Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tjan-Shansky

Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov

Portrait of Semyonov by Valentin Serov (1905)

Soviet special postcard from 1977 for Semyonov's 150th birthday

Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky ( Russian Пётр Петрович Семёнов-Тян-Шанский ; born Pyotr Petrovich Semenov * 2 ^{. Jul} / 14. January  1827 ^greg. In Rjasanka , Russian empire ; † February 26 ^jul. / 11th March  1914 ^greg. In Saint Petersburg ) was a Russian geographer , botanist and entomologist and Central Asian researcher .

Semjonow-Tjan-Schanski is one of the geographers of the 19th century who both practiced exploratory geography, endeavored to produce great works of geography and also brought their knowledge and skills into social life.

Life

Semyonov was the son of a guard officer and landowner. After studying at the physical-mathematical faculty of the University of St. Petersburg , he went to Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany for two years from 1853 to further his insights into the geosciences . In Berlin he met Alexander von Humboldt and heard lectures by Carl Ritter , who was happy to give his consent to translate his Asian work into Russian and to add the additions that had resulted from the research that had taken place in the meantime. The first volume appeared in 1856.

In 1856 Semyonov went on his expedition to the Tienschan via Semipalatinsk with bases in Almaty and Shalanasch , from which stabbing tours were undertaken. The expedition consisted of Cossacks, up to 40 Kazakhs and other locals. One had to reckon with raids by groups that rebelled against Russian expansion, while others asked for protection from their harassment and to whom Semyonov had to explain his purely peaceful mission.

With the findings, especially on the imposing pyramid of Khan Tengri, the researcher refuted his own hypothesis that there could be no glaciers in the arid regions of Central Asia . Based on the findings on geology and orography from Transili-Alatau , Kungei-Alatau , Terskej-Alatau and the main chain of the Tienschan, he refuted Humboldt's view of volcanism in the Tienschan, which was based on an analogy to the Andes . He gained deeper insights into the source rivers Naryn - Syr-Darja , Aksu - Tarim , Tekes - Ili , Tschüi and others. On the other hand, he found Humboldt's height zoning of climate and vegetation clearly confirmed, and Semjonow documented a characteristic differentiation of agriculture in it. On his return trip in 1857 he examined the Djungarian Alatau and Tabagatai .

Semyonov was one of those intellectuals who saw the crisis in Russia after the lost Crimean War as an opportunity for change in the country. In 1861 the law on the abolition of serfdom was passed, on which Semyonov had worked as a population geography expert for two years. In 1864 he took over the management of the newly founded Statistical Committee of the Russian Empire, for which he had recommended himself with the publication of a multi-volume statistical encyclopedia. He demonstrated the successful development of the statistical service in 1869 with a (test) census in St. Petersburg . In 1872 he gained a great reputation with the brilliantly organized VIII International Statistical Congress in St. Petersburg. Finally, the first ever census in the Russian Empire in 1897 crowned his efforts. His appointment as a member of the State Council for several years should be seen in this context, which today can be compared with the rank of minister.

In Semyonov, statistics and geography were mutually beneficial. For the organization of the census he used economic rayons as a basis, for the constitution of which extensive geographical and sociological studies had to be carried out. Conversely, statistical reports enriched his knowledge of the country. In addition to numerous smaller works, this is proven by two multi-volume publications from 1881 to 1885 and 1899 to 1914, for which Semjonow drew as editor, but wrote large parts himself.

In 1849 he became a member of the Russian Geographical Society founded in 1845 . In 1873 he took over the company’s vice-presidency from Friedrich Benjamin von Lütke . The presidency was usually held by a member of the tsarist family, the work was carried out by the vice-president, who had a large share in the exploration of Central Asia, including Nikolai M. Prschewalski , Grigory N. Potanin , Vsevolod I. Roborowski (1856-1910), Nikolai A. Severzow , Iwan W. Muschketow (1850–1902), Peter K. Koslow and others good wishes, who gave the necessary resources and precise instructions along the way.

Even after his resignation from the civil service, Semyonov used his high authority, on the one hand through a memorandum on the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway , on the other hand for charitable purposes such as B. an aid organization for children whose fathers were killed in the Russo-Japanese War .

Semyonov was a lover and profound connoisseur of Dutch painting. The paintings he has collected are exhibited in the Hermitage in Petersburg.

Honors

Semjonow received a lot of recognition for his productive work and numerous honors. I.a. In 1906 the Tsar personally presented him with the honorary suffix "Tjan-Schanski" for his services. The Soviet geographers paid him great respect, and in particular his son, the population geographer and cartographer Benjamin P. Semjonow-Tjan-Shansky (1870-1942) and the economist geographer Wadim W. Pokschischewski (1905-1984) were in his legacy. The Kyrgyz town of Balyktschy houses a museum in his honor. The 4895.4  m high Pik Semjonow-Tjan-Schanski , the highest peak in the Kyrgyz mountains , and the 5816  m high Pik Semjonow, a few kilometers north of Khan Tengri , and the Semjonow Glacier in the extreme east of Kyrgyzstan on the border with Kazakhstan at the border triangle with china are named after him.

Works

• Travels in the Tian'-Shan '1856-1857 . Trans. By Liudmila Gilmour, Colin Thomas and Marcus Wheeler. Edited and annotated by Colin Thomas. The Hakluyt Society, London 1998, ISBN 0-904180-60-3 .
• Ritter, K .: Zemlevedenie Azii . [Explore Asia]. Translated and supplemented by PP Semenov. 5 parts. St. Petersburg: 1856–1879.
• P. v. Semenow's exploratory journeys in Inner Asia 1857, his photographs of the Alpine lake Issyk Kul and other parts . In: Petermanns Mitteilungen 4, 1858, Issue 9, pp. 351–369. Map 1: 2870000, 2 sketches and 3 profiles.
• Geografičesko-statističeskij slovar 'Rossijskoj Imperii . [Geographical statistical encyclopedia of the Russian Empire]. T. 1 - T. 4. St. Petersburg 1863, 1865, 1867, 1870.
• Živopisnaja Rossija [ Picturesque Russia]. 12 parts. Edited by PP Semenev. St. Petersburg, Moskva: 1881–1885.
• Rossiya. Polish geogr. Opisanie našego otečestva… [Russia. Complete geogr. Description of our fatherland…] Ed. By PP Semenov u. VP Lamanski. 19 volumes. St. Petersburg: 1899–1913.

literature

• Berg, LS : Peter Petrowitsch Semjonow-Tjanschansky as a geographer . In: Berg, LS: History of the Russian Geographical Discoveries . Collected Essays. From d. Soot. Leipzig: Bibliogr. Inst. 1954, pp. 193-197.
• Esakov, VA: Petr Petrovič Semenov-Tjan-Šanskij , 1827–1914. In: Tvorcy otečestvennoj nauki . Geography. Moskva 1996, pp. 194-209.
• Friederichsen, Max : PP Semenov Tjanschanski . [Obituary]. In: Petermanns Mitteilungen 60, 1914, I, p. 211.
• Sauschkin, JG: Studies on the history and methodology of geographical science . From the Russian, Gotha 1978, pp. 98-110 u. ö.

Web links

• The Hermitage Exhibition in Lipetsk ( Memento of March 10, 2005 in the Internet Archive )