Ivan Kulibin - Mechanic of the Imperial Majesty

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

285 years ago, on April 21, 1735, Ivan Petrovich Kulibin was born. His name has become a household name. Now we can say for sure - forever. We call them self-taught craftsmen, talented nugget engineers - no explanations are required. Kulibin's glory remains immutable. Although someone considers him just a legend, almost a fairy-tale character - on a par with Anika the warrior or Vasilisa the Wise. But he did a lot for the Academy of Sciences, and for the Russian economic society, and for river transport, and for military surgery and in general - for our engineering thought, laying the tradition of bold inventions …

He proved a lot to his contemporaries and descendants. He proved that a Russian peasant can invent cunning machines no worse than the Germans and the British. Glory to glory, but how little we know about the real Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, about his fate, full of dramatic twists and turns.

He was born in the Nizhny Novgorod suburb of Podnovye. His father was a merchant, a relatively wealthy man who belonged to the urban estate class. Most likely, he adhered to the old faith and certainly did not shave his beard. In his house, they could not even think about tobacco, about drunkenness. The sexton taught Ivan to read the Psalter, and the elder Kulibin was contemptuous of the schools. Soon, the very young son of a merchant stood behind the counter. Until the parent died, Ivan Petrovich was forced to do an unloved business. Did not dare to disobey.

The first mystery that awakened the inquisitive mind of Kulibin in his youth was for him a clock that showed not only the time, but also the course of the sun and the phases of the moon. He noticed them on the bell tower of the Nativity Stroganov Church, which now stands on the high bank of the Oka. How does this tricky, compact mechanism work? Kulibin looked for the answer in books. The most efficient was the educational translation edition of Georg Kraft "A Brief Guide to the Knowledge of Simple and Complex Machines, Composed for the Use of Russian Youth".

In the very first, still naive, young Kulibin complained about the bitter fate of the "reluctant merchant":

He managed to reveal the secret of the clockwork only in Moscow. There he was for a short time, on business, and on Nikolskaya Street he found his first teacher - the famous watchmaker Lobkov. But after a short journey I had to return home. Kulibin became the first jack of all trades in Nizhny, but, until his father's death, he also had to trade in flour … "Not flour, but just flour …"

When the empress arrived in Nizhny in 1767, the elder Kulibin was no longer alive. Ivan Petrovich was patronized by the local merchant Kostromin. In a merchant's house, with Kostromin's money, Kulibin created an elegant gift for Catherine - a clock in the shape of a large goose egg, in which graceful figures played plays. The clock opened, the anthem played. The master decorated the gilded case with intricate ornamentation. But, when the masters were introduced to the empress, he not only presented her with this curiosity, but also recited an ode to his own composition:

It turned out spectacularly. “Russian Semiramis” immediately invited him and Kostromin to Petersburg.

Back in April 1765, before Catherine's trip along the Volga, Lomonosov was gone. Alas, they never met with Kulibin …

Making a living on the banks of the Neva, Kulibin never agreed to shave, although this step promised him ranks and nobility. Long-bearded, he appeared everywhere in a solid Russian caftan. Apart from the clergy, no one in the vicinity of the Hermitage and Tsarskoye Selo looked like that. That was the time of the tragic split between the "noble" and "muzhik" estates. They seemed to live in different worlds, spoke differently, dressed and dined. The appearance of Kulibin in the palace and academic halls was the first attempt to smooth out this contradiction. Dandies and witches - as if by mistake - asked for his blessing, like a priest. Kulibin answered with dignity that he had nothing to do with the clergy.

At court, of course, he was most appreciated for his pyrotechnic miracles, for his ability to arrange unique fireworks and to arrange magic lanterns in the gardens. Rumors about them were passed from mouth to mouth, poets dedicated enthusiastic odes to pyrotechnic spectacles. And the master himself even wrote a treatise "On Fireworks". After all, he had been learning the secrets of fire for many years. Studied how different substances affect its color. He created whimsical firecrackers and rockets. The main secret was that, having died out and died away, the Kulibin fireworks left no traces. Kulibin was treated with respect: at least everyone knew that it was he who developed such a wonderful fiery fun. The court appreciated the brand of the master, and the name of Kulibin increased the prestige of the festive show.

