Mikhail Zemtsov: The first certified Russian architect 

In 1709, the then 21-year-old Zemtsov began studying Italian in St. Petersburg so that he could later serve as an interpreter for the Western architects hired to build the new capital. A year later, he became a translator for the great Domenico Trezzini, the city's first architect. 

Zemtsov not only translated, but also studied under the author of the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Summer Palace of Peter the Great. His talent for drawing was noticed and they began to send him to help other architects, including Nicolo Michetti. At that time, he was just working on imperial projects in Strelna and Peterhof and, in Revel, he was engaged in the construction of a palace for Catherine I. The Italian quickly realized that Zemtsov would make an excellent architect and entrusted him to finish the construction of the palace on his own.

Peter I also did not stand aside and entrusted Zemtsov with recruiting specialists for construction in Stockholm and, in 1724, he assembled a commission of foreign architects who examined the young colleague. Their answer was unambiguous: "Worthy of the title of a full and real architect." 

From 1730, he was in charge of all works in Peterhof, the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Anichkov Palace. Zemtsov designed palaces for Peter the Great, was engaged in buildings in the Summer Garden and erected the Church of St. Simeon and Anna for Empress Anna Ioannovna in St. Petersburg.