Lisitsyns
Lisitsyns (Russian: Лисицыны) was a Russian family of the first documented samovar-makers, metalworkers and businessmen, living in the city of Tula in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Fyodor Ivanovich Lisitsyn (Russian: Фёдор Иванович Лисицын) was a progenitor of the dynasty, a weapons-maker and metalworker at his own brass factory in Tula.
Ivan Fyodorovich Lisitsyn (Russian: Иван Фёдорович Лисицын) and Nazar Fyodorovich Lisitsyn (Russian: Назар Фёдорович Лисицын) were the two sons of Fyodor Lisitsyn. From their childhood they were engaged in metalworking at their family's factory. In 1778 they made a samovar, and the same year Nazar Lisitsyn registered the first samovar-making factory in Russia. They may not have been the inventors of samovar, but they were the first historically recorded and documented samovar-makers, and their various and beautiful samovar designs became very influential throughout the later history of samovar-making.
Nikita Nazarovich Lisitsyn (Russian: Никита Назарович Лисицын) was a son of Nazar Lisitsyn who inherited the samovar factory in 1823. That year they produced 423 samovars. Ten years later the production was about 625 samovars a year, but only 315 samovars in 1853.
Nikita Nikitich Lisitsyn (Russian: Никита Никитич Лисицын) was a son of Nikita Nazarovich Lisitsyn and the next owner of Lisitsyn factory. He had a great success with his samovars on pan-Russia Fair at Nizhny Novgorod and managed to sell much of the production to Bukhara and Khiva in Central Asia, where sphere-shaped samovars became popular. In 1856 Nikita Lisitsyn received a medal and a kaftan in recognition of a quality of his samovars. In 1863 Lisitsyn participated in an exhibition, organised on the arrival of a son of Alexander II of Russia to Tula. After that time the history of Lisitsyns family is unknown.
References
- Самовары Лисицыных / Samovars of Lisitsyns at the site of Sloboda, a Tula-based newspaper (Russian)