The research associated with this book was a massive undertaking. Many wonderful librarians in the United States and Russia offered essential guidance throughout the process, including Carol Leadenham and Molly Molloy at the Hoover Institute; Tanya Chebotarev at Columbia University’s Bakhmeteff Archive; Allan Urbanic at UC Berkeley; and Sue Sypko at Harvard’s Fung Library. I am also indebted to officials at the Central Historical Archive of Moscow and the State Archive of the Yaroslavl Province, Uglich branch. Experts from a variety of fields played important roles in helping me understand this story’s many complexities. In Russia, I would like to thank Olga Bimman, Valentin Skurlov, Vladimir Grechukhin, Andrey Kuzmitchev, Olga Savelyeva, Mikhail Zolotarev, and Andrey Kokorev. In the United States, Patricia Herlihy deserves particular mention for her treasure chest of knowledge, for allowing me to pester her, and for her kind soul. Kate Transchel, Thomas Owen, Stefan Hedlund, and Anita Friedman also lent a much-needed hand.
Given the history, descendants of the Smirnov family were understandably hesitant to participate in this book. Nonetheless, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Kira Smirnova and Tatiana Fomina for overcoming their misgivings and sharing some of their stories. The book is richer for it. Vadim Maksheyev and Alfonsina Mekhedinskaya, relatives of Tatiana Smirnova-Maksheyeva, should be recognized for their assistance and kind hearts. I am also grateful to the people at Diageo for their help with this book.
Special recognition must go to a handful of individuals whose contributions went well beyond what any reasonable person could have expected. Anton Valdin, an accomplished researcher and genealogist in Moscow, was unfailingly generous with his documents, time, and immense knowledge. Alina Polonskaya worked tirelessly and smartly on behalf of this project, too, unearthing many critical nuggets of information. Then there is Tatiana Glezer, the one person without whom this book could not have been possible. I count my blessings every day that I found such an intelligent, thorough investigator. Tatiana’s perseverance, integrity, and natural instincts made her an ideal partner for this endeavor. She began as a researcher thousands of miles away. Now, I am honored to call her my dear friend.
I also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to those nearest me who have endured four years of this odyssey. My friends have been priceless assets, cheering me on through writer’s block and worse. I can’t possibly mention them all, though they know who they are. Leah Spiro believed in this idea from the start. Betsy Corcoran gave invaluable counsel and encouragement. Alison Ross lent me her considerable brainpower. Julia Flynn Siler generously offered astute insights into this crazy process.
Finally, I cannot conclude without paying tribute to my remarkable family. They have been my greatest champions—and I theirs. I dedicate this book to them, for their unconditional support, inspiration, and love. My sister Lisa read every word I wrote, critiquing and praising as the material warranted. She was a necessary ingredient in this process, a steady, gentle reminder that anything is possible. My brother also never stopped cheering me on. I am thankful for my mother’s extraordinary writing genes and for my father’s enthusiasm, which was pure and powerful, carrying me past my own, not insignificant doubts. His good humor, when I needed it most, ensured that I remembered to laugh, something for which I am especially thankful. To my wonderful husband, Michael, who selflessly agreed to pack up our two young children and head to Russia with me, thank you is not nearly enough. He has steadfastly backed this project in every way possible, proving in more ways than I could ever count what a wise choice I made in marrying him all those years ago. And to the jewels of my life, my children, who would have preferred their mom write a kid’s book about animals with colorful illustrations, thank you for your patience, flexibility, and hearty hugs. You make it all worthwhile.
Photographic Insert
Portrait of Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov issued in commemoration of his death in 1898. The inscription under the photo reads P. A. Smirnov, Councillor of Commerce, November 29, 1898. Source: The Moscow Sheet.
Mariya Nikolayevna Smirnova, Pyotr Smirnov’s third wife. She died about four months after her husband. Source: M. Zolotarev.
The house by the Cast Iron Bridge was the Smirnov residence from the 1860s up until the revolution. The family lived on the upper floor, while a factory, office, and shop operated below. Source: M. Zolotarev.
View of Pyatnitskaya Street. Smirnov’s home is on the left. The belfry pictured is part of St. John the Baptist Church, where Smirnov’s funeral service was held in 1898. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Pyotr Petrovich Smirnov, the vodka king’s eldest son. He ran the liquor business after his father died. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Nikolay Petrovich Smirnov, Smirnov’s second-eldest son. He is identified as a horse breeder in the photo, which appeared in a book on the subject in the early twentieth century. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Vladimir Petrovich Smirnov, Smirnov’s third-eldest son. He is identified as a horse breeder in the photo, which appeared in a book on the subject. After spending time in a Bolshevik prison, Vladimir fled Russia post-revolution and revived his father’s business in Europe. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Smirnov’s showcase exhibit at the All-Russia Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896 in Nizhniy Novgorod. Russian royalty praised Smirnov’s display, which featured flashing liquor bottles in Russia’s national colors. Source: The fair’s catalog of participants.
Aleksandra Petrovna Smirnova, Smirnov’s youngest daughter. A beauty in her time, Aleksandra’s correspondence with her lover was a valuable resource in re-creating the Smirnovs’ lives. Source: The widow of Vadim Borisovskiy, Aleksandra’s son/M. Zolotarev.
