Leonid Apollonovich Sytin

Born 1829 in Tula; died Sept. 27 (Oct. 10), 1913, in St. Petersburg. Founder of the peat industry in Russia.

After graduating from the Gory-Goretsk Agricultural School in 1855, Sytin worked in the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property. In the years 1872–75 he traveled to Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland to study methods of extracting and using peat. On his return to Russia, he founded and directed the first state peat-processing enterprise, near Briansk. In 1883, Sytin became the country’s first peat specialist. He organized peat extraction near Moscow, in the Urals, and elsewhere, and he proposed mechanized methods for the extraction and comprehensive use of peat.