The article offers a look at the beginnings of arc welding. The life, work and achievements of the two great Russian inventors and pioneers N.N. Benardos and N.G. Slavianov are depicted briefly. Benardos (1842-1905) invented arc welding using nonmelting carbon electrodes; whereas Slavianov (1854-1897) introduced consumable metal electrodes and laid the foundations of arc welding metallurgy. The significance of their work is underlined. -- AATA