Innokenty Alexandrovich Kotelnikov

About museum

Innokenty Alexandrovich Kotelnikov was a merchant of the second guild, originally from Nerchinsk, a hereditary honorary citizen of the city of Blagoveshchensk, and a member of the Blagoveshchensk City Duma. He arrived in Blagoveshchensk on behalf of the Nerchinsk merchants Butiny. After the emperor allowed gold mining in the region, their trading house opened a branch here and sent a trusted representative to manage the business. Innokenty Alexandrovich settled in Blagoveshchensk seriously and for the long term.

Kotelnikov owned the mines "Mavrikievsky", "Sergeevsky", "Innokentyevsky", and "Vesennyi". There are also records that he engaged in small-scale entrepreneurship. In his shops one could purchase tea, candles, children's games and household necessities. Kotelnikov was married for the second time to Anna Vasilievna Gorshkova, who was a trustee of the Blagoveshchensk committee of the Society of Sisters of Mercy. Innokenty Alexandrovich and his wife were actively involved in patronage and charity. It is known that as early as 1891 Innokenty Alexandrovich took an active part in preparing for the visit of Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich to Blagoveshchensk and invested a considerable amount of his own funds in this event, including in the construction of a triumphal arch.

 In 2019 the Kotelnikov family house was transferred to the Amur Regional Museum of Local Lore named after G.S. Novikov-Daursky. The museum houses a permanent exhibition "History of Merchant Life of the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries" and three exhibition halls where temporary exhibitions are held: art, historical and local-history exhibitions, etc. In the museum's permanent exhibition, the history of Amur merchantdom is shown in close connection with the history of the Kotelnikov family.