Savva Vasilyevich Morozov, a renowned Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist, was the founder of the Morozov dynasty. His family came from an Old Believer lineage that lived in the village of Zuevo in the Bogorodsky district of the Moscow province. In 1842, the Morozovs were granted the status of hereditary honorary citizens.

Born in 1770, Savva Vasilyevich was a serf of landowner Ryumin. He worked as a shepherd, cart driver, weaver, and craftsman who walked to Moscow to sell his products. Eventually, he became the owner of a small enterprise, a distribution office, and a factory. In 1797, Morozov married Ulyana Afanasyevna, the daughter of a dye master, and opened a silk weaving workshop. By 1811, his workshop had 10 looms operated by 20 hired workers, producing up to 200 pieces of silk annually worth 1,200 rubles.

After the 1812 war, Savva Vasilyevich began selling his products to city landowners and townspeople. By 1821, he managed to buy his freedom along with his sons Elisei, Zakhar, Abram, Ivan, and Timofei, paying 17,000 rubles in banknotes.

Once free, in 1823, Morozov purchased a piece of land on the right bank of the Klyazma from his former landowner Ryumin. Here he founded a factory that became well-known and contributed to the development of the industrial locality of Nikolskoye. Today, Zuevo and Nikolskoye are part of the city of Orekhovo-Zuyevo.

In 1825, Savva Vasilyevich established a hand-weaving factory in Moscow, consisting of 11 buildings that housed weaving, spinning, dyeing, and drying workshops. The factory had no machines but featured 240 hand looms with Jacquard machines for producing patterned fabrics. After the Crimean War, the factory was closed. In 1830, Morozov opened a factory in Bogorodsk, which later became the Bogorodsk-Glukhov manufactory. In 1846, construction began in Nikolskoye on the largest paper-spinning factory in Russia, launched in 1848 with the assistance of Ludwig Knop.

In 1850, Savva Vasilyevich allocated capital for his elder sons Elisei and Zakhar, while the youngest son Timofei, born free, took over the management of the affairs.

Savva Vasilyevich Morozov passed away in 1860 as a first-guild merchant, leaving his descendants a significant inheritance and numerous factories. In the same year, his firm was transformed into the joint-stock trading house 'Savva Morozov and Sons', and in 1873 it was renamed the Nikolskaya Manufactory Partnership 'Savva Morozov Son and Co'. Savva Vasilyevich is buried at the Rogozhskoye Cemetery, where his grave reads: 'Under this stone lies the body of God’s servant, hereditary honorary citizen, first-guild merchant Savva Vasilyevich Morozov, who passed away on December 15, 1860, at 6 o'clock at midnight, aged 90 years, his angel day is April 24.'