Nikolai Vasilyevich Meshkov was a well-known Russian merchant, philanthropist, and public figure who played an important role in the development of higher education in the Urals. He was also an entrepreneur who helped prevent famine in the Perm province and contributed to improving transportation accessibility in Perm. In 1916, the deputies of the Perm City Duma planned to name a street in his honor, but these plans were thwarted by the revolution.

Nikolai Vasilyevich was born on May 30, 1851, in the city of Vesiyehonsk in the Tver province. His father, Vasily Nikolaevich, worked in a trading firm engaged in the export of food and leather raw materials. At the age of 19, Nikolai began working in the office of merchant Sobolev, who owned steamships, barges, and docks in several cities. In 1875, he moved to the 'Volga-Kama Shipping Company,' where, thanks to his organizational skills, he became the 'full trusted agent in the Kama River basin.' After that, he got married and moved to Perm.

Later, Nikolai Vasilyevich, together with Mikhail Ivanovich Shulyatikov, an inspector for river insurance, opened his own business, renting the steamboat 'Pozhva' and engaging in cargo transportation. In 1914, he bought the 'Partnership of Brothers Fyodor and Grigory Kamensky,' which was renamed 'Partnership of Shipping and Cargo Transportation of Brothers F. and G. Kamensky and Meshkov.'

In 1920 and 1931, he worked in the People's Commissariat of Transport. Nikolai Meshkov is also known for restoring one of Perm's architectural monuments in 1885 and 1889, which has since been called the 'Meshkov House.'

He passed away in Moscow on June 19, 1933, and was buried in the German cemetery, section 19, next to his sister Taisia.