Aleksey Petrovich Smirnov, Smirnov’s youngest son, and his wife, Tatiana. Just nine years old when his father died, Aleksey had little to do with the vodka business. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Sergey Petrovich Smirnov, Smirnov’s fourth-eldest son. He broke from the family after Smirnov’s death. A feud with his brothers over the vodka business and the distribution of his father’s assets was the catalyst. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Closing day at Smirnov’s vodka factory after the state’s vodka monopoly went into effect in Moscow in 1901. This photo ran in the local newspaper. Source: The Moscow Sheet.
Vladimir Smirnov’s grand horse stables in Moscow. He was an avid horse breeder and actively participated in horse racing. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Aleksandra Smirnova, Vladimir’s second wife, with their only child, Vladimir. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Smirnov family photo, date unknown. Vladimir is standing second from the left, his wife, Aleksandra, is standing on a swing. Pyotr Petrovich is standing third from the right. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Eugeniya Smirnova, Pyotr Petrovich’s wife. She remarried and fled Russia after the revolution, resettling in Nice, France. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Tsar Nikolay II, Russia’s last tsar, is greeted on a military ship with a small glass of vodka during a routine visit. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Wounded soldiers being cared for at Smirnov’s dacha during World War I. Several Smirnov properties were turned into makeshift hospitals during the war. Source: M. Zolotarev.
Valentina Piontkovskaya, a famous operetta star who was Vladimir Smirnov’s lover and companion before and after the revolution. With Vladimir, she fled Russia in 1919. Source: Bakhrushin Museum.
Vladimir Smirnov and his third wife, Tatiana Maksheyeva, in boyar costumes. Tatiana sent the photo to her brother in Estonia on December 29, 1926. A note on the back of the photo describes the difficulty of life in France. Source: Vadim Maksheyev.
Rudolph Kunett, a Russian émigré who purchased a license from Vladimir Smirnov in 1933 to market Smirnoff vodka in the United States. He is pictured here in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square on a visit in 1978. Source: Diageo.
Rudolph Kunett, seated, sold his interest in the Smirnoff franchise in 1939 to John Martin, then president of Heublein, a company based in Hartford, Connecticut. Source: Diageo.
Selected Bibliography
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Christian, David. Living Water: Vodka and Russian Society on the Eve of Emancipation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Daniels, Robert V. Red October: The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1967.
Dole, Nathan H. The Life of Lyof N. Tolstoi. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923.
Elkhof, Ben, John Bushnell, and Larissa Zakharova. Russia’s Great Reforms, 1855-1881. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994.
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Figes, Orlando. Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2002.
Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy: A History of the Russian Revolution. New York: Penguin Group, 1996.
Floyd, David. Russia in Revolt: 1905: The First Crack in Tsarist Power. Macdonald & Co., 1969.
Freeze, Gregory. Russia: A History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Fridman, M. I. Wine Monopoly in Russia. Moscow: Obshchestvo kuptsov i promyshlennikov Rossii, 2005.
Galagan, A. A. History of Russian Entrepreneurship: From a Merchant to a Banker. Moscow: Os-89, 1997.
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Searchable Terms
Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
(Qualifiers for Smirnov family members relate to Pyotr Arsenievich unless otherwise noted.)
Abrikosov family, 56, 123, 180
Aleksander I, Tsar, 11
Aleksander II, Tsar, 32–33, 47, 50–52, 54–56, 106, 123, 235, 333, 334
assassination of, 111, 114–15, 116, 120
See also Great Reforms
Aleksander III, Tsar, 115–17, 127–36, 159, 166, 168
anti-alcohol campaign and, xxviii, 142
authoritarianism of, 116–17, 127–28, 144
budget deficit and, 138–39, 151
death of, 167
vodka monopoly and, 147–52, 154–55
Aleksandra Fyodorovna, Empress, 176, 272, 280, 289
Aleksander Mikhailovich, Duke, 310
Aleksey Aleksandrovich, Grand Duke, 176
All-Russia Industrial and Artistic Exhibitions, 172–78
anti-alcohol movement, xix, xxv, 24, 93, 169, 192, 268
Bolsheviks and, 289, 295
Chekhov and, xxvi, 111, 125–26
clergy and, 24–25, 155
Gorbachev and, 333–34
growth of, 247–48, 258–59, 263–64
sobriety oaths and, 46–47
state measures and, xxvi, 128, 150–51, 248, 259, 273–74
Tolstoy and, xxvi–xxvii, 140–41, 258, 263–64
as vodka monopoly rationale, 139–40, 142, 147–52, 156, 168–69, 170,
206, 236–37
See also prohibition
anti-Semitism, 144–45
Arsentyev, Grigoriy, 197
Bacardi, 330
Bakhrushin, Aleksey, 102
Bakhrushin, Konstantin
Petrovich, 180, 197, 209, 223–24
Bakhrushin, Pyotr, 332
Bakhrushina, Nina, 332
Bakhrushin family, 73
Baronowski, Ladislas, 307, 308, 309, 313, 314
beer, 24, 169, 249, 276, 278
Bogolepov, Nikolay, 218
Bloody Sunday (1905), 238–39, 242, 250
Bolshevik Revolution, 55, 285–93
civil war and, 293–301
émigrés from, 301–2, 303–16
Bolsheviks, 233, 283, 284–85
Bond, James (fictional), 329
Borisovskiy, Martemyan, 180–86, 191, 210–11, 232, 331
Borisovskiy, Vadim, 210, 290, 331
Bostanzhoglo, Vasily, 210–11, 290
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