Savva Morozov married his second-cousin's former wife Zinaida Grigorievna, née Zimin (Russian: Зинаида Григорьевна Зимина).[5][b] They hosted lavish parties and balls which many distinguished Russians and Moscovites attended including Savva Mamontov, Botkin, Feodor Chaliapin, Maxim Gorky, Anton Chekhov, Konstantin Stanislavski, Pyotr Boborykin, and others. Olga Knipper recalled one of these balls: "I had to go to the ball at Morozova: I've never seen such luxury and wealth."[3]
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Morozov was the largest shareholder of the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) under Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko.[6][7][8] During the summer of 1902, with participation of both Ivan Fomin and Alexander Galetsky, Savva funded Schechtel's improvements to the Lianozov-owned[c] theatre built in 1890 at Kamergersky Lane 3 in Tverskoy.[6][7][8] The renovations incorporated Anna Golubkina's high-relief plaster of The Wave above the right entrance of the theatre.[9][10] In 1903 he funded the electrification of the theatre with its own electrical power station, and added another small stage which is isolated from the main building to allow full rehearsals during performances on the main stage.[8] All of this made the MAT the most advanced theatre in Russia.[8] For the fifth and sixth seasons (1902–04), Morozov funded the entire cost of the equipment and the operating costs of the building, too.[8] This new theatre had seating for 1200 (a third more than the older building) and greatly enhanced MAT's profitability. However, the rent increased for the seventh season (1904–05) and Morozov ceased paying for the leasehold and the operating cost. He would only pay back the principal for the cost of the improvements, which took 9 years.[8] When Gorky's Summerfolk was not well received by Nemirovich-Danchenko and Stanislavski, Gorky left the theatre and Morozov followed.[7]
According to the author Suzanne Massie, writing in Land of the Firebird, Morozov had approached his mother and family matriarch about introducing profit-sharing with factory workers - one of the first industrialists to propose such an idea. His mother angrily removed Savva from the family business, and one month later the apparently despondent Morozov shot himself while in the south of France. Morozov died from a gunshot wound in Cannes, France. His death was officially ruled[by whom?] a suicide; however, various murder-theories exist.[e]
^Zinaida's first husband was Sergei Vikulovich Morozov (Russian: Сергей Викулович Морозов), the third son of Savva's first cousin Vikula Eliseevich Morozov (Russian: Викула Елисеевич Морозов, 1860-1921).
^The Lianozovs were caviar- and fish-magnates with exclusive rights from Persia to the fisheries of the southern Caspian Sea. Later, after the founding of Baku Oil in 1907, the Lianozov family were the 23rd-richest family in Russia before World War I.[1][2]
^Schmidt was the son of Pavel Alexandrovich Schmidt (Russian: Павел Александрович Шмит) and of Savva's sister, Vera Vikulovna Morozova (Russian: Вера Викуловна Морозова).
^ ab"Миллионщики" [Millionaires]. Forbes (in Russian). Moscow. 22 October 2009. Archived from the original on 16 March 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ abcdefЛизунов, Владимир С. (1995). Минувшее проходит предо мною [The Past Is Held in Front of Me] (in Russian). Орехово-Зуево (Orekhovo-Zuyevo): Богородское краеведение (Bogorodskoye District Studies). Retrieved 12 May 2016.
^Голубкина, Анна Семёновна (1923). Несколько слов о ремесле скульптора [A few words about the sculptor's craft] (in Russian). Moscow: Издательство М. и С. Сабашниковых.