Baranov

Baranov was born in 1747 to a storekeeper in the small Russian town of Kargopol. His life was marked by restless energy, ambition, and resourcefulness. At 15, he ran away to Moscow, where he worked for merchants and educated himself. After several years, he briefly returned to his hometown and married. However, the marriage was not a happy one, and soon, he left his family and moved to Siberia. Seeing that glass was an expensive imported commodity in Siberia, but the raw materials to make it were readily available, he started a prosperous glass factory there. 

Ever restless, he sold this factory to start a fur business. Shelikhov, the head of the largest fur company in Alaska, recognized Baranov's talents and repeatedly asked him to take over the company. In 1790 he agreed and left for Alaska to start his greatest enterprise.