Dmitry Ivanovich Mushketov (russian: Дми́трий Ива́нович Мушкетов; – 18 February 1938) was a Russian Empire and Soviet

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, althou ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, one of the victims of the

Great Terror The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

Biography

Dmitry Mushketov was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

to the family of Ivan Vasilyevich Mushketov, a famous explorer and professor at the Mining Institute, and Ekaterina Pavlovna Mushketova. His early education by his mother gave him a fluency in German, French, and English, which allowed him later in life to travel to Western Europe, to correspond with foreign specialists, and to represent Soviet geology abroad. He entered the Mining Institute in 1899 and graduated with honours in 1907. In 1905 he was awarded Minor Silver Medal of the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО»), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection wi ...

. He attained Master of Science degree in 1915 and awarded honorary Doctorate in Geology and Mineralogy from the Mining Institute, 1936. D. I. Mushketov's geological interests were very wide including the worldwide study of

tectonics Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...

and

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

, but he concentrated his work in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, covering also the fields of

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s, and mineral resources. His scholarly output was prodigious, with "more than 50 scientific works, several textbooks and manuals included, before 1926". Between 1909 and 1916 he carried out the geological survey of eastern

Fergana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

which contributed to the geological map of

. His name is particularly well known for the high-quality revisions and additions that he made to each edition of the textbook on physical geology that was originally written by his father (published in 1888–91). In 1918 he was appointed director of the Mining Institute and was director of the in 1926–1929. 15-InternationalGeologicalCongress-1929

He participated in International Geological Congress abroad in 1922 (XIII, Belgium), 1926 (XIV, Spain), and 1929 (XV, South Africa). In addition, he was entrusted with making a bid for the International Geological Congress (XVI) to take place in the USSR in 1933 and was Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Third All-Russia Geological Congress in Tashkent, 1928.

Repression

In 1933 he was forbidden to attend the International Geological Congress (XVI, USA), 1933. The Soviet delegation to the congress was led instead by

Ivan Gubkin Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin (russian: Ива́н Миха́йлович Гу́бкин; – 21 April 1939) was a Soviet and Russian geologist and president of the 1937 International Geological Congress in Moscow. He was a petroleum geologist particu ...

. On June 29, 1937, Mushketov was arrested upon a falsified accusation, a month before the International Geological Congress (XVII, Moscow, July 21, 1937). In response to an official request for information filed by the Commission on Geological Study of the USSR March 29, 1962, the following information was provided by the Military Board of the

USSR Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Soviet Union (russian: Верховный Суд СССР) was the highest court of the Soviet Union during its existence. The Supreme Court of the USSR included a Military Collegium and other elements which were not typic ...

, May 31, 1962: D. I. Mushketov was sentenced to death and executed on February 18, 1938. He was fully exonerated ( rehabilitated), posthumously, on December 8, 1956. Several colleagues were executed on the same day in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

: Nikolay Bobkov, Vsevolod Cherkesov, and G. N. Frederiks.

Biography

Repression

References

Further reading