The article contains information about Russian navigators and explorers. Reflects the significance of the discoveries they made. Includes some historical information.

Russian travelers and discoverers

Russian travelers made an invaluable contribution to the field of geographical discoveries, as well as to the exploration and exploration of space globe. Many significant objects on Earth are named in their honor. For example:

  • Cape Dezhnev;
  • Bering Sea;
  • Semenov Glacier.

Scientific research of Russian discoverers and, compiled by them, detailed maps were of great importance for the development of geography not only in Russia, but also in the world.
Almost three decades earlier than Vasco da Gama, the merchant from Tver Afanasy Nikitin (year of birth unknown - died in 1474) visited India.

He set out on a trade trip. During his travels (1468-1474), Nikitin visited many previously unexplored countries. He lived in India for three years. All this time he wrote down his every step in detail. Later, the book “Walking across the Three Seas” was published, which was based on his notes. The book contained both notes and illustrations made by Nikitin.

Rice. 1. Afanasy Nikitin.

Discoveries in the Heat of Struggle

Almost all travelers of the 15th-16th centuries are known in history more as invaders of lands than as their discoverers and pioneers. These people were puzzled by the search for wealth in overseas countries. This is what drove them in the process of searching for new lands. Significant geographical discoveries happened as if by themselves. Approximately the same story happened with the development of Siberia. But the opinions of historians differ on this matter.

Ermak Timofeevich Alenin (1530/1540 -1585) is rightly considered the pioneer of these lands.

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Rice. 2. Ermak.

He was sent by Ivan the Terrible to protect his lands from the raids of the Nogai Horde.

After the surviving Horde members complained to the Moscow Tsar about the willfulness of the local Cossacks, Ivan the Terrible allegedly punished the troublemakers by allowing them to retreat to the Perm lands, where the Cossacks came in very handy and continued to defend Russian possessions from the raids of the Siberian Khan Kuchum. Since then, the development of the richest region of Russia began.

After the death of the famous ataman, many regions of Russia claimed that Ermak was a native of their places.

Table “Discoveries of Russian travelers”

At the beginning of the 16th century, it was difficult for the peoples of the North to establish trade relations with India. The Spanish and Portuguese colonists did not want to allow strangers into the territories they conquered.
In those days, the passage through the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific was known to people only by rumor.
But in the Russian lands a man was found who was not afraid to go on a dangerous journey across the Arctic Ocean. This was the Russian navigator, explorer and traveler Semyon Dezhnev (1605-1673).

Rice. 3. Semyon Dezhnev.

Exploration of the north-eastern section sea ​​route from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific is closely intertwined with his name. His voyage and subsequent discovery of the strait between America and Asia is often equated with the journey of the famous discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus.
Another famous Russian navigator who contributed to world geography was Vitus Bering. He became the first traveler in Russian history to lead a purposeful expedition with a geographical focus.

Bering led two Kamchatka expeditions. While passing between the Chukotka Peninsula and Alaska, they confirmed the presence of a strait.

Everything that we know now was once discovered by people - pioneers. Some swam across the ocean for the first time and found new land, someone became a space discoverer, someone was the first to dive into the deepest cavity in the world in a bathyscaphe. Thanks to the ten pioneers below, today we know the world as it really is.

  • Leif Eriksson/Leifur Eiriksson is the first European of Icelandic origin, who, according to some scientists, was the first to visit the continent of North America. Around the 11th century, this Scandinavian sailor lost his course and landed on some shore, which he later called “Vinland”. Of course, there is no documentary evidence of which part North America he landed. Some archaeologists claim that they have discovered Viking settlements in Newfoundland, Canada.
  • Sacajawea, or Sakagawea/Sakakawea, Sacajawea is a girl of Indian origin, on whom Meriwether Lewis and his partner William Clark completely relied during their expedition, the path of which ran across the entire American continent. The girl walked with these researchers more than 6,473 kilometers. On top of that, the girl had a newborn baby in her arms. During this journey in 1805, Sacagawea found her lost brother. The girl is mentioned in the films "Night at the Museum" and "Night at the Museum 2".

