Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev is rightly considered one of the founders of the mining industry in the Urals.

He was born on April 29, 1686, in the Pskov province. Although his father owned an estate, the family lived modestly, and at the age of seven, Vasily, along with his brother Ivan, entered the service at the court of Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna.

In 1706, the brothers joined the military and soon became officers. Vasily Nikitich participated in the Battle of Poltava, where he was wounded.

After the war, he studied artillery and engineering in Europe, where he became close to the statesman Yakov Vilimovich Bruce, who recognized his potential.

In 1716, Tatishchev was transferred to the artillery, and in 1719, at Bruce's request, he began compiling a complete geographical description of Russia. However, he could not complete this work, as in 1720 he was sent to the Urals to build factories and smelt copper and silver from ore.

At the Uktus factory, Vasily Nikitich created a governing body known as the "Siberian Higher Mining Authority." He founded the Yekaterinburg and Yegoshikha factories, which later became the cities of Yekaterinburg and Perm. His activities caused discontent among the industrialist Akinfiy Nikitich Demidov, who saw the development of the Urals as a threat to his power.

In 1723, Tatishchev was sent to Sweden to study mining and seek specialists for Russian metallurgy. After the death of Peter I, he temporarily fell out of favor, and a bribery case was opened against him. Nevertheless, in 1734, he was appointed manager of all Ural factories. During this period, the number of factories increased to 40, and schools and hospitals were opened in the workers' settlements.

In 1745, Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev retired and devoted the last years of his life to natural science activities.