Early Life, Family and Training Sergei Gribkov was born in Kasimov, Russia, in 1822. He was raised within a family of small merchants, a background that suggested a life of commerce rather than one of aesthetics. Despite his family's mercantile pursuits, Gribkov felt a growing dissatisfaction with the business world. His true path remained hidden until 1841, when a chance encounter with Sergei Stroganov changed his trajectory. Strogano…