  • Christopher Columbus is a navigator of Spanish origin who discovered America, but because he and his expedition were looking for a sea route to India, Christopher believed that the lands he discovered were Indian. In 1492 his expedition discovered Bahamas, Cuba and a number of other islands Caribbean. Christopher set sail for the first time at the age of 13.

  • Amerigo Vespucci is the man after whom the continent of America was named. Although Columbus essentially made this discovery, it was Americo Vespucci who documented the “find”. In 1502 he explored the shores South America, and it was then that well-deserved fame and honor came to him.

  • James Cook is a captain who managed to sail much further into southern waters than any of his contemporaries. Cook owns a proven fact about the falsity of the northern route through the Arctic from Atlantic Ocean in Quiet. It is known that Captain James Cook made 2 expeditions around the world, mapped the islands in the Pacific Ocean, as well as Australia, for which he was subsequently eaten by the aborigines. So much for gratitude.

  • William Beebe is a twentieth-century naturalist explorer. In 1934, he descended to 922 meters on a bathysphere and told people that “the world under water is no less strange than on another planet.” Although how does he know how life is on other planets?

  • Chuck Yeager is a general in the US Air Force. In 1947, the first one broke the sound barrier. In 1952, Chuck flew at twice the speed of sound. Chuck Yeager, in addition to setting speed records, was a trainer for pilots of such space programs as Apollo, Gemini and Mercury.

  • Louise Arne Boyd known to the world also under the nickname "Ice Woman". She received this nickname due to her explorations of Greenland. In 1955, she flew over the North Pole and was the first woman to do so in an airplane. She is also responsible for the discovery of an underwater mountain range in the Arctic Ocean.

  • Yuri Gagarin / Yuri Gagarin - April 12, 1961, the first of all people living on our planet to be in space. Its first flight lasted a whopping 108 minutes. This was a real achievement in astronautics.

  • Anousheh Ansari is the first female space tourist. She made her flight in September 2006. One can also add to her achievements that she was the first of all those who have been in orbit to blog on the Internet from space.

If you think that with the passing of the Age of Great Geographical Discovery, outstanding travelers also disappeared into oblivion, then you are mistaken! Our contemporaries also made the most amazing journeys. Among them are scientists who went in search of confirmation of their theories, researchers depths of the sea, and simply adventurers who dared to travel around the world alone or with like-minded people. Many documentaries have been created about their travels, and thanks to them, we can see the whole world through their eyes, real, alive, full of dangers and adventures.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Captain Cousteau is a famous French explorer of the World Ocean, author of books and films, and inventor. The world's oceans have revealed many of their secrets and shown the previously inaccessible beauty of their depths to a huge number of scuba diving enthusiasts. We can say that Captain Cousteau is the father of modern diving, because it was he who created the main diving apparatus. While researching the underwater world of our planet, Cousteau created the famous floating laboratory "Callisto" and the first diving apparatus "Denise".

Jacques Cousteau captivated millions of people by showing them on movie screens how beautiful the underwater world is, giving them the opportunity to see what was previously inaccessible to humans.

Thor Heyerdahl

The name of the most famous Norwegian of the 20th century is spelled "Thor" in his native language, just like the name of one of the main gods of Norse mythology, Thor. He made many trips on homemade watercraft to bring ancient civilizations into contact with each other. Heyerdahl proved in practice his theory about the inhabitants of South America visiting the islands of Polynesia, since the scientific world did not accept his ideas.

Together with his team, he reached Raroia Atoll in 101 days, sailing 4,300 miles. It was one of his most famous travels"Kon-Tiki Expedition" on a homemade raft. The film he shot during his trip won an Oscar in 1951.

And in 1969, he set out on a new dangerous expedition on a papyrus boat to prove, to prove the possibility of crossing the Atlantic Ocean by African peoples. However, Thor Heyerdahl's first voyage on the boat "Ra" ended in failure; the boat sank just 600 miles short of the island of Barbados.

