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Semyon Afanasyevich Velikiy

1772–1794

Born
1772, Saint Petersburg
Country of birth
Russian Empire, today Russia
Died
24 Aug 1794, Caribbean Sea
facts
7
sources
1
images and files
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Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Saint Petersburg

    Birth, Saint Petersburg

  2. Died · Caribbean Sea

    Death, Caribbean Sea

What was it like?

The world around Saint Petersburg, 1772: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Semyon was born around the same time as Thomas Young, Gaspare Spontini, and Giuseppe Acerbi.

Born around the same time

  • Thomas Young

    1773 · English polymath (1773-1829)

  • Gaspare Spontini

    1774 · Italian composer and conductor

  • Giuseppe Acerbi

    1773 · Italian naturalist, explorer, composer (1773-1846)

  • William Henry Harrison

    1773 · president of the United States in 1841 (1773-1841)

  • Klemens von Metternich

    1773 · Austrian diplomat, foreign minister and Chancellor (1773–1859)

  • Caspar David Friedrich

    1774 · German Romantic landscape painter (1774–1840)

Fashion

Inherited silk festive clothing of wealthy families

Merchant and wealthy peasant women cherished festive clothing made from thick silk fabrics like satin and brocade, which were passed down through generations. These colorful, expensive garments were often adorned with large, bright floral patterns that reflected a blend of European trends and traditional folk art.

Peasant everyday winter and summer clothing

Peasant men wore linen shirts and trousers, while women wore long linen shirts and a checkered woolen skirt called a poneva. In winter, both wore sheepskin coats with the fur turned inward to stay warm.

Music

Unique Eighteenth-Century Russian Horn Orchestras

In the mid-eighteenth century, the unique horn orchestra became a feature of Russian culture, consisting of 50 to 91 musicians playing brass horns that could each produce only one specific note.

Popular Portable Clavichords for Outdoor Music

Clavichords became very popular in the eighteenth century and were nicknamed picnic pianos because their small size allowed them to be easily taken outdoors to accompany people in parks.

Getting around

Average travel speed by carriage

In the 18th century, the average speed of travel for noble families using their own horses and carriages was about 5 km/h.

Speed of professional couriers

Couriers using fast post horses could travel up to 125 km in a single day during this period.

Daily life

Home-based literacy for children

Due to a lack of public schools, children in noble families typically began learning literacy at home between the ages of 5 and 8. Teachers were often parents, relatives, local priests, or even household servants who knew how to read and write.

Small, dim living spaces in wooden huts

The main living area of a typical wooden izba was quite small, often providing only 2 to 3 square meters per person. Rooms were frequently lit by splinter torches, and windows were often unglazed, covered instead with bull's bladder.

Food

Kvas was the universal drink

Kvas, a light, slightly alcoholic drink made from fermented rye bread, was a universal beverage for ordinary people. It was so essential that it was also used as a base for soups and to braise meat.

Rye bread was the daily staple

Ordinary families relied on rye bread as a daily staple, with an adult consuming up to two pounds of this dense, sour-leavened bread each day. Because bread was time-consuming to make, it was typically baked in a Russian oven only once a week.

Prices and wages

Annual wages for factory workers

In the mid-18th century, unskilled factory workers or general laborers typically earned around 16 rubles per year, while skilled masters could earn 30 to 60 rubles annually. Some workers also received payment in kind, such as flour, grain, salt, or meat, to supplement their low cash wages.

Costs of food and footwear

In Moscow around 1750, a pound of beef cost 12 kopecks, while a pair of boots generally cost between 25 and 50 kopecks. Prices for staples like flour and meat increased significantly during the second half of the century as the cost of living rose.

Work

Agrarian life and serfdom dominated society

The vast majority of the population were agrarian peasants, with most working as serfs bound to a landowner's estate. Households relied on farming, while many also engaged in seasonal wage labor, crafts, or tributary industrial duties.

Long factory hours and seasonal construction work

Working days in factories often stretched from eleven to fifteen hours, sometimes involving two shifts, for 230 to 280 days per year. Construction work was typically seasonal, often limited to the period between May and October.

News and letters

Mail could take months across Russia

The vast size of the empire meant that mail could be very slow; even under ideal conditions, a letter from Moscow to Tobolsk could take two months to arrive.

Postal rates were inconsistent and status-based

Before 1783, postal fees for letters and parcels were inconsistent, often varying by route and sometimes by the sender's social status, such as being classified as noble or merchant.

During their lifetime

  1. 1773

    The Pugachev Peasant Revolt

    A massive peasant and Cossack uprising led by Yemelyan Pugachev broke out, threatening the social structure of the empire.

Family

Parents

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.