotwand), an 1860 alumnus of the

University of Saint Petersburg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

law school.

Michael Wawelberg

Michael Wawelberg Michael Wawelberg (Михаил Ипполитович Вавельберг; 1880 – 19 July 1947) was a Polish-Russian Jewish banker, one of the best known members of the Wawelberg banking family. Michael Wawelberg received a classical educatio ...

(''Михаил Ипполитович Вавельберг''; 1880 – after 1929) received a classical educational at the

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Dem ...

Imperial Gymnasium in

Tsarskoe Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...

(''Царскосельская Императорская Николаевская гимназия''), from which he graduated in 1899. His father Hyppolite Wawelberg donated 500

rouble The ruble (American English) or rouble ( Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ' ...

s for the gymnasium's own charity, which at the time was a considerable sum of money. in 1903 Michael Wawelberg graduated from the University of St. Petersburg law school. That year he also took over the management of the Wawelberg Bank, which in 1912 was renamed the St. Petersburg Commercial Bank (''Петербургский Торговый банк''). In 1913 a branch was founded in Poland and became a publicly traded company – the Western Bank (''Bank Zachodni'') in Poland). The Wawelbergs later lost control of it due to Russian Bolshevik-induced turmoil. In 1910 the

Commercial

purchased a

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...

with a lot underneath it{{clarify, date=June 2019 in one most prestigious locations, at the corner of

and aristocratic ''Malaia Morskaia ulitsa'' (7 and 9 ''

''). The bank announced an open competition for the building's design. The competition was won by young

n architect

Marian Peretiatkovich Marian Marianovich Peretyatkovich (russian: Мариа́н Мариа́нович Перетя́ткович; 23 August 1872, in Usychi (Усичі in Ukrainian), Volhyn (now Ukraine) 22 May 1916, in Kyiv (Ukraine) was a Russian and Ukrainian ...

(Peretyatkovich). Naom Sindalovskii quotes a telling local St. Petersburg legend about building's construction. According to the legend after the building was constructed and the client (Michael Wawelberg) inspected it and could not find any deficiency with the work, he ordered to change the doors anyway because the door sign said "push." That's not what I do in life, said Wawelberg, I only pull things toward myself. In 1917, on the eve of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

putsch, Michael Wawelberg lived in

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...

at ''66 Boulvardnaia ulitsa'' (66 Boulevard Street; ''ул. Бульварая, 66''; Soviet name: ''Октябрьский бульвар'', Oktiabr'skii Boulevard). He was the chairman of the Commercial Bank and director of the board of Donetsk and Grushev Coal and Anthracite Mines (''директор правления Донецко-Грушевского акционерного общества каменно-угольных и антрацитовых копий''). He fled Russia after 1917 and then disappears from the public view. Most likely he settled in Poland or spent some time there, because in Andrei Serkov's book on Russian

Free Masonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

he mentions that two free masons, Alexander Erdman and Michael Wawelberg (М. И. Вавельберг), as they considered themselves Russian, petitioned Grand Master of the Polish Lodge with a request to allow them to found the Russian Lodge in Warsaw. In St. Petersburg the Wawelbergs are best remembered because of the

Wawelberg Bank building The Wawelberg Bank Building in St. Petersburg, Russia was built by the Wawelbergs - a prominent Polish banking family active in the Russian Empire. Although this building bears initials ''HW'' ( Hipolit Wawelberg), it was commissioned by his so ...

still popularly known as the House of Wawelberg (Дом Вавельберга) at 7/9 Nevsky Prospekt.

References

* List of alumni, Law School (Law Faculty), University of St. Petersburg, 1860. * Naom Sindalovskii - St. Petersburg, from Building to Building, 2002, Наум Синдаловский, Петербург от Дома к Дому. 2002 * Entire Petrograd, the Address Directory - 1917, Suvorin's Publishing - Весь Петроград. 1917. Петроград. Изд-во А.С.Суворина. 1917. * Andrei Serkov. The History of Russian Free Masonry from 1845 to 1945. Chapter 9. Андрей Серков. История русского масонства (1845–1945). Глава 9. * Naom Sindalovskii - St. Petersburg Biographical Dictionary, 2002, Наум Синдаловский, Биографический словарь, 2002 * Nevsky Prospekt - the architectural guide (Boris Kirikov, Ludmila Kirikova, Olga Petrova) - Cetropoligraph, Moscow, 2004 -(Невский проспект - Архитектурный путеводитель, Б. М. Кириков, Л.А. Кирикова, О.В. Петрова), Центрополиграф, Москва, 2004 Polish bankers Banking families Russian Jews Bankers from the Russian Empire Polish Jewish families Russian families

Hyppolite Wawelberg

Michael Wawelberg

See also

References