A year later, the stubborn Norwegian repeated his journey and sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days. By the way, the doctor on this expedition was our compatriot Yuri Senkevich. Heyerdahl later visited Maldives, in Peru and Tenerife.

Yuri Senkevich

The popular TV presenter of the program "Travelers Club" Yuri Senkevich was on the list of the most famous travelers not only as the doctor of Thor Heyerdahl's expedition. His “track record” as a traveler is respectable:

as a medical researcher, Senkevich was trained to participate in space flight,
participated in the 12th Antarctic expedition to the Vostok station in order to study human behavior in extreme conditions,
traveled on the papyrus boat "Ra", then on the "Ra-2" and in Indian Ocean on Tigris.

Millions of Soviet television viewers were able to see the world, as they joked “through the eyes of Sienkiewicz.” By the way, the program “Cinema Travel Club” was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Nikolay Drozdov

More than 40 years ago, Nikolai Nikolaevich Drozdov became the host of the popular TV show “In the Animal World.” An avid traveler, a “gallant know-it-all”, who spends hours talking about animals as the most wonderful and beautiful creatures in the world - be it an elephant, a bug, or even a poisonous snake. An amazing and wonderful person, the idol of millions of viewers in our country, listening to whose stories about interesting facts from the life of birds, reptiles, domestic and wild animals, about the beauty of our nature is an incomparable pleasure, because only a person in love with life can talk like that.

Interesting fact about Nikolai Nikolaevich himself - his great-great-great-grandfather was Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, and his maternal great-great-grandfather Ivan Romanovich von Dreiling was an orderly of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov.

Nikolai Drozdov has traveled all over the world, all zoological and National parks, studying the habitats and habits of animals in natural conditions, climbed Elbrus, participated in a long expedition on the research vessel "Callisto" and in the first Soviet expedition to Everest, went to the North Pole twice, walked along the Northern Sea Route on an icebreaker " Yamal", sailed along the coast of Alaska and Canada on the Discovery.

Fedor Konyukhov

A single traveler who conquered what seemed impossible to conquer, who more than once overcame a path that was impossible to travel alone - the great contemporary Fyodor Konyukhov. The first among travelers who conquered the North and South Poles, seas, oceans and highest peaks world, as proven by more than 40 expeditions he made to the most inaccessible places on our planet. Among them are five trips around the world, a solo voyage across the Atlantic (which, by the way, he crossed more than once) on a rowing boat. Konyukhov was the first to cross Pacific Ocean from continent to continent.

But the life of our famous compatriot is not filled with travel alone - Fyodor Konyukhov became the youngest member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and the author of twelve books about travel. There were new plans ahead: a flight around the world on hot-air balloon And circumnavigation in 80 days for the Jules Verne Cup, as well as immersion in Mariana Trench. However, having been ordained a priest in 2010, Fyodor Konyukhov decided not to travel anymore, but... the ways of the Lord are mysterious and the famous traveler is again at the helm. This spring, he “broke” the Russian record and stayed in the air in a balloon for 19 hours and 10 minutes.

Bear Grylls

Fame came to the young English traveler thanks to the highest-rated television program on the Discovery Channel, “Survive at Any Cost,” which first aired in October 2006. The TV presenter and traveler not only “entertains” the audience with beautiful views of the most amazing places planet, his goal is to convey to the audience life recommendations that can be useful in unforeseen situations.

The list of his travels is respectful: he sailed around British Isles in thirty days, crossed the North Atlantic in an inflatable boat, flew over Angel Falls in a steam-powered plane, flew over the Himalayas in a paraglider, led an expedition to one of the most distant unconquered peaks in Antarctica and held... a gala dinner in a balloon at an altitude of more than seven thousand meters! Most of Grylls' expeditions are for charity.

Abbey Sunderland

Not only men can boast of friendship with the wind of wanderings - Abby Sunderland, a young traveler who, at the age of 16, circumnavigated the world alone on a yacht, will give a head start to many men. The determination of Abby’s parents is surprising, because they not only allowed her to participate in such a dangerous enterprise, but also helped her prepare for it. Alas, the first start on January 23, 2010 was unsuccessful and Abby made a second attempt on February 6.

