Nikita Demidov (full name Nikita Demidovich Antufiev), (5 April 1656 Tula – 28 November 1725 Tula) was a Russian industrialist who founded the Demidov industrial dynasty.[1]
Peter I of Russia charged the enterprising blacksmith Nikita with casting cannon for his many military expeditions and he was ennobled with name Demidov for having strongly supported the tsar's activities. In 1699 he set up Nevyansk's first iron foundry and in 1725 discovered mines at Kolivan (Kolyban), whose exploitation enriched him. A museum is devoted to him in Tula.
- ^ Lincoln, W. Bruce (2007). The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians. Cornell University Press. pp. 95–97. ISBN 978-0-8014-8922-8.