Actually, Catherine could not stand the crowded, magnificent festivities in the style of the Elizabethan reign that had recently died down in Russia. "Wise Fike" tried to establish its own rules, and to give the court rituals more simplicity and soulfulness. But the empress had a particular fondness for fireworks. I saw in them the triumph of the human mind, which cognized and subjugated one of the mysterious phenomena of nature. After all, she - the daughter of her century - most of all appreciated knowledge and skills in the world.

For holiday fun, he also created the world's first searchlight - a bell-shaped Kulibin lantern. Mirrors multiplied the power of light. One candle was enough to make the lighthouse work, to illuminate the festival, to spread a bright light from the palace to the square. A message appeared in the main newspaper of the empire: “Mechanic Ivan Petrovich Kulibin invented the art of making a mirror composed of many parts with a certain special concave line, which, when only a candle is placed in front of it, produces an amazing effect, multiplying the light five hundred times against ordinary candle light and more, depending on the number of mirror particles contained in it … The rays then, passing only into the cut holes of the opaque body, will present a very brilliant illumination, if not superior, then not inferior to the wick used in fireworks. And naval officers, and bishops, and various princes ordered this eighth wonder of the world from Kulibin.

When, after the capture of Ishmael, Grigory Potemkin decided to celebrate this victory over the Turks in the St. Petersburg Tauride Palace on an unprecedented scale, Kulibin received the most difficult task: he had to surpass himself, surprise both Catherine and her nobles. And he did not disappoint. He arranged a gilded pyramid in the garden, filled everything with crystal balls and glowing stars. And in the hall stood a huge automatic, adorned with precious stones from the bounty of Prince Tauride … an elephant. A Persian was sitting on an elephant - just like a living one. The elephant shook its trunk, and the Persian (instead of a heart he had a whimsical mechanism) struck the bell. It was, perhaps, the brightest holiday of Catherine's times!

Life at court is always fraught with pitfalls. Kulibin was not honored by Ekaterina Dashkova, a very influential lady, especially in matters related to arts and science. Once Kulibin spent his own money on repairing a precious watch with a peacock that belonged to Potemkin. The master decided to support Gabriel Derzhavin - at that time the Empress's secretary. He procured from Catherine a substantial increase in salary for Kulibin - 900 rubles a year. Upon learning of this, Dashkova, who headed the Academy, flew into a rage. After all, Derzhavin addressed the empress "over her head." After that, Dashkova's long-standing friendship with Derzhavin was forever interrupted, and Kulibin was saved only by the fact that the empress herself then did not favor her ex-girlfriend, and Dashkova's influence waned.

Ekaterina awarded the mechanic with a special medal - with the Anninsky ribbon. On its main side there was a portrait of the queen, and on the back - an image of goddesses symbolizing science and art. They held a laurel wreath over the name of Kulibin. On one side of the medal was written: "Worthy", and on the other: "Academy of Sciences - to mechanic Kulibin."

Field Marshal Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov himself, Count of Rymnik, bowed three times to the bearded mechanic in front of the astonished courtiers. "Your grace, your honor, your wisdom - my respect!" He bowed in Russian, in the belt. And then he added: "Have mercy on God, he will soon invent us a flying carpet!" No, Kulibin did not rise to flying miracles, but he achieved considerable success in creating new types of transport.

In 1791, Kulibin designed a carriage of an original design - a scooter with a flywheel on pedals-“shoes” - something between a bicycle and a trolley that had not yet been invented. To ride a "scooter" - horses were not required. “The servant stood on the heels in the fitted shoes, raised and lowered his legs alternately, without almost any effort, and the one-wheeled car was rolling quite quickly,” a contemporary told about this Kulibin model. There is even information that the scooter could fly at a speed of 30 km / h. Although, this is most likely a two-fold exaggeration. The truth is that Kulibin managed to create one of the most reliable and high-speed scooter carriages of the 18th century with a uniform motion. And his scooter easily carried two passengers, a rickshaw servant and a box of provisions.

Kulibin proposed the design of both four-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles. It was possible to introduce the latter, the lighter one. The riders were surprised that the scooter went downhill more slowly than up the mountains. And Kulibin specifically achieved this by developing a whimsical braking device that made it possible to achieve a uniform stroke and vary the speed. The scooters were made in the mechanical workshops of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which were directed by Kulibin. The aristocrats of Catherine's time fell in love with them - both for entertainment and for the delivery of goods. In the twentieth century, a replica of the Kulibino scooter was created according to the preserved old drawings. It can be seen in the Moscow Polytechnic Museum.