The journey turned out to be more dangerous than expected: between Australia and Africa, 2 thousand miles from the coast, the hull of the yacht was damaged and the engine failed. After this message, communication was interrupted, the search for Abby's yacht was unsuccessful and she was declared missing. A month later, Australian rescuers in the area of ​​a severe storm discovered the lost yacht and Abby alive and unharmed. Who will say after this that a woman has no place on a ship?

Jason Lewis

And finally, the most original of modern travelers, who spent 13 years traveling around the world! Why so long? The simple fact is that Jason refused any technology and all achievements of civilization. The former janitor and his friend Steve Smith went around the world by bike, boat and rollerblades!

The expedition started from Greenwich in 1994; in February 1995, the travelers reached the shores of the United States and, after 111 days of sailing, decided to cross America separately on roller skates. Lewis had to interrupt his trip for 9 months after an accident. After recovery, Lewis goes to Hawaii, from where he sails on a pedal boat to Australia, where he had to spend some time earning money for further travel... by selling T-shirts.

In 2005, he reaches Singapore and then crosses China and India by bicycle. By March 2007, he reached Africa and also crossed the whole of Europe on a bicycle: Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany and Belgium. After swimming across the English Channel, Jason Lewis returned to London in October 2007.


Julian of Hungary,“Columbus of the East” is a Dominican monk who went in search of Great Hungary, the ancestral home of the Hungarians. By 895, the Hungarians had settled in Transylvania, but still remembered the distant lands of their ancestors, the steppe regions east of the Urals. In 1235, the Hungarian prince Bela equipped four Dominican monks on a journey. After a while, two Dominicans decided to return back, and Julian’s third companion died. The monk decided to continue his journey alone. As a result, having passed Constantinople, passing along the Kuban River, Julian reached Great Bulgaria, or Volga Bulgaria. The Dominican's return route ran through the Mordovian lands, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Ryazan, Chernigov and Kyiv. In 1237, Julian of Hungary set out on a second journey, but already on the way, having reached the eastern lands of Rus', he learned about the attack on Great Bulgaria by Mongol troops. Descriptions of the monk's travels have become an important source in the study of the history of the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria.

Gunnbjorn Ulfson. Surely you have heard about Eirik the Red, the Scandinavian navigator who was the first to settle on the shores of Greenland. Thanks to this fact, many mistakenly think that he was the discoverer of the giant ice island. But no - Gunnbjorn Ulfson had been there before him, heading from his native Norway to Iceland, whose ship was thrown to new shores by a severe storm. Almost a century later, Eirik the Red followed in his footsteps - his path was not accidental, Eirik knew exactly where the island discovered by Ulfson was located.

Rabban Sauma, who is called the Chinese Marco Polo, became the only person from China to describe his journey through Europe. As a Nestorian monk, Rabban went on a long and dangerous pilgrimage to Jerusalem around 1278. Setting out from the Mongol capital Khanbalyk, i.e. present-day Beijing, he crossed all of Asia, but already approaching Persia, he learned about the war in the Holy Land and changed his route. In Persia, Rabban Sauma was warmly received, and a few years later, at the request of Arghun Khan, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Rome. First, he visited Constantinople and King Andronicus II, then visited Rome, where he established international contacts with the cardinals, and eventually ended up in France, at the court of King Philip the Fair, proposing an alliance with Arghun Khan. On the way back, the Chinese monk was granted an audience with the newly elected Pope and met with the English King Edward I.

