Graftio, Henry Osipovich

Born in the family of a railroad worker, a descendant of a noble family from the Netherlands . In 1888 he graduated from Simferopol gymnasium . After the death of his father, the family lived in Odessa ("on Tiraspol Street, in the house of Trandafilov" ^[1] ), where in 1892 he graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Department of Novorossiysk University and left for St. Petersburg. In 1896, he graduated from the Institute of Railway Engineers Corps and until 1900 he was abroad - he studied hydroelectric stations and electric railways in Europe and the USA.

In 1900-1917 he designed and built railways, drafted projects for the electrification of the Crimean and Transcaucasian railways, the Beliy Ugol hydroelectric power station on the Podkumok river (1903), the hydroelectric power station on the Vuoksa river (circa 1905), on the Malaya Imatra river (1905), Volkhov river (1911), as well as, on the proposal of the municipal authorities of St. Petersburg has designed and organized the movement of the electric tram in St. Petersburg , opened September 29, 1907 the route length of a little more than two kilometers (from the Admiralty Square on Horse Guards boulevard, then across the bridge to Nicholas Vasil vsky island and further on the 8th line to the Grand Avenue) and continued by later two more established Graftio tram lines. Under his leadership, a central power station was built with three steam turbines, five power substations, three car parks, more than 100 kilometers of electric contact wire lines were laid, and more than 100 motor tram cars were equipped.

Since 1907 he taught at the St. Petersburg Electrotechnical Institute , since 1921 - professor at this institute.

In 1912, together with engineer E. Palitsyn, at the request of the Russian State Administration of Inland Waterways, he developed a project for a hydroelectric power station on the Petropavlovsk rapids of the river. Volkhov to supply energy to the capital's railway junction. But the intervention of the "Society of Electric Lighting of 1886", supplying St. Petersburg with electricity from its heat station, and fearing the negative consequences of the construction of the landowners dam, the project was postponed indefinitely. Losses for the state amounted to over 1 million gold rubles.

In 1917, he developed a project for the construction of a ground-based “railway metro” from the Baltic Station to the Udelnaya Railway Station in Petrograd.

After the change of power, in the spring of 1918 he headed Elektrozheldor, a department within the People’s Commissariat, developing a plan for the electrification of the country's railway lines.

Two years later, he became one of the inspirers of the State Electrification Commission of Russia, personally created by V. I. Lenin, and the author of sections of the GOELRO plan “Electrification and Transport” and “Electrification of the Caucasus Region”.

In January 1918, on behalf of Lenin, he drew up an estimate of Volkhovstroy. On July 14, 1918 he was summoned to Moscow, to the Council of People's Commissars, where under the chairmanship of V.I. Lenin the question of Volkhovstroy was considered. In 1919 he built on the Volkhov barracks for workers, warehouses and other structures. On a personal instruction from V.I. Lenin, in 1921 he headed the construction of the Volkhov hydroelectric station , where since 1918 he worked as an assistant to the chief engineer, and was suspended in connection with the Civil War, and the construction of the Svirskaya hydroelectric station - Svirstroy.

He was arrested on March 11, 1921 by the Petrograd Cheka in the Svirstroy case, together with the entire leadership of Volkhovstroy. He was released as a "major specialist" by a resolution on "non-involvement in the case" after the personal intervention of Lenin and Krzhizhanovsky .

In 1924-1925 - Director of the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute ^[2] .

In 1927-1935 he supervised the construction of the Nizhnesvirskaya hydroelectric power station , where for the first time in the practice of world hydraulic construction he realized the experience of erecting a dam with high pressure on soft soils, putting the principle of flattened foundation as the basis for construction.

Combined the construction of hydroelectric power plants with scientific research. Under his editorship, bulletins were published, as well as "Materials on the study of r. Volkhov and his basin ”(1924-1929).

In 1938-1945 he was the chief inspector for the construction of hydroelectric power stations of the People’s Commissariat of Heavy Industry of the USSR , then the People’s Commissariat of Power Plants and Electricity of the USSR and the People’s Commissariat of Power Plants of the USSR During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, he was engaged in evacuation to Central Asia and commissioning of power equipment. Returning to Leningrad, he actively participated in the process of restoring the energy potential of the city.

He died on April 30, 1949 in Leningrad . He was buried at the Bolsheokhtinsky cemetery . The tombstone is decorated with images and dates of the main construction projects of his life.

• 1908-1911 - Kamennoostrovsky Avenue, 24; ^[3]
• 1911-1914 - 11 Seyozhynska street;
• 1914-1941, 1944-1949 - Alexandrovsky Avenue , 15, apt. 3.

• He was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor .
• In 1932, bypassing all intermediate stages, he became a full member of the Academy of Sciences.

• Graftio is named after the street in the city of Serebryansk, East Kazakhstan region, Kazakhstan.
• The name Graftio is assigned to the Lower Svir hydroelectric station .
• The name Academician Graftio in Daugavpils is named after Graftio .
• In 1949, a street in Leningrad (formerly Perm) was named after Graftio.
• Graftio is also named after the street in the village of Pavlovka , Nurimanovsky district, Bashkortostan.
• The street in Perm is also named after Graftio.
• Graftio is named after the street in the city of the Volga region of the Nizhny Novgorod region .
• Graftio is named after the street in the village of Molodezhnoye, Karaganda region, Kazakhstan.
• A street in the city of Volkhov, Leningrad Region is named after Graftio.
• On the building of gymnasium No. 1 of Simferopol (until 1920 the Simferopol male gymnasium) a memorial plaque was erected in honor of the graduate of the Simferopol male gymnasium.
• On the building of the V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin) Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute - Aptekarsky Prospekt , house number 3 in 1960, a memorial plaque was installed (architect M. F. Egorov) ^[4] .
• A memorial plaque (sculptor N. S. Baganov, architect T. N. Miloradovich) was installed on the house at 15 Dobrolyubova Avenue in 1967.
• On the building of the Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers named after Academician V.N. Obraztsov ( Moskovsky Prospect , d. No. 9 in 1976, a memorial plaque was installed (sculptor V.P. Petin, architect V.S. Vasilkovsky).
• Monuments to the scientist are installed in the city of Volkhov and the urban-type settlement Svirstroy In the house of Graftio, built according to his project (Volkhov, Oktyabrskaya embankment, 27), where the Museum of the History of the city of Volkhov is currently located, a memorial plaque is installed and a permanent exhibition dedicated to Heinrich Graftio is in operation ^[5] .
• In 1979, the director Gennady Kazansky shot the biographical film “ Engineer Graftio ”, in which Anatoly Papanov played the role of Graftio.
• Graftio is named after the street in the city of Kapshagai, Almaty region, Kazakhstan.

• G. O. Graftio - the builder of the first hydroelectric power plants in the USSR / Under the general. ed. G. M. Krzhizhanovsky. - M.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences
• Grigoriev S. Graftio // Addresses of St. Petersburg. - SPb. , 2007. - No. 25/38 . - S. 4-5 .
• Makhobei K.M. Vnesok, Academician Genrikh Osipovich Graftio in Hydroenergetic Science (Ukrainian) // Science and Law of the History Department of the Zaporizhzhya National University. - Zaporizhzhia: ZNU, 2015. - VIP. 43 .

• Gvozdetsky V. L. Outstanding Energy of Russia: G.O. Graftio (1869-1949) (Retrieved June 8, 2018)
• Graftio Heinrich Osipovich (Retrieved June 8, 2018)
• Graftio Heinrich Osipovich (Retrieved June 8, 2018)