Alexander Fillipovitch SMIRDIN (1795 – 1857) – Saint-Petersburg publisher and bookseller.

>> Alexander Fillipovitch SMIRDIN

Alexander Fillipovitch SMIRDIN (1795 – 1857) – Saint-Petersburg publisher and bookseller.

A.F. Smirdin became the holder of the own publishing house in 1825 by having inherited the business of V.A. Plavilshchikov. He saw his purpose in publication of works of Russian authors: A.S. Pushkin, I.A. Krylov, N.V. Gogol and of other. He published such collected stories as "The House-Warming", "The Hundred of Russian Writers", he issued the magazine of literary criticism, sciences, arts, industry, news and fashions The Library for Reading. He established the series "The Full Collection of Works of Russian Authors", within the framework of which he published more than 70 small format volumes of works of more than 35 Russian writers, including those of K.N. Batyushkov, D.V. Venevitionov, A.S. Griboyediov, M.Y. Lermontov, M.V. Lomonosov, D.I. Fonvizin, as well as of the Empress Catherine the Second.

A.F. Smirdin was the first in Russia, who introduced the permanent payment for writer’s labor ("evaluation of literary works as capital"), with increase of circulation (up to 3-4 thousand copies) of published books, which he sold at low prices.

By the end of his life he went bankrupt, and he died in poverty.

"Thanks to Smirdin, - V.G. Belinsky remarked, - purchase of books became more or less feasible also to that class of the public, which read most of all, and who therefore were in the keen need for books".