sofs.org.ua › About us › Archive › 2024 › №2 (124) › 1.7

1.7

AN OUTSTANDING ECONOMIST AND RAIWAY MANAGER I.S. BLIOKH (1836—1901)

O.A. PETRUCHENKO
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5000-6206
State University of Infrastructure and Technologies, Ukraine

Nauka naukozn. 2024, 2(124): 112—125
https://doi.org/10.15407/sofs2024.02.112

Section: Science and technology history
Language: Ukrainian
Abstract: The article updates the most significant information about Ivan Stanislavovich Bliokh, a prominent railway scientist of the 19th century, through a review of his scientific heritage. It is demonstrated that the organizational and scientific effort of I.S. Bliokh in the field of railway transport is a significant contribution to the development of the world science and technology, with the entire era in the development of the railway industry in the second half of the 19th century being associated with his name. The scientist’s works devoted to issues of organizing and operating the railway, its worldwide importance, built on a large amount of statistical material, received public resonance and international recognition. As a scientist, I.S. Blioch made a critical analysis of previously accumulated scientific material pertaining to statistics, finance, economic history and industrial economics, and as a railway concessionaire and philanthropist, he gave railway transport a new impetus for development. It is emphasized that I.S. Blioch was a pioneer in a scientific analysis of the impact of railroads and railroad construction on the country’s economy; he was the first to trace the influence of railway construction on the expenditure part of the state budget, thus expanding the boundaries of financial science; he was the first to create a pension fund for railway workers on the principles of self-financing and insurance; he distinguished four groups of operating costs, dividing them into two categories (proportional and constant), and proposed comparative measurements of the amount of work required to establish rational operating standards. The research effort and conclusions of I.S. Bliokh had critical influence on solutions of key issues of cost formation and management in the railway transport, laid the foundation for the development of calculation of the transportation cost on the railways of the Russian Empire. Detailed information on Bliokh’s effort in creating and operating the Society of South-Western Railways is provided. It is shown that the works of I.S. Bliokh became key for the evolution of sector-specific scientific thought in the 19th century and have not lost the relevance for the development of railway transport in modern Ukraine. Public, educational and organizational activities of the scientist in the international peace movement is highlighted.

Keywords: railway transport, I.S. Bliokh, railway statistics, tariff formation, Society of South-Western Railways, Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Finance.

References

  1. (1903). Leaders of South-Western Railways for 25 years. Bulletin of the South-Western Railways, 26, 16—18 [in Russian].
  2. Vitte, S.Yu. (1960). Memories (Vol. 1—3). Moscow: Publishing house of social and economic literature, 1, 116 [in Russian].
  3. Ananiyich, B.V. (1991). Banking houses in Russia 1860—1914: Essays on the history of private enterprise. Leningrad: Nauka [in Russian].
  4. Vitte, S.Yu. (1960). Recollections. Memories (Vol.  1—3). Moscow: AST; Minsk: Harvest, 3 [in Russian].
  5. Bliokh Ivan Stanislavovich. In: Syitin, I.D. (1911—1915). Military encyclopedia. Generals, military leaders (Vol. 1–18). Moscow; Saint-Petersburg, 4, 569—570 [in Russian].
  6. Bliokh, I.S. (1882). Finances of Russia in the 19th century: history — statistics (Vol. 1—4) [in Russian].
  7. Lapin, V.P. (2010). Activities of I.S. Bliokh (1836—1901) in the context of the development of domestic railway transport (the second half of the 19th — the beginning of the 20th centuries). Extended abstract of PhD thesis. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  8. Petruchenko, O. (2022). To the history of the construction of the Brest-Graiv and Bendero-Galati South-Western railways. History of Science and Biography, 2, 137—149. doi.org/10.31073/istnauka202202-09 [in Ukrainian].
  9. Bliokh, I.S. (1896). Reclamation lending and the condition of agriculture in Russia and foreign countries. Saint-Petersburg: Printing house of I. Efron [in Russian].
  10. Bliokh, I.S. (1898). Future war in technical, economic and political terms (Vol. 1—6). Saint-Petersburg: Printing house of A. Efron [in Russian].
  11. Subbotin, A.P. The Jewish question in its correct coverage (in connection with the works of I.S. Bliokh) [in Russian].
  12. Bliokh, I.S. (1877). Collecting freight charges in metal currency by Russian railways. Date and place unknown. Saint-Petersburg [in Russian].
  13. Bliokh, I.S. (1879). The Russian railways: income and operating costs, fares of transportation and movement of goods. Saint-Petersburg: Printing house of the Ministry of Railways [in Russian].
  14. Bliokh, I.S. (1877). The economic condition of Russia in the past and present. Herald of Europe, 9, 304—358; 10, 748—779 [in Russian].
  15. Bliokh, I.S. (1878). The influence of railways on the economic condition of Russia (Vol. 1—5). Vol. 1. Construction and operation of railways. Saint-Petersburg: Printing house of M.S. Volf [in Russian].

Full Text (PDF)