Outstanding Russian statesman. 
Born in Tbilisi in the family of a major official, a member of the council of the Caucasian governor-general. Representatives of the German-Baltic clan Witte, who also had Dutch roots, moved to the Baltic during the rule of the Swedish domination and received hereditary nobility in 1856. Witte's cousin was the founder of the Theosophical Society, the writer and traveler E. Blavatsky. 
He studied at the I Chisinau Russian gymnasium, in 1870 he graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Novorossiysk University in Odessa, received the degree of Candidate of Physics and Mathematics. In the next about 20 years, Witte worked in private railway societies. During this period, he was formed as a financier and government official, having risen to the post of director of the railway department under the Ministry of Finance. 
In February 1892, Witte became Minister of Railways, and in August, Minister of Finance. In this position, he managed to implement major economic measures: the introduction of the wine monopoly, the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the monetary reform, according to which gold circulation was introduced and the free exchange of the credit ruble for gold was established. Witte contributed to the rapid construction of the "Yermak" icebreaker. In his economic policy, he relied on attracting foreign capital, which allowed speeding up the economic development of Russia. Many provisions of his agrarian program were subsequently used by P. A. Stolypin. 
In foreign policy, Witte advocated opposition to strengthening Japan in the Far East and pursued a policy of rapprochement with China. With his participation, a defensive alliance was concluded with China and an agreement on the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. At the same time, he considered it premature a military conflict with Japan, advocating an agreement with her. This conviction did not sharply coincide with the policy of Nicholas II, which was the reason for his resignation from the post of Minister of Finance. 
In 1905, Witte led a delegation that signed in the USA Portsmouth Peace Treaty with Japan, which insisted on transferring all of Sakhalin to it. He managed to achieve the loss of only the southern part of the island, for which he received the title of count and the humorous nickname “Count Polusakhalinsky”. 
From October 1905 to April 1906, Witte headed the Council of Ministers. On his initiative, the Manifesto was drawn up on October 17, which granted basic civil liberties and introduced the institute of people's representation - the State Duma. At the same time, during the 1905 revolution, Witte initiated the sending of punitive expeditions to Siberia, the Baltic states, and Poland. Under his order, troops were sent from St. Petersburg, deciding the fate of the Moscow armed uprising.

Bust Witte at St. Petersburg State University

Memorial plaque to S.Yu. Witte  St. Petersburg, Kamennoostrovsky prospect, 5