Fanatical people, these scientists, researchers. How do you read what had to be experienced and experienced in distant geographical expeditions, that one wonders - why did they need it? Part of the answer probably still refers to these people themselves, like Fedor Konyukhov - it's in their blood. And the other part, of course, is serving the Motherland, the Fatherland, the country. I think they fully understood that they were increasing the greatness, wealth and prosperity of their state. If not for them, it would have been done by a citizen of another country and the maps of the World might have looked different.
Here are some things you might not know …
The 18th century was marked in Russian geographical history primarily by the Great Northern Expedition. Started in December 1724 by a personal decree of Peter I (Vitus Bering's First Kamchatka Expedition), it continued in 1733–1743, already under Anna Ioannovna. The expedition consisted of seven independent missions moving along the Arctic coast of Siberia to the shores of North America and Japan. The result of this large-scale project was the publication of the first complete geographical map of the Russian Empire.
Vasily Pronchishchev. Great Northern Expedition. 1735-1736
One of the participants of the Great Northern Expedition. A legendary personality among Russian polar explorers. Legendary and romantic. Midshipman. He studied at the Naval Academy together with Semyon Chelyuskin and Khariton Laptev, who also took part in this expedition under his leadership. Earlier, in 1722, he took part in the Persian campaign of Peter. And outwardly, by the way, he was very similar to the emperor.
Together with him, his wife Tatiana took part in the expedition. It was so incredible for the time that her presence on the ship was unofficial.
Promotional video:
During the Great Northern Expedition, Pronchishchev's detachment, consisting of 50 people, leaving Yakutsk in June 1735 on the Yakutsk sailing-rowing boat, drew up an accurate map of the channel and mouth of the Lena River, a map of the Laptev Sea coast and discovered many islands lying north of the Taimyr Peninsula. In addition, Pronchishchev's group advanced to the north much further than other detachments: to 77 ° 29 ′ N. sh.
But Pronchishchev also entered the history of the development of the Arctic thanks to his romantic history. Together with him, his wife Tatiana took part in the expedition. It was so incredible for the time that her presence on the ship was unofficial. In August 1736, during one of his sorties to the polar islands, Pronchishchev broke his leg and soon died of complications caused by an open fracture. His wife survived him by only a few days. They say that she died of grief. They were buried in one grave on Cape Tumul near the mouth of the Olenek River (today the village of Ust-Olenek is located here).
The new head of the detachment was navigator Semyon Chelyuskin, and after he went with a sledge train to Yakutsk with the expedition's reports, he was replaced by Khariton Laptev. Surprisingly, the names of Chelyuskin and Laptev were much more vividly reflected in the public consciousness than the name of their commander Pronchishchev. True, in the spring of 2018, the film "The First" will be released, which tells about the fate of the Pronchishchevs. The role of Vasily will be played by Evgeny Tkachuk (Grigory Melekhov in "Quiet Don" and Mishka Yaponchik in the series of the same name). Perhaps Pronchishchev's name will still take its rightful place among other great researchers of the Arctic.
Fyodor Soimonov. Caspian Sea map. 1731
The life of this person just asks for a movie screen. He, like Pronchishchev, participated in the Persian campaign of Peter I. He was also a midshipman. But his fate connected him not with the Arctic, but with the Caspian Sea. Fyodor Soimonov went down in the history of Russia as the first Russian hydrographer.
Strange as it may seem, but the length and breadth of the Caspian Sea familiar to us today in the 18th century was still a continuous terra incognita. Yes, since ancient times dashing Volga people - ushkuiniks - walked along it to Persia for princesses, in order to throw them overboard into the oncoming wave, and of other other goods. It was called “going for zipuns”. But all this was sheer amateur performance. Fedor Soimonov was the first to draw the Caspian Sea with all its bays, shoals and peninsulas on the map of the Russian Empire.
In Nerchinsk and Irkutsk, Soimonov organized the first navigation schools in Siberia, in which he taught personally. Then for six years he was the governor of Siberia
Also, under his leadership, the first detailed atlas of the Baltic Sea was published and the atlas of the White Sea was prepared for publication, but here the strange begins. Of course, this was due to undercover political games. In 1740 Soimonov was stripped of all ranks, beaten with a whip (!) And exiled to hard labor. Two years later, Elizabeth I returned him to the service, but left him in Siberia. In Nerchinsk and Irkutsk, Soimonov organized the first navigation schools in Siberia, in which he taught personally. Then he was the governor of Siberia for six years. At the age of 70, he was finally allowed to return to Moscow. He died at the age of 88 on his estate near Serpukhov.
