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Eduard Gustav Freiherr von Toll (russian: Эдуа́рд Васи́льевич Толль, translit=Eduárd Vasíl'evič Toll'; 1902), better known in Russia as Eduard Vasilyevich Toll and often referred to as Baron von Toll, was a Russian
geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...
and
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
explorer. He is most notable for leading the Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 in search of the legendary
Sannikov Land Sannikov Land (russian: Земля Санникова) was a phantom island in the Arctic Ocean. Its supposed existence became something of a myth in 19th-century Russia. History Yakov Sannikov and Matvei Gedenschtrom claimed to have seen the ...
, a phantom island purported to lie off Russia's Arctic coast. During the expedition, Toll and a small party of explorers disappeared from
Bennett Island Bennett Island ( rus, Остров Бе́ннетта, r=Ostrov Bennetta; sah, Беннетт Aрыыта, translit= Bennett Arııta) is the largest of the De Long Islands in the northern part of the East Siberian Sea. The area of this island ...
, and their fate remains unknown to this day.


Early life

Eduard von Toll was born on , in
Reval Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ''m ...
of the
Governorate of Estonia The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Governorate of Esthonia (Pre-reformed rus, Эстля́ндская губе́рнія, r=Estlyandskaya guberniya); et, Eestimaa kubermang was a governorate in the Baltic region, along with the ...
(now
Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
,
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
). He belonged to the Baltic German noble Toll family and was married to Emmeline "Emmy" Magdalene . His family's origin was debated, but genealogists had suggested them to be of Hollandish origin and was originated in
Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
. He was a close relative of the Middendorff family, and one of the Toll's teachers was the academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences
Alexander von Middendorff Alexander Theodor von Middendorff (russian: Алекса́ндр Фёдорович Ми́ддендорф; tr. ; 18 August 1815 – 24 January 1894) was a zoologist and explorer of Baltic German and Estonian extraction. He is known for his ex ...
. Toll graduated from the
Imperial University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
(Tartu) as a zoologist in 1882. As a student, he had traveled to the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
and researched the fauna, flora and geology of
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
and the Balearic Islands.


