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I met the name of this extraordinary woman when I was deciding in which maternity hospital my second son would appear. Among others, I visited maternity hospital No. 6, located in the center of Moscow, a 5-minute walk from the Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya metro station. It is located on a quiet street, in the shade of ancient trees. This maternity hospital is named after Agrippina Abrikosova.
From the head physician of this maternity hospital, I learned several facts about the biography of this amazing woman. And she was very impressed by the fact that in her life she gave birth 22 times and gave birth to 22 children, respectively (she had no cases of multiple pregnancies)! As it turned out, this was not the most important achievement in her life. Returning home, I climbed into the Internet to get to know Agrippina Abrikosova better.
Agrippina Alexandrovna Musatova (1832 — 1901), reputed to be a rich bride, came from a family of a perfume manufacturer. Her family owned the largest tobacco and fondant factories in Moscow.
At the age of eighteen, she met Alexei Abrikosov, who worked in the German commission office of Hoffmann. His parents, immigrants from the peasants of the Penza province, sent him there at the age of fourteen for five US dollars a month’s remuneration.
So Alexey Abrikosov, a man absolutely unknown to anyone, with 3 classes of education in a commercial school, went from an errand boy to a chief accountant, learned languages and good manners.
He opened his own business for the production of «sweet products». In 1842 he joined the Moscow merchant class as a merchant of the 2nd guild. By that time, his family was already living in a new place: in the 3rd quarter of the Myasnitskaya part. There, at a home enterprise, they made jam, rolled sweets, baked gingerbread.
The head of the Abrikosov family won the well-deserved right to be considered the largest Russian confectionery manufacturer. His “Partnership of A. I. Abrikosov and Sons”, organized in 1880, had three factories (one, converted, named after Babaev, still operates), many shops in the best shopping arcades of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Odessa.
Apricot sweets, especially apple and rowan marshmallows, enjoyed constant success with buyers. The State Emblem was emblazoned on the packaging of products, and the foreigners regaled themselves on Russian sweets. And soon the «Partnership» was awarded the title of «Supplier of His Imperial Majesty.»
Few people know that Alexei Abrikosov also started banking in Russia. The Moscow Practical Academy of Commercial Sciences flourished with his assistance: he paid scholarships to the most diligent students from his own funds. Alexei Ivanovich dreamed of a quick and lasting formation of the third estate. Having received the right to hereditary nobility for his merits, he refused to use it, because he was proud of the merchant rank.
Apricot couple
With Agrippina Musatova, Alexei Abrikosov was connected not only by a sober calculation, but also by a strong heartfelt attraction.
At 18, Agrippina had already given birth to her first child, son Nikolai. A year later — daughter Anna. In the future, the children of the Abrikosovs appeared almost every year.
Agrippina gave birth to her last child at the age of 46. It turns out that she managed to give birth 22 times in 28 years!!! The theme of pregnancy, childbirth and children was saturated with her whole life.
The Abrikosovs respected prosperity, prosperity and well-being, as a condescension of God, but at the same time they were aware of the original sinfulness of any wealth.
It was these moral foundations of Russian Orthodoxy, according to the historian A. Valdin, that determined the behavior of all generations of the Abrikosovs. It was they who underlay the generous charity of Agrippina Alexandrovna.
What worried her, and what she had the right to judge — obstetrics — became her concern for many years.
Agrippina Alexandrovna is described by contemporaries as a powerful woman, but at the same time very generous.
She was a trustee of the Morozov Children’s Hospital, opened a kindergarten at her husband’s factory, and in 1889 opened the first clinic for women. The first paragraph of the charter of this medical institution read: «Sustained at the expense of the founder.» A talented obstetrician A. N. Rakhmanov, son-in-law of Agrippina Alexandrovna, was appointed head of the department.
Unique operations were performed within these walls by G. N. Speransky, A. P. Turchaninov, A. I. Abrikosov — the luminaries of Russian medicine. Twenty-two nurses looked after the women in labor, midwives received up to 800 USD per year — a lot of money at that time.
This institution was called — «Free maternity shelter and gynecological hospital with permanent beds of Agrippina Alexandrovna Abrikosova in Moscow.» The hospital was small, only 6 beds. But for Agrippina Alexandrovna it was a favorite brainchild. She visited her every day.