Guillaume de Roubuque, a Franciscan monk, after the end of the Seventh Crusade, was sent by King Louis of France to the southern steppes in order to establish diplomatic cooperation with the Mongols. From Jerusalem, Guillaume de Rubuk reached Constantinople, from there to Sudak and moved towards Sea of ​​Azov. As a result, Rubuk crossed the Volga, then the Ural River and eventually ended up in the capital of the Mongol Empire, the city of Karakorum. The audiences of the Great Khan did not produce any special diplomatic results: the Khan invited the King of France to swear allegiance to the Mongols, but the time spent in overseas countries was not in vain. Guillaume de Rubuc described his travels in detail and with his characteristic humor, telling the inhabitants of medieval Europe about the distant eastern peoples and their lives. He was especially impressed by the religious tolerance of the Mongols, which was unusual for Europe: in the city of Karakorum, pagan and Buddhist temples, a mosque, and a Christian Nestorian church coexisted peacefully.

Afanasy Nikitin, Tver merchant, in 1466, went on a commercial voyage, which turned into incredible adventures for him. Thanks to his adventurism, Afanasy Nikitin went down in history as one of greatest travelers, leaving behind heartfelt notes “Walking across the Three Seas.” As soon as he left his native Tver, Afanasy Nikitin's merchant ships were plundered by the Astrakhan Tatars, but this did not stop the merchant, and he continued on his way - first reaching Derbent, Baku, then to Persia and from there to India. In his notes, he colorfully described the customs, morals, political and religious structure of Indian lands. In 1472, Afanasy Nikitin went to his homeland, but never reached Tver, dying near Smolensk. Afanasy Nikitin became the first European to travel all the way to India.

Chen Chen and Li Da- Chinese travelers who made a dangerous expedition across Central Asia. Li Da was an experienced traveler, but he did not lead travel notes and therefore not as famous as Chen Chen. Two eunuchs went on a diplomatic journey on behalf of the Yongle Emperor in 1414. They had to cross the desert for 50 days and climb along the Tien Shan mountains. After spending 269 days on the road, they reached the city of Herat (which is located on the territory of modern Afghanistan), presented gifts to the Sultan and returned home.

Odorico Pordenone- Franciscan monk who visited India, Sumatra and China at the beginning of the 14th century. Franciscan friars sought to increase their presence in countries East Asia, why missionaries were sent there. Odorico Pordenone, leaving his native monastery in Udine, proceeded first to Venice, then to Constantinople, and from there to Persia and India. The Franciscan monk traveled extensively in India and China, visited the territory of modern Indonesia, reaching the island of Java, lived in Beijing for several years, and then returned home, passing Lhasa. He died already in the monastery in Udine, but before his death he managed to dictate impressions of his travels, rich in details. His memories formed the basis of the famous book “The Adventures of Sir John Mandeville,” which was widely read in medieval Europe.

Naddod and Gardar- Vikings who discovered Iceland. Naddod landed off the coast of Iceland in the 9th century: he was on his way to Faroe islands, but a storm brought him to a new land. Having examined the surroundings and finding no signs of human life there, he went home. The next to set foot on Iceland was the Swedish Viking Gardar - he walked around the island along the coast on his ship. Naddod named the island " snowy land”, and Iceland (i.e. “land of ice”) owes its present name to the third Viking, Floki Vilgerdarson, who reached this harsh and beautiful land.

Benjamin of Tudela- rabbi from the city of Tudela (Kingdom of Navarre, now the Spanish province of Navarre). The path of Benjamin of Tudela was not as grandiose as that of Afanasy Nikitin, but his notes became an invaluable source of information about the history and life of Jews in Byzantium. Benjamin of Tudela set out from hometown to Spain in 1160, passed Barcelona, ​​traveled around southern France. Then he arrived in Rome, from where, after a while, he moved to Constantinople. From Byzantium the rabbi proceeded to the Holy Land, and from there to Damascus and Baghdad, and traveled around Arabia and Egypt.