Expeditions and surveys

In 1885–1886 Toll took part in an expedition to the
New Siberian Islands The New Siberian Islands ( rus, Новосиби́рские Oстрова, r=Novosibirskiye Ostrova; sah, Саҥа Сибиир Aрыылара, translit=Saña Sibiir Arıılara) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north o ...
, organized by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and led by
Alexander Bunge Alexander Georg von Bunge (russian: Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Бу́нге; – ) was a Russian botanist. He is best remembered for scientific expeditions into Asia and especially Siberia. Early life and education Bunge was bo ...
. Eduard Toll explored the
Great Lyakhovsky Island Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island (russian: Большой Ляховский остров), or Great Lyakhovsky, is the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands belonging to the New Siberian Islands archipelago between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea ...
,
Bunge Land Bunge Land or Zemlya Bunge is a huge empty and almost barren intermediate zone in the Anzhu Islands north of Siberia. It is located between Kotelny and Faddeyevsky, which, unlike Bunge Land, could be described as proper islands. Sandy and flat, i ...
,
Faddeyevsky Island Kotelny Island ( rus, Остров Котельный, r=Ostrov Kotelny; sah, Олгуйдаах Aрыы, translit=Olguydaax Arııta) is part of the Anzhu Islands subgroup of the New Siberian Islands located between the Laptev Sea and the Eas ...
,
Kotelny Island Kotelny Island ( rus, Остров Котельный, r=Ostrov Kotelny; sah, Олгуйдаах Aрыы, translit=Olguydaax Arııta) is part of the Anzhu Islands subgroup of the New Siberian Islands located between the Laptev Sea and the East ...
, as well as the western shores of the New Siberia Island. In 1886 Toll thought that he had seen an unknown land north of Kotelny. He guessed that this was the so-called "Zemlya Sannikova" (
Sannikov Land Sannikov Land (russian: Земля Санникова) was a phantom island in the Arctic Ocean. Its supposed existence became something of a myth in 19th-century Russia. History Yakov Sannikov and Matvei Gedenschtrom claimed to have seen the ...
), a land that
Yakov Sannikov Yakov Sannikov () (January 29, 1780, Ust-Yansk – 1810s, Sakha Republic) was a Russian merchant and explorer of the New Siberian Islands. In 1800, Sannikov discovered and charted Stolbovoy Island, and in 1805 Faddeyevsky Island. In 1809–1810, h ...
and
Matvei Gedenschtrom Matvei Matveyevich Gedenschtrom ( sv, Mathias Hedenström; russian: link=no, Матвей Матвеевич Геденштром; 1780 – ) was a Russian explorer of Northern Siberia, writer, and public servant. Matvei Gedenschtrom was born in ...
claimed to have seen during their 1808–1810 expedition, but whose existence had never been proved. Eduard Toll was among the first to report in detail about the abundance of Pleistocene fossils found within
Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island (russian: Большой Ляховский остров), or Great Lyakhovsky, is the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands belonging to the New Siberian Islands archipelago between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea ...
, one of the New Siberian Islands. Under a peat composed of water mosses covering what he described as "perpetual ice", now known to be permafrost, Baron von Toll found fragments of willow and the bones of post- Neogene mammals, like the shoulder-bone of a
saber-toothed tiger ''Smilodon'' is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related ...
. He also reported having found in a frozen, sandy clay layer and lying on its side, a complete tree of ''Alnus fruticosa'' 15 to 20 ft (4.5 to 6 m) in length, including roots, with leaves and cones adhering. Unfortunately, his reports have been frequently either misrepresented or badly garbled by popular accounts of his findings, stating it to be a plum tree of a different size. The academy appreciated the results of this expedition as "a true geographical deed". In 1893 Toll led an expedition of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences to the northern parts of
Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far E ...
and explored the region between the lower reaches of the
Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...
and
Khatanga River The Khatanga (russian: Хатанга) is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia. The river is navigable. The river port of Khatanga is located on the river. Course It begins at the confluence of the rivers Kotuy and Kheta. The Khatanga is lo ...
s. Eduard Toll became the first to map the
plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
between the
Anabar Anabar may refer to: * Anabar Bay, Laptev Sea * Anabar Constituency, Nauru * Anabar District, Nauru * Anabar District, Russia, Sakha, Russia * Anabar Highway, Russia * Anabar Plateau, Russia * Anabar (river), Sakha, Russia * Anabar Shield An ...
and
Popigay River The Popigay (russian: Попигай) is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It s a right tributary of the Khatanga. The length of the river is . The area of its drainage basin is . The river has its source in the Anabar Plateau. It freezes up ...
s and a mountain ridge between the Olenek and Anabar Rivers (which he named after Vasily Pronchischev). He also carried out geological surveys in the basins of the following rivers:
Yana Yana may refer to: Locations *Yana, Burma, a village in Hkamti Township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of northwestern Burma *Yana, India, a village in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India * Yana, Nigeria, an administrative ca ...
, Indigirka, and Kolyma. During one year and two days the expedition covered 25,000 km, of which 4,200 km were up the rivers, carrying out geodesic surveys en route. Owing to the difficulties of the expedition and his hard work, the Russian Academy of Sciences awarded Eduard v. Toll with the N.M. Przhevalsky Large Silver Medal. In 1899 Toll took part in a voyage of the icebreaker ''Yermak'' under the command of Stepan Makarov to the shores of Spitsbergen.