The empress herself instructed Kulibin to invent a special telegraph that transmits information using light signals, in which he was so deeply versed. He also proposed a model of a "long-range machine" - an optical semaphore, which, with the help of a system of mirrors and reflected lights, transmitted verbal codes. The Kulibin code table was simpler and more convenient in operational work than the then French counterparts, but the funds in the treasury were not enough to build such a telegraph. The semaphore went to the Cabinet of Curiosities …

After the death of Catherine, Kulibin at court was remembered less and less often. Besides, he has grown old. From now on, the gray-bearded inventor was most interested in the riddle of a perpetual motion machine - this stumbling block of all inquisitive minds.

In 1801, Kulibin (most likely at his request) was dismissed from the Academy and sent to his homeland, to Nizhny, where he immediately began "improving the trial engine ship." Emperor Alexander I appointed him a not bad pension: 3,000 rubles a year and issued 6,000 from the treasury to pay off debts that the inventor had done not out of his own whim, but working on projects necessary for the state. In addition, he was added another 6,000 - for future expenses during the "experiments on the Volga."

But dark days came in the life of the great self-taught. Before he had time to get a job in Nizhny, his wife, Avdotya Vasilievna, died. She died in childbirth. For several months he fell into melancholy, but soon an active character prevailed over sadness and Kulibin again took up the "navigable ship" with might and main, and at the same time brought a new mistress into the house, who soon gave birth to three daughters for him, who was seventy years old.

As for shipping, after many experiments, he proposed replacing barge haulers and horses with a device on the shore of a kind of mechanical cable tractors that would pull ships along rivers, taking into account the peculiarities of currents. Kulibin several times tested his experimental, small engine ships on the Volga. The navigable vessel, in comparison with the "burlats", was recognized as more economical.

But … that was the end of it. The merchants did not see their benefits and, this time, did not support the invention with their capital. As a result, the first miracle ship remained the last.

Kulibin's next invention was the improved "mechanical legs", on which he had been working since 1790, since the Turkish war. With the help of his prosthesis, even the famous General Valerian Zubov, the brother of the all-powerful Catherine's favorite, moved around for many years. Kulibin once again perfected his artificial leg model during the Napoleonic Wars.

Kulibin did not break off ties with the capital. I wrote several times to Count Arakcheev about the possibilities of the "perpetual motion machine". This idea, which seduced many obsessed mechanical geniuses, turned out to be fatal for him. She almost ruined Kulibin. But, on the other hand, perhaps it was this passion that kept him on Earth in recent years.

The Nizhny Novgorod art teacher Pavel Vedenetsky created a portrait of the old Kulibin with a compass in his hands, with a Catherine's medal on his chest. Then this image of a sedate bearded man was interpreted in different ways - many years after the death of Ivan Petrovich.

The last years of the inventor were spent in poverty. After all, he constantly needed money to implement new technical ideas. And still it was necessary to feed the young wife and children. He died in 1818 almost unknown, or rather forgotten, in the middle of his ninth decade of life, which consisted of works and ideas.

The memory of Kulibin was resurrected by the writer Pavel Petrovich Tugoy-Svinin. In 1819 he published the book “The Life of the Russian Mechanic Kulibin and His Inventions” - enthusiastic, but also very informative. A new round of interest in the personality of the great mechanic of Catherine's era began after 1861, in the wake of the abolition of serfdom. It was then that it was important for the Russian people to realize that even "among a simple title" we have heroes and talents. The son of a simple merchant, a tradesman, was considered close to the peasant class and did him honor.

The writer Vladimir Korolenko, who pondered a lot about the Kulibin phenomenon, lamented that the great inventor “was in a hurry to be born”, because in the 19th century he would have found a more serious application. I think this is a controversial assumption. Catherine boldly put forward talented Russian people, helped them to open up, admired them. You can't take that away from her. As a rule, this applied to the aristocrats, but, like Peter the Great, she tried to demonstrate class democracy.

His image has been forever preserved in the historical memory of our people. The first artificial satellite of the Earth, and our deep-sea vehicles "Mir", and atomic icebreakers, and many other domestic inventions that surprised the whole world began with the court master Kulibin. With Kulibin began in Russia, in her high society, and respect for the peasant, which turned out to be stronger than class prejudices. Can such a master be forgotten? So let us bow to him three times - in Suvorov style!