Having passed away in 1901, Abrikosova agreed in her will that a maternity hospital should be opened for 100 thousand USD of her inheritance (this was huge money at that time).
The embodiment of her idea was taken up by a relative of Agrippina Alesandrovna, the husband of one of the daughters, a well-known Moscow obstetrician, Professor A.N. Rakhmanov. The city gratefully accepted a generous gift of 100 thousand USD and allocated a plot of land on the former Miusskoye field for the construction of a maternity hospital.
In 1903, the City Duma approved the project of the “exemplary Abrikosovsky maternity hospital for 70 beds,” but after experts’ calculations, it turned out that the donated amount would not be enough. A specially created commission made a decision according to which it would be «advisable for the city to pay more, but to make an institution of a larger size — more profitable for maintenance per bed.»
The construction of the maternity hospital took three years. And in 1906, the maternity hospital was built. Two inscriptions were laid out at the top of the building: on the left “City Maternity Hospital”, and on the right — “named after A.A. Apricot».
A.N. Rakhmanov headed the maternity hospital from 1906 to 1925. He did a lot for the development of obstetrics. By the way, the high bed on which women give birth is called by his name — “Rakhmanovskaya”. He also came up with the prototype of the modern exchange card. And also in the maternity hospital named after A.A. Abrikosova for the first time women obstetricians-gynecologists began to work as doctors!
During the years of Soviet power, the maternity hospital was renamed the Maternity Hospital. N.Krupskaya, wife V.I. Lenin, who had no children at all. But in 1994, the institution was returned to its historical name.
The maternity hospital recently celebrated its 6th anniversary! Here they remember the past. Reports on the work of the maternity hospital of that period, tools and equipment are still kept in the museum at the Maternity Hospital No. XNUMX.
The building of the maternity hospital has been redesigned many times, but outwardly it is very different from all other Moscow maternity hospitals. In the near future, the maternity hospital is planned to be closed for reconstruction, during which its conditions will be made such that they correspond to the ideas of modern comfort.
Apricot children
Agrippina Alexandrovna raised beautiful children.
Her son Alexei became the publisher of the philosophical journal Questions of Philosophy and Psychology. Nikolai inherited his father’s business, but was more fond of travel and translation. He raised, in addition to his own, five more children of his brother Ivan, who died early: Alexei became an academician, Dmitry became a diplomat, Anna converted to Catholicism and turned her house into a semblance of a monastery; for her faith, she became, according to the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, one of the first inhabitants of the «Gulag archipelago», having spent thirteen years in prisons and camps.
Daughter Glafira Alekseevna graduated from the Sorbonne University, received a Ph.D. The grandson of the Abrikosovs, Khrisanf Nikolaevich, served as Leo Tolstoy’s personal secretary, and Sergei became a doctor of chemical sciences.
The family continued the tradition of guardianship for many years: Maria helped the Alexandrovsky and Basmanny women’s schools, Vera — the city real shelter, Alexei — the men’s Khamovniki school, Nikolai was a member of the Council of the city orphanage.
When the founder of the family, Alexei Ivanovich, was dying in 1906, one hundred and fifty relatives gathered at his bedside. And they were all independent, educated, gifted people. He calmly went to another world. With Agrippina Alexandrovna, they did not live in vain.
Naturally, everything was taken away from the family in 1917. But the Abrikosovs resisted, almost none of them left Russia. In 1992, the “first congress of the Abrikosov family” was held in Moscow, rejecting 75 years of oblivion. It was remembered with a kind word the founder of this kind, Agrippina Alexandrovna …
At present, the Abrikosov business lives not only in the maternity hospital No. 6, “The Association of the Sons of A.I. Abrikosova”, organized by the descendants of Agrippina Abrikosova, now produces elite chocolate.
In my opinion, the life of this worthy couple, Agrippina and Alexei Abrikosov, can inspire many, many people, especially women. And their life itself, their actions, their deeds, and their children — cause great respect and admiration!
Agrippina Abrikosova was not only a beloved and loving wife, a mother of many children, but also the founder of the first maternity hospital and gynecological clinic in Moscow! How she managed to combine all this — one can only be surprised and admired!
More information about the Apricot family and their business can be found on their personal website: http://www.abrikosov-sons.ru