Interesting fact. Soymonovskiy proezd in Moscow, not far from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, is named in honor of Soymonov's son, Mikhail, a remarkable person in his own way, one of the organizers of mining in Russia.
Savva Loshkin. New Earth. Mid-18th century
If the previous two of our heroes were sovereign people and made their travels on duty, the Pomor Savva Loshkin, a native of the village of Olonets, acted only at his own peril and risk. He was the first person in the history of the development of the Russian North who bypassed Novaya Zemlya from the north.
G. A. Travnikov. Russian North.
Loshkin is an almost mythological person, but any self-respecting northern sailor knows his name, despite the fact that the only official source telling about his three-year journey is the story of Fedot Rachmanin, recorded in 1788 by Vasily Krestinin, a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Even the years of Savva Loshkin's travel are not exactly known to us. Some researchers believe that this is the beginning of the 1760s, others - that the 1740s
Nikolay Chelobitchikov. Malacca, Canton. 1760-1768
While some mastered the North, others moved south. The merchant Nikolai Chelobitchikov from the town of Trubchevsk, Orel province, in 1760–1768 made a completely unique journey across Southeast Asia, which, alas, remained unappreciated by his contemporaries. Most likely, he was the first Russian to visit the Malay Peninsula and reach the Chinese Canton (now Guangzhou) by sea, not by land.
The merchant Chelobitchikov made his journey with a completely practical purpose and, it seems, did not attach any historical significance to it. He contracted for 300 rubles. go to Calcutta and collect a four thousandth debt from a Greek merchant stuck there
The merchant Chelobitchikov (although it would be more correct to call him a collector) made his journey with a completely practical purpose and, it seems, did not attach any historical significance to it. He contracted for 300 rubles. go to Calcutta and collect a four thousandth debt from a Greek merchant who was stuck there, who owed this amount to his fellow countrymen. After passing through Constantinople, Baghdad and the Indian Ocean, he reached Calcutta. But it turned out that the debtor had already died, and Chelobitchikov had to return to his homeland in an incredibly roundabout way: through Malacca, which at that time was owned by the Dutch, the Chinese Canton and the English island of St. Helena (!) To London, and then to Lisbon and Paris. And, finally, to Petersburg, where I visited for the first time in my life.
This amazing journey of the Trubchevsky merchant became known relatively recently, when a petition was discovered in the Central State Archives, which he sent in 1770 to Catherine II, with a request to transfer him to the St. Petersburg merchants. In it, he described his route in sufficient detail. It is surprising that his report is absolutely devoid of any pretentiousness. He describes his nine-year journey rather sparingly, like some kind of out-of-town trip. And he offers himself as a consultant for trade with eastern countries.
Philip Efremov. Bukhara - Tibet - Kashmir - India. 1774-1782
The further fate of Chelobitchikov remains unclear (most likely, his message never reached the empress), but the servant, non-commissioned officer Philip Efremov, who made a similar journey a decade later, was introduced to Catherine II and even elevated to her nobility.
The adventures of Philip Efremov began in July 1774, when he was taken prisoner by the Pugachevites. He fled, but was captured by the Kirghiz, who sold him into slavery to the Bukhara emir
The adventures of Philip Efremov began in July 1774, when he was taken prisoner by the Pugachevites. He fled, but was captured by the Kirghiz, who sold him into slavery to the Bukhara emir. Efremov was forced to convert to Islam and was subjected to severe torture, but he did not betray the Christian faith, and then the emir, delighted with his courage, made him his centurion (yuz-bashi). For participating in several battles, he received a large allotment of land, but still dreamed of returning to his homeland. Having bought a fake passport, he fled again. All roads to the north were closed, so he went south. Through Tibet and Kashmir, closed to Europeans, he got to India, and from there to London, where he met with the Russian consul, who introduced him to Catherine's eyes.
Later, Efremov served as a translator in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1786 the first edition of his travel diary was published: “Russian non-commissioned officer Efremov, now a collegiate assessor, nine-year wandering and adventures in Bukharia, Khiva, Persia and India and return from there through England to Russia, written by him. At the end of the 18th century, the book became a bestseller and went through three editions, but by the middle of the 19th century it was almost forgotten, like its author. Now the notebook, passed with Efremov half of the world, is kept in the manuscript department of the Pushkin House.
PS Soon many other travelers followed in the footsteps of Chelobitchikov and Efremov. The most famous of them are Gerasim Lebedev, the first Russian Indologist, who founded the first European-style drama theater in India in the 1790s in Calcutta, the Armenian merchants Grigory and Danil Atanasov, and the Georgian nobleman Rafail Danibegashvili.
Dmitry Rzhannikov