St. Petersburg, Russia:

E. S. Tarakanova, Independent Researcher, E-mail: tarakanova1@yandex.ru

In 2020, the Republic of Karelia solemnly celebrates its centenary. Karelia’s birthday is considered to be June 8, 1920, when the first autonomous regional association, the Karelian Labor Commune, appeared on its territory. The history of Karelia is inseparable from the history of the development of ferrous metallurgy, which began here many centuries ago with the smelting of local swamp and lake iron ores in artisanal bloomery furnaces. At the end of the XVII - beginning of the XVIII centuries. the factories of Butenant and the Olonetskiy Petrovsky factories, producing guns, shells and handguns, played an important role in the formation of the Russian state. The most glorious page in the history of Karelian ferrous metallurgy was the time of management of the Olonetskiy mining plants by a native of Scotland, Charles Gascoigne, who headed them from 1786 to 1806. Gascoigne managed to create here one of the best iron foundries and mechanical enterprises in the world, from which new technologies spread throughout Russia. The memory of Gascoigne is carefully preserved in Karelia, and it is deeply symbolic that it is in the current anniversary year that a monument to him is being created here and the exposition of the Charles Gascoigne museum is being prepared for opening.

1. Brian Watters. Where iron runs like water!: a new history of Carron Iron Works 1759–1982. Edinburgh : John Donald Publishers, 1998. p. 242.
2. Roger. P. Bartlett. Charles Gascoigne in Russia. A case study in the diffusion of British technology, 1786–1806. 1983.
3. John R. Bowles. From the banks of the Neva to the shores of lake Baikal: some enterprising Scots in Russia. The Caledonian Phalanx. Scots in Russia. Edinburgh. 1997. pp. 224–261.
4. Steuart A. F. Scottish Influences in Russian History from the Sixteenth to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, An Essay. Glasgow, 1913. pp. 129–131.
5. Gernan I. F. Description of the Konchozero and Petrozavodsk factories and the casting of guns and shells on them. Saint-Petersburg, 1803. 206 p.
6. Tarakanova Е. S. Gascoigne and Russian guns. Sever. 2001. No. 5–6. pp. 96–114; No. 7–8. pp. 165–177; No. 11–12. pp. 187–201.
7. Temnik Yu. А. Centennial mountain nest. Lugansk Plant (1785–1797). Vol. I. Lugansk: Shiko, 2004. 530 p.
8. Tarakanova Е. S. Sestroretskiy gun factory in the XVIII century. Chernye metally. 2018. No. 10. pp. 73–79.
9. About the establishment of a cast iron smelter at Konchozero. Complete collection of laws of the Russian empire. First collection. 1830. Vol. 22. pp. 679–681. No. 16433.
10. Gascoigne`s contract texts. Russian State Historical Archive. Fund. 1374. Register 4. File 343. List 26–32.
11. National Archives of the Republic of Karelia. Fund 446. Register 1. File 1/3. List 125–160.
12. Tarakanova Е. S. From the history of Olonetsky works. Chernye Metally. 2009. No. 10. pp. 76–83.
13. Balagurov Ya. А. Olonetskiy mining plants in the pre-reform period. Petrozavodsk: Gosizdat Karel. ASSR, 1958. 212 p.
14. Tarakanova Е. S. Charles Gascoigne and Alexey Olenin. From the history of the Banking Mint. Problems of cultural heritage in the field of engineering. Iss. 2. Moscow: 2001. pp. 65–74.
15. Petrozavodsk. 300 years of history. Documents and materials. Book 2. 1803–1903. Petrozavodsk, 2001. 400 p.
16. Complete collection of laws of the Russian empire. First collection. 1795. Vol. 23. pp. 815–817. No. 17408.
17. Russian State Historical Archive. Fund 1374. Register 4. File 343. List 70–74.
18. Russian State Historical Archive. Fund 37. Register 11. File 15. List 146–158.