Monument to the merchant Markov

Konstantin Grigorievich Markov ( 1848 - 1918 ) (according to other sources - the end of the 1840s - January 1919 ) - the son of Grigory Markovich Markov ( 1817 - 1900 ), the largest Melekess industrialist and wine merchant in the Samara province (tavern owner and winemaker) ^[3] . Starting in the middle of the 19th century with the opening of the hut, 10 years later Grigory Markovich had two large distilleries, a huge steam flour mill , several shops, cellars and shops in different cities, a little more than a dozen stone houses and several hundred taverns, a whole network entangled almost the entire Samara province. He became a merchant of the first guild and head of the Trading House "Grigory Markov and Sons", which included four of his sons: Alexander, Andrei, Fedor and Konstantin ^[4] .

In 1877 , city ​​government was introduced in Melekess, and Konstantin Grigoryevich Markov was elected chairman of the local Duma . And a year later, in 1878 , he becomes a posad’s head , holding this post for nearly 40 years (from 1878 to 1894 and from 1897 to 1917) ^[4] .

In those same years, Konstantin Grigoryevich headed the Posad District Council (in accordance with Russian laws) .He is also the vowel of the district zemstvo assembly, the vowel of the provincial zemstvo assembly from the Stavropol district (that is, he participates in the work of the district and provincial zemstvo assemblies).

In 1884 , Konstantin Grigoryevich built his own steam mill. In 1906 , in memory of their father, the sons of Markov built a public almshouse in Melekess, designed for 60 people (mostly people who had previously worked at Markov's enterprises and had no relatives) and allocated capital of 15,000 rubles for its maintenance. The chairman of the board of trustees of the almshouse is Konstantin G. Markov, the rest of the family are its members. In addition, with his assistance in Melekess, the following were discovered:

Under Konstantin Grigorievich Markov, the urban economy strengthened. By 1915 , Melekess was that rare city in Russia that had no debts, but on the contrary, it had a capital of 340,000 rubles. Indeed, by this time, the ownership of the posad was: 3 two-story, 10 one-story, stone houses, 100 retail shops, 12 stone and 15 wooden buildings for the needs of institutions and a land plot of 41 tithes (448 thousand m²). Such practical activities brought 18,000 rubles of annual income ^[3] .

Under Konstantin Grigoryevich, the population of the posad increased five-fold and reached 16,000. In 1915, Konstantin Grigoryevich was awarded the title of hereditary honorary citizen of the Melekess Posad, and his portrait was hung in the building of the Posad Administration ^[4] .

Konstantin Grigorievich Markov took an active part in the revolutionary events of 1917 and was categorically against the dispersal of the Duma, but on March 12 they dismissed the Duma and elected a new executive committee , which accused him of malicious activity, dismissed him and strongly advised me to leave Melekess forever.

In 1919 (or 1918 ), when he was arrested, one could see a touching picture of how the not yet frightened townspeople, who had genuine respect for him, dared to run after the cart in which they brought Konstantin Grigoryevich and throw knots of food and clothes into her . There is a version that by the verdict of the revolutionary tribunal Konstantin Grigorievich Markov was shot in Samara in 1919 (or 1918) at the age of over 70 years ^[3] . However, documentary evidence of this has not yet been found ^[4] .

85 years later, grateful descendants erected a monument to the Melekess Posad head in Dimitrovgrad .