№ 1220. 250th birth anniversary of A.Betankur (1758-1824), an engineer and an architect

Agustin de Betancourt (Agustin Jose Pedro del Carmen Domingo de Candelaria de Betancourt y Molina) (1758-1824) was a prominent engineer-constructor, inventor and statesman. He was invited in Russia from Spain by the emperor Alexander I and made a great impact on development of engineering and technical ideas in Russia. He took charge of the re-equipment and providing the Tula armory with steam engines, construction of the Moscow Manege, the Merchant Yard in the Nizhny Novgorod Fair and many other buildings. Betancourt was one of the founders of the bridge construction in Russia. He also planned and supervised the construction of the Expedition of State Paper Provision, work at the new manufacturing technology of paper and assignation making. Betancourt founded and managed Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers. The main goal of the Institute was “…to provide Russia with engineers, who could be appointed to the execution of works in the Empire immediately after their graduation”. The institute that he headed till the end of his life laid the foundations of the future native engineer school. There is a portrait of Agustin de Betancourt against the background of the design for a building of the Expedition of State Paper Provision on the stamp.