Delvig, Andrei

Born Mar. 13 (25), 1813, in the village of Studenets, now Donetskoe, Lipetsk Oblast; died Jan. 20 (Feb. 1), 1887, in St. Petersburg. Russian engineer, lieutenant general in the Engineering Corps (1868), and memoirist. Cousin of the poet A. A. Del’vig.

In 1832, A. I. Del’vig graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Transportation. He took part in the technical direction and organization of the construction of many engineering installations, including water pipelines in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod and several railroads and highways. Under his direction the Mytishchi Water Pipeline was reconstructed between 1853 and 1858, which was a fundamental improvement of Moscow’s water supply system. From 1861 to 1871 Del’vig occupied a number of high posts in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications; he introduced the division of railroads into “services” (sluzhby), which is retained to this day. Upon his initiative technical railroad schools were established. Del’vig was one of the organizers and the first president (1876–70) of the Russian Engineering Society. His memoirs contain reminiscences of A. S. Pushkin, A. A. Del’vig, N. V. Gogol, P. la. Chaadaev, and A. I. Herzen. Del’vig was awarded the Demidov Prize.