Ibn Battuta famous not only for his wanderings. If his other “colleagues” set off on a trade, religious or diplomatic mission, the Berber traveler was called to follow him by the muse of distant travels - he traveled 120,700 km solely for the love of tourism. Ibn Battuta was born in 1304 in the Moroccan city of Tangier into the family of a sheikh. The first point on Ibn Battuta’s personal map was Mecca, where he arrived while moving overland along the coast of Africa. Instead of returning home, he continued traveling through the Middle East and East Africa. Having reached Tanzania and finding himself without funds, he ventured to travel to India: it was rumored that the Sultan in Delhi was incredibly generous. The rumors did not disappoint - the Sultan provided Ibn Battuta with generous gifts and sent him to China for diplomatic purposes. However, along the way he was plundered and, fearing the Sultan’s wrath and not daring to return to Delhi, Ibn Battuta was forced to hide in the Maldives, simultaneously visiting Sri Lanka, Bengal and Sumatra. He reached China only in 1345, from where he headed towards home. But, of course, he could not sit at home - Ibn Battuta made a short trip to Spain (at that time the territory of modern Andalusia belonged to the Moors and was called Al-Andalus), then went to Mali, for which he needed to cross the Sahara, and in 1354 settled in the city Fez, where he dictated all the details of his incredible adventures.

Pyotr Beketov (1600 - after 1661) - Russian explorer of the 17th century, explorer of Siberia.

One of the most exemplary “Russian conquistadors”, who honestly served his cause and did not get involved in any adventures, Beketov was the founder of several Russian cities.

Biography

Almost nothing is known about the early years of life of many prominent personalities of the 17th century; Pyotr Beketov is no exception in this sense. Information about him appears only in the 1620s, when he got a job as an archer in the government service.

After some time, in 1627, Beketov sent a petition to the tsar, in which he asked to be given the position of centurion in order to have at least some decent salary.

Vasily Poyarkov is one of the discoverers of Siberia. He made a huge contribution to the development of these lands.

In the 17th century, the Russian Empire dreamed of annexing Siberia to its lands. It was a huge and rich territory where many peoples lived.

Special expeditions were assembled to study and annex the Siberian lands. One of them was headed by Vasily Poyarkov.

Years of life

Accurate information about the years of Vasily Poyarkov’s life has not been preserved. Only documentary sources that contain information about his activities have survived to this day. They date back to 1610-1667.

Vasily Ermolaevich Bugor was an Arctic sailor and one of the pioneers of Siberia.

He explored unexplored territories, helping the Yenisei governor A. Oshanin.

Years of life

The exact years of Bugor's life are unknown, but historians believe that he was born around 1600 and died in 1668.

Biography of Bugor

Bugor did not have a noble origin. He was a Cossack foreman, participated in the construction of forts and the study of Siberia.

Mikhail Stadukhin - explorer and polar navigator of the 17th century, who explored North-Eastern Siberia, a man who was one of the first to visit the north Sea of ​​Okhotsk, as well as on the Kolyma, Gizhiga, Penzhina and Anadyr rivers.

The geographical discoveries of M. Stadukhin became a huge contribution to the discovery and study of the Russian coast of the Arctic and Pacific Ocean.

Years of life of Mikhail Stadukhin

Year of birth unknown, died in 1666.

Biography of Mikhail Stadukhin

It is not known for certain in what year Mikhail Stadukhin was born. Presumably, the Russian explorer was born into a family of Pomors in one of the villages on the Pinega River


The development of Siberia in the 17th century is often presented as the most important event in the history of modern Russia.

It is spoken of as the Russian analogue of the Great Geographical Discoveries of the European World and the conquest of the New World.

This is partly a fair comparison. In the context of the emergence of the all-Russian market and economic growth, the development of new trade routes is an important stage in the country’s development.

S.I. Chelyuskin is a sea traveler, researcher, participant in a long-term expedition who made serious geographical discoveries that were ignored during his lifetime.

Origin

Chelyuskin’s ancestors (according to documents of the 17th century - Chelyustkins) were at first quite successful people, occupied important positions, were well promoted, were rich

But under Peter the Great, Semyon Ivanovich’s father fell into disgrace (he was among the rebellious Moscow archers) and until the end of his life his family vegetated in the wilderness of the village, barely making ends meet.

Accurate information about where and when S.I. Chelyuskin was born has not yet been discovered, approximately 1700.

