Ivan Tereshchenko

Ivan Nikolaevich Tereshchenko (; ; September 10, 1854 – February 11, 1903) was a Ukrainian landowner, industrialist (sugar manufacturer), art collector and patron of the arts of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was renowned for his numerous art collections across Europe.

Early life Ivan was the eldest son of landowner and sugar manufacturer Nikola Tereshchenko and his wife Pelageya. From 1883 to 1891, Tereshchenko worked in the Kiev city council. He was a co-founder of the Sugar Refinery Factories' Association of the Tereshchenko Brothers.

In 1897, he decided to build a villa on the French Riviera, on the hills above Cannes. The rapid economic growth of Russia in the late 19th-century, as well as friendly relations between Russia and France, allowed many wealthy Russian industrialists to settle on the Côte d'Azur. At that time, the Russian Navy had leased the French Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer over a number of years.

The Tereshchenkos, father Nikola (1819–1903), Ivan himself, and his younger brother Aleksandr, were well-known patrons of the arts; Nikola was a financial supporter of the Kiev and Glukhov art museums, and Ivan supported the Kiev Drawing School.

Philanthropy In May 1876, painter and art teacher Mykola Murashko asked Ivan for funding for his new art school. This led Tereshchenko to become a patron of the Murashko school for nearly 25 years. During the period, he was also appointed as honorary trustee of the Kiev and Alexander craft schools.

Personal life Ivan married Elizaveta Sarancheva, the daughter of Colonel Saranchev. History states that when he asked Elizabeth to marry him, her father declared that they would not get married until after the first snowfall. The next morning Ivan arranged for the whole street leading to the bride's house to be covered with sugar. Ivan's father, however, was not impressed by this ruse, and in April 1880, at the insistence of his father, Ivan resigned and went to Europe to collect art. By the turn of the century, they owned approximately 153,000 ha and were among the largest landowners in the Russian Empire.

Death Ivan Tereshchenko is buried next to his daughter Olga, who was born in 1882 and died in childhood. They are buried in the Tereshchenko family's estate, where an angel crafted in white marble watches over Olga's grave.