Toll's last venture: the Russian Polar Expedition, 1900-1903

In 1900–1902, Eduard Toll headed an expedition of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences to the New Siberian Islands, the Russian Polar Expedition, on the ship '' Zarya'' (''Заря''). The expedition primarily aimed to find the legendary
Sannikov Land Sannikov Land (russian: Земля Санникова) was a phantom island in the Arctic Ocean. Its supposed existence became something of a myth in 19th-century Russia. History Yakov Sannikov and Matvei Gedenschtrom claimed to have seen the ...
. During this voyage and especially during the winterings near the northwestern part of the
Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrat ...
and the western part of the Kotelny Island, Eduard Toll conducted extensive
hydrographical Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary ...
,
geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
, and geological research. Due to severe ice conditions the expedition had to spend two winters in the region of the bleak New Siberian Archipelago. In the end, Eduard von Toll traveled to
Bennett Island Bennett Island ( rus, Остров Бе́ннетта, r=Ostrov Bennetta; sah, Беннетт Aрыыта, translit= Bennett Arııta) is the largest of the De Long Islands in the northern part of the East Siberian Sea. The area of this island ...
by sledge and kayak along with three expedition members. The ship ''Zarya'' attempted to reach Bennett Island to evacuate Toll's party but was unable to do so because of severe ice conditions. Apparently, Toll made a decision to go south to the continent; no further traces of the four men have ever been found. Two search parties set out in the spring of 1903. One of them, under engineer
Mikhail Brusnev Mikhail Ivanovich Brusnev (Russian: Михаил Иванович Бруснев) (1864–1937) was a Russian revolutionary, Marxist, explorer and an early leader of the Russian Social Democratic movement from which the Bolshevik organisation ...
, searched the shores of the
New Siberian Islands The New Siberian Islands ( rus, Новосиби́рские Oстрова, r=Novosibirskiye Ostrova; sah, Саҥа Сибиир Aрыылара, translit=Saña Sibiir Arıılara) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north o ...
; the other, under naval commander
Aleksandr Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (russian: link=no, Александр Васильевич Колчак; – 7 February 1920) was an Imperial Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer who served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought ...
traveled by whaleboat to Bennett Island. They did not find the lost explorers but they found the diaries and the collections of the ''Zarya'' expedition, which shed light on the tragic fate of Baron Eduard von Toll and of his companions.


Legacy

The name of Eduard von Toll remained on the geographical maps Fridtjof Nansen published. He named the Toll Bay on the north-west coast of the
Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrat ...
in honour of Eduard von Toll. There is also the Tollievaya River, a cape on the Tsirkul Island in the Minina Skerries, mountains in Novaya Zemlya, the northernmost cape at Stolbovoy Island, the strait and a plateau at
Kotelny Island Kotelny Island ( rus, Остров Котельный, r=Ostrov Kotelny; sah, Олгуйдаах Aрыы, translit=Olguydaax Arııta) is part of the Anzhu Islands subgroup of the New Siberian Islands located between the Laptev Sea and the East ...
and the central ice cap at
Bennett Island Bennett Island ( rus, Остров Бе́ннетта, r=Ostrov Bennetta; sah, Беннетт Aрыыта, translit= Bennett Arııta) is the largest of the De Long Islands in the northern part of the East Siberian Sea. The area of this island ...
. In certain fields, like paleontology, zoology and botany many specimens of fauna and flora are named after Baron Eduard von Toll, like for example the
foraminiferan Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly an ...
named ''Dendrophyra tolli'' (Awerinzew, 1911). Baron Toll was an expert in
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
n palaeontology. The following statement of Russian Academician V. A. Obruchev is well-known: ''"In all our guides on physical geography you can encounter the name of Eduard v. Toll as the founder of the doctrine of fossilized ice formation' – the doctrine which became a classic one".'' The Arctic icebreaking LNG tanker MV ''Eduard Toll'' is named after him.


See also

* List of Baltic German scientists *
List of people who disappeared Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
* Nikolai Kolomeitsev


Notes and references


Sources

*
William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as the 77th and 85th United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump. Born and raised in New York City, Barr ...
, (1980)
Baron Eduard von Toll’s Last Expedition: The Russian Polar Expedition, 1900-1903
, ''Arctic'', 34 (3: September), p. 201-224 *A. Bunge & E. von Toll, ''The Expedition to the New Siberian Islands and the Jana country, equipped by the Imperial Academy of Sciences'', 1887


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toll, Eduard 1858 births 1900s missing person cases 1902 deaths Barons of the Russian Empire Baltic German people from the Russian Empire Explorers from the Russian Empire Explorers of the Arctic Geologists from the Russian Empire Kara Sea Laptev Sea Lost explorers Missing person cases in Russia Paleontologists from the Russian Empire People from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Scientists from the Russian Empire