Education

In 1714, the noble ignorant Semyon Chelyuskin was admitted to a Moscow school, where boys were taught exact sciences and navigation. Here the future researcher learned the wisdom of mathematics, geography, and astronomy.

He was a smart and diligent student. In 1721, having completed his studies, he was recommended for a certificate for navigating activities.


Yu. F. Lisyansky is an outstanding Russian navigator, who together traveled around the world.

Youth

Yu. Lisyansky was born in the Little Russian city of Nezhin in a simple family of a priest in 1773. Since childhood I dreamed of the sea, so I entered the Naval Cadet Corps and successfully graduated. Assigned to serve on the frigate "Podrazislav" as part of the squadron of Admiral S. K. Greig. He took part in the Hogland and several other naval battles in the war with the Swedes, served as a volunteer in the British fleet, took part in battles with the French on the shores of North America, and sailed on Antilles and to India.

Circumnavigation

Returning to his homeland, Lisyansky was appointed commander of the sloop "Neva". This ship was heading to round the world expedition under the leadership of I.F. Krusenstern, who commanded the second sloop Nadezhda. These two Russian ships left their homeland in mid-summer 1803 from Kronstadt. In November 1804, Yu. F. Lisyansky and I. F. Krusenstern were the first in the history of the Russian fleet to cross the equator line. In February of the same year, both ships sailed around Cape Horn, entering Pacific waters. Here the ships separated.

Khariton Prokofievich Laptev is one of the largest Russian polar explorers. The future conqueror of the Arctic was born in the village of Pekarevo, located near, in 1700. In 1715, young Laptev entered the St. Petersburg Naval Academy, which three years later he successfully graduated and entered the navy as a midshipman. In 1726 he was promoted to midshipman. In 1734 he took part in the war against Stanislav Leszczynski, who had been proclaimed the Polish king a year earlier.

The frigate "Mitava", on which Laptev served, is captured during military operations by the French, who resorted to deception to achieve this. Upon returning to his homeland, Laptev, along with the rest of the Mitava officers, is sentenced to death for surrendering the ship without a fight, but the crew is promptly found innocent. After this misunderstanding, Khariton Prokofievich returns to service. In 1737, he was promoted to lieutenant and appointed commander of a detachment in the Great Northern Expedition. The purpose of the trip was to explore the Arctic coast between the Lena and Yenisei; another great Russian polar explorer, Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev, cousin of Khariton Prokofievich, also took part in it. In the early spring of 1738, members of the expedition arrived in Yakutsk.

Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev is a famous Russian traveler who, together with his cousin Khariton Prokofievich Laptev, became famous for their polar expeditions.

Born in 1701 into a family of small landed nobles in the village of Bolotovo. In 1715, together with his cousin, he began studying at the Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg. Upon completion of his studies in 1718, Laptev was promoted to midshipman on one of the ships of the Kronstadt squadron.

In 1721 he received the rank of midshipman, and in 1724 he became a non-commissioned lieutenant. From 1727 to 1729 he commanded the frigate "St. Jacob".

The biography of the great polar explorer Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov is unusual and tragic. He was born in 1877 in a small Azov village; today this village bears the name of the great polar explorer. George learned hard work from an early age. His father, a simple Azov fisherman, disappeared for several years. The boy had to work to feed his mother and eight brothers and sisters. He did not have time to learn to read and write, and until the age of 14 he could neither read nor write.

After his father returned home, in two years he graduated from parochial school and ran away from home. What the boy did in that life and how he made his way to his desired goal is little known. But at the age of 21, Georgy Sedov received a diploma as a long-distance navigator. At the age of 24, after successfully passing the exam, he receives the rank of lieutenant.
His first hydrographic expedition was to the Arctic Ocean. Northern ice have been attracting the young sailor for a long time. He dreamed of conquering North Pole and prove that a Russian person can do this.

It began, and the expedition to the North Pole had to be postponed. But the idea does not leave him. He writes articles in which he proves that the development of the Northern Sea Route is necessary. He worked on the Caspian Sea, on Kolyma, and explored Krestovaya Bay on Novaya Zemlya.