Petr Dementiev Founder of the city of St. Petersburg, Russian nobleman Date of Birth: 13.05.1849 Country: USA

Biography of Pyotr Dementyev

Pyotr Dementyev, a Russian nobleman, was the founder of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, in the United States. He was born in the Vesegonsk district of Tver Province. After the death of his parents, he was raised by his uncle and guardian, Anastasiy Aleksandrovich Kaliteevsky, in the village of Popovo. Dementyev received his education at the Third Gymnasium in St. Petersburg and the First Real School from 1860 to 1867. At the age of 17, he joined the Leib-Guard Gatchina Regiment and served in the military until 1870 when he retired as a captain to pursue agriculture.

In 1873, Dementyev was elected chairman of the local government and leader of the nobility in the Vesegonsk district. He also became an honorary magistrate in 1875 and the chairman of the congress of magistrates. However, in 1878, he retired and in 1881, after facing accusations of connections with the People's Will movement following the assassination of Alexander II, he decided to move to the United States. Settling in Florida, he engaged in logging and soon ventured into railroad contracts. Dementyev embarked on the construction of a 150-mile railway line from the St. Johns River to the Gulf of Mexico, which would traverse the state of Florida. Alongside the railway, new settlements emerged, one of which was named Dementyev Odessa.

On June 8, 1888, the first train reached the Pinellas Peninsula in Tampa Bay, where Dementyev established a railway station, hotel, and pier. He named the new city St. Petersburg in honor of the Russian capital. However, the demanding work and the hot, humid climate of Florida took a toll on Dementyev's health, and in 1889, he left St. Petersburg. After residing in Asheville, North Carolina, for three years, the Dementyev family relocated to Los Angeles.

Dementyev left behind a rich literary legacy. He started publishing a magazine called "Sovremennik" in 1897, using his own funds. In three issues of this magazine released in London, he published his appeals titled "To Dissatisfied Russians," "To the Russian Tsar," and "To Russian Liberals." He translated many works of his favorite poet, Mikhail Lermontov, into English and was a regular contributor to the journal "Vestnik Evropy." Under the pseudonym Tverskoy, he published his essays "Ten Years in America" and "My Life in America." In 1895, he published his work "Essays on the North American United States" in Russia, followed by the book "Essays on the History of the United States of America" in 1904. Dementyev visited Russia twice, in 1896 and 1906, and had a meeting with P.A. Stolypin in 1906. He maintained a friendly correspondence with the Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod, K.P. Pobedonostsev.

In the final years of his life, Dementyev resided in his home at the Alta Loma Ranch near Los Angeles. He passed away in 1919. In 1979, a granite pedestal was erected in St. Petersburg in memory of the city's founder.