The name of Mitrophan Belaiev, who was a wealthy timber merchant and a maecenas, is not as well-known as those of Tretyakov, Morozov and Mamontov in the modern Russian historiography. But contemporaries regarded their contributions to the development of art comparable. Belaiev established «The Glinka Prizes», founded a publishing house in Leipzig «Belaieff Verlag», held the Chamber-music competitions, provided funding for individual grants to needy musicians.