Vladimir Alexandrovich Russanov

Vladimir Alexandrovich Russanov

Vladimir Alexandrowitsch Russanow ( Russian Владимир Александрович Русанов ; * July 3, ^July 15  / November 15, 1875 ^greg. In Oryol ; † probably 1913 north of the Taimyr peninsula ) was a Russian polar explorer and geologist who was fame mainly due to the exploration of Semlangtejas Novaya

childhood

Russanov came from a family of traders, but his father had ruined himself financially before his death and left the family penniless.

Education

Political activities

During his studies Russanov came into contact with revolutionary underground circles, and in 1896 he joined the social democratic labor movement . After graduating from school in 1897, he first studied at the Natural Science Institute of the University of Kiev , but due to his political activities he was withdrawn from university. He was arrested on May 4, 1897, and began studying books on the discoveries of the 19th century in prison. A work by Fridtjof Nansen, “In Nacht und Eis: The Norwegian Polar Expedition 1893–96”, attracted particular attention . Russanov was released in 1899, but was still under police surveillance. In 1901 he was exiled to Ust-Syssolsk , where he worked as a surveyor and explored the surrounding area scientifically on forays out.

Studied at the Sorbonne

In 1903 Russanov went into exile in Paris , where he enrolled at the Sorbonne in order to complete his scientific studies. Russanow specialized in geology and was particularly concerned with volcanology , so he dealt intensively with the Vesuvius eruption of 1906.

Novaya Zemlya

Novaya Zemlya with Matochkin crowd

First expedition to the Matochkin Hive

In the spring of 1907 Russanov returned to Russia, where, to his own surprise, he was supported by the highest circles in the preparation of a north polar expedition to Novaya Zemlya . The reason was that Tsarist Russia saw its supremacy in the Barents and Kara Seas endangered by Norwegian expeditions.

In mid-July 1907 he set off with the steamship Korolewa Olga Konstantinovna into the Kara Sea, which he reached through the Matochkin crowd . In September he successfully returned to Arkhangelsk and went back to Paris.

The French Benard Expedition

There his research had attracted attention, and Russanov was chosen to accompany a French expedition under Captain Benard to Novaya Zemlya in 1908 as a geologist. There Russanow discovered abundant mineral deposits and completed the first land crossing of Novaya Zemlya. This expedition established Russanov's reputation as an excellent geologist and daredevil adventurer.

Back in Paris, Russanow devoted himself to the study of the collected facts, especially the Silurian deposits . Furthermore, he drew astonishing conclusions regarding the colonization of the Arctic with Devonian fauna.

The third expedition

In 1909 Russanov took part in another polar expedition. The management was officially under Ju. W. Kramer , but Russanov actually had the strings in hand. On July 4, 1909, the five-man crew of the steamship Korolewa Olga Konstantinovna ran out of Arkhangelsk; on July 9, she landed on Novaya Zemlya, where Russanov had a base camp built. During the construction work, Russanov seriously injured his foot, but despite the bad weather, he set out for the interior of the island. His geological research was crowned with success, so he discovered numerous mineral resources such as coal , marble , diabase and slate . Since Russanov assumed that Novaya Zemlya was the ideal stopover for the Northeast Passage , he also researched the currents on the west coast of the island.

Circumnavigation of the North Island

In 1910 Russanov was given sole control of an expedition to Novaya Zemlya for the first time. He set off on July 12 on board the Dmitri Solunski , which was piloted by the experienced North Pole driver Grigori Ivanovich Pospelow (1869–1933). On July 20, the well-equipped expedition reached the Matochkin Strait, and a month later finally reached its destination: the northernmost point of Novaya Zemlya. The attempt to bypass the North Island ( Severny Ostrow ) in order to sail back on the east coast initially failed, so the expedition returned to the northern cape of the island, where the Dmitri Solunski was enclosed by the ice on August 19 and crushed by the ice masses be threatened. The ship drifted to the east, and ultimately it was possible to free them from the ice, on August 31, 1910 Russanov reached the Matochkin crowd. He had succeeded for the first time to circumnavigate the north island of Novaya Zemlyas.

Circumnavigation of the South Island

In 1911 Russanov set out for the fifth time, this time on board the Polar , with the aim of circumnavigating the south island of Novaya Zemlyaz ( Yuzhny Ostrow ) . He had failed to do this on previous missions due to lack of fuel. In addition, the expedition was primarily intended to serve meteorological and hydrographic studies. Indeed, Russanov provided new insights into the surface currents of the Barents and Kara Seas.

Russanov's last expedition

Spitsbergen

On July 9, 1912, Russanow finally set out on his last expedition: with Hercules , commanded by Alexander Stepanowitsch Kutschin , and 14 companions, including Rudolf Lasarewitsch Samoilowitsch , he left Murmansk ; the official destination was Spitzbergen , the west coast of which he reached at Bellsund on July 16. Although the original plan stipulated that Russanov should return the Hercules at the end of October of the same year , the extensive polar equipment and supplies for 1½ years suggest that Russanov had planned to do more than just visit Svalbard from the start. Together with two sailors he crossed the island to the east coast. On the way back Russanov fell into a crevasse , but miraculously remained uninjured. He then inspected the entire west coast with the Hercules , discovered rich coal deposits and set 28 landmarks that were to mark Russia's right to extract resources on Svalbard. In addition, Russanow operated paleontological , zoological , botanical and oceanographic studies on Spitsbergen.

The search for the transarctic passage

Then Russanov sent Samoilowitsch, the zoologist Swatosch and the sick boatswain Popow back to Russia on a Norwegian steamer. Contrary to the official plan, he himself drove east, where on August 18 he sent a telegram that the last sign of Hercules and the 13th Man should be crew: He announced his plan to continue from Novaya Zemlya to cross the Northeast Passage.

From the Russian Geographical Society organized rescue trips in 1914 and 1916 yielded no results and 1934 were on a then unnamed island north of the Taimyr Peninsula, which then in honor of the last expedition Russanows " Hercules island was called" found objects of Hercules or whose crew were to be assigned. Traces of the expedition were also found on the neighboring "Popov-Chukchin Island" (Ostrow Popowa-Chukchina) in the Minin archipelago , named after a sailor on the expedition. In 1947 objects that could be assigned to the Russanov expedition were discovered on Severnaya Zemlya .

Naming

A bay and peninsula Novaya Zemlya is named in honor of Russanov, as is a glacier on Severnaya Zemlya and Mount Rusanov in Antarctica. There is a Russanov Museum in his hometown of Oryol.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Yevgeny Singer: Between the North Pole and Europe . VEB FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1987, p. 94 f.

Web links

• Article Vladimir Alexandrowitsch Russanow in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)http: //vorlage_gse.test/1%3D098189~2a%3D~2b%3DWladimir%20Alexandrowitsch%20Russanow