The history of Smirnoff Vodka began in 1910 when Vladimir Smirnov took over the
company after the death of his father Pyotr Smirnov. During the October
Revolution, the distillery was confiscated and the family had to flee to
Constantinople, where Vladimir built a new distillery. Four years later the
family moved to Lviv; in 1925 the spelling of the name was changed to Smirnoff
and by the late 1930s Smirnoff was exported to most European countries. In 1934,
Vladimir Smirnov sold the company to Rudolph Kunett, who moved the headquarters
to the United States. In the meantime Smirnoff belongs to Diageo and is one of
the most sold vodkas worldwide.By the way, Smirnoff was the first distillery
worldwide to use charcoal for filtering.