Mathias von Hedenström

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Mathias of Hedenström ( Russian Матвей Матвеевич Геденштром ; Matvei Gedenschtrom * 1780 in Riga , † September 20 . Jul / 2. October  1845 . Greg on September 20 1845 in Tomsk ) was a Swedish - Russian explorers . He named the New Siberian Islands and was the first to produce accurate maps of the region.

Early years

Hedenström was born in 1780 in Riga to a political refugee from Sweden. He initially worked as a translator for the governor general of the Baltic provinces . He was later convicted of bribery as a customs officer and exiled to Siberia .

Expedition to the north coast of Siberia

Due to Hedenström's good education, Count Nikolai Petrovich Rumjanzew , at the time Russian Minister of Commerce, became aware of him. Rumyantsev was putting together a self-financed expedition to the north coast of Siberia and was particularly looking for a suitable leader. The geography of this area was largely unknown at the time, but seal hunters had repeatedly reported sighting land off the coast of Siberia. It was suggested that a huge peninsula would extend from the North American continent into the Arctic Ocean to the northern coast of Siberia, and Rumyantsev wanted to get to the bottom of this theory. He offered Hedenström that he would be pardoned and allowed to return to Riga if he would take over the leadership of the expedition, and Hedenström agreed. Since he had no experience in the Arctic, the seal hunter Jakow Sannikow , who had traveled the area several times since 1800, was put at his side. The surveyors P. Pshenkitsin and IE Kozhevin also took part in the expedition.

Hedenström set out for Irkutsk in August 1808 . From there he went to Ust-Jansk on November 18th , which he reached on February 5th, 1809. He set up his main camp in Ust-Jansk and then traveled on to the Lyakhov Islands . There he divided his team into three groups. One group under the leadership of Sannikow explored the bay between the Kotelny Island and the Faddejewski Peninsula , which was later named after Hedenström, another under Kozhevin explored Faddejewski and the third, led by himself, drove further east and explored New Siberia .

When the ice melted at the beginning of summer, all groups returned to Ust-Jansk. In the following months, Hedenström mapped the coastline of the mainland between the rivers Jana and Indigirka and wintered in Ust-Jansk.

On March 2, 1810, Hedenström set out again with dog sledding to New Siberia and continued to explore the island. On March 16, he allegedly sighted more land off the northeast coast of the island. Sannikow, who was traveling separately from him with his own group, confirmed the sighting the next day. Both were of the opinion that they could see a blue shimmering mountain range on the horizon. In the days that followed, Hedenström made several short trips across the pack ice towards the island, but without reaching it. They called the country Sannikov .

After he had largely completed his exploration of the New Siberian Islands, his next destination was " Andreevland ". After his rough survey of the Bear Islands in 1764, the Russian geodesist Stepan Andrejew reported about an island in front of the mouth of the Kolyma River . To this end, Hedenström set out from New Siberia on March 24 in an easterly direction, but had to break off after about 80 km because he encountered open water, a polynya . He then drove south and reached the mainland in the Kolyma area. On April 18, he made another attempt and covered more than 240 km north from Cape Bolshoi Baranow, but without sighting land. With rising temperatures and decreasing ice thickness, he returned to the Kolyma Delta on May 13th and devoted himself to mapping the coastal area.

After his return to the main camp in Ust-Jansk, Hedenström was ordered back to Irkutsk to report on his discoveries. The expedition was led by the surveyor P. Pschenitsyn, who completed the mapping of the New Siberian Islands the following year and proved that Faddejewski was not an island in its own right, but a peninsula of the Kotelny Island .

More years

Hedenström stayed in Siberia after his pardon. In 1813 he joined Vasily Golownin's expedition to Japan and later worked in various posts for the governor of Irkutsk. In 1819 he was convicted again, this time for theft , along with the entire staff of the governor. While the other officials had to leave Siberia, Hedenström was allowed to stay and work in the civil service again from 1826. He died impoverished in Tomsk in 1845.

Aftermath of the expedition

After only vague reports about the geographical conditions of the region existed in the past, the expedition provided the first precise map material. The New Siberian Islands were named and explored by Hedenström. From 1820 to 1824 Pyotr Fjodorowitsch Anjou and Ferdinand von Wrangel undertook another expedition into the area and made further maps.

The supposed Sannikow country , for which many expeditions subsequently went in search, does not exist. Only Eduard Tolls said in 1900 that he had rediscovered it. In both cases it was very likely a mirage or an optical illusion. The sighting of land east of the New Siberian Islands, however, seemed to support the theory of a vast peninsula stretching from North America to off the northern Siberian coast.

In addition, Hedenström's report on a polynya in the Arctic Ocean gave the theory of the ice-free Arctic Ocean a new impetus.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Hedenström, Mathias von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Геденштром, Матвей Матвеевич (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish-Russian explorer
DATE OF BIRTH 1780
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga
DATE OF DEATH October 2, 1845
Place of death Tomsk