Anket Galibi: SMIRNOFF

Smirnoff started as a vodka distillery founded in Moscow, by Piotr Arsenieyevich Smirnov. The Smirnoff brand is now distributed in 130 countries and includes flavored vodka and malt beverages. It is now owned by British drinks giant Diageo. Smirnoff vodka is both the best selling vodka and the best selling high-priced distilled spirit in the world as of March 2006.

Piotr Smirnov first founded his vodka distillery in Moscow in the 1860s, under the trading name of PA Smirnoff. He died in 1910 and was succeeded by Vladimir Smirnov. The company flourished and produced more than 4 million cases of vodka per year. During the October Revolution, the distillery was confiscated and the family had to flee. Vladimir Smirnov re-established the factory in 1920 in Istanbul. Four years later he moved to Lwów (formerly Poland, now Lviv, Ukraine) and started to sell the vodka under the contemporary French spelling of the name, "Smirnoff". The new product was a success and by the end of 1930 it was exported to most European countries. An additional distillery was founded in Paris in 1925. In the 1930s Vladimir met Rudolph Kunett, a Russian who had emigrated to America in 1920. The Kunett family had been a supplier of spirits to Smirnoff in Moscow before the Revolution. In 1933 Vladimir sold Kunett the right to begin producing Smirnoff vodka in North America. However, the business in America was not as successful as Kunett had hoped. In 1938 Kunett couldn't afford to pay for the necessary sales licenses, and contacted John Martin, president of Heublein, who agreed to buy the rights to Smirnoff.
Türkçeye çevirme fırsatım olmadı ama okurken hepimizin kesinlikle çok üzeleceği bir konu var 1920de smirnoff fabrikası İstanbuldaymış...