Fedor Ivanovich Soimonov (russian: Фёдор Иванович Соймо́нов; 1692 – 22 July 1780), Knight of the

Order of St. Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Empero ...

, was a nautical

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

hydrographer 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 p ...

and pioneering explorer of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

who charted the until then little known body of water.Igor S. Zonn, Aleksey N Kosarev, Michael H. Glantz & Andrey G. Kostianoy, ''The Caspian Sea Encyclopedia'' Soimonov was an important contributor to the improvement of navigation along the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n coasts. As a

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

he also mapped new territories in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive 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 part of ...

and contributed to the development of farming in that region. As a military man he served in the Russian campaigns against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and against the

Safavid Empire Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

and the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

Biography

Fedor Soimonov was born in a noble family, the House of Soimonov. He became a graduate of the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

School of Navigation and went to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for training. Soimonov made the first thorough hydrographic survey of the

between 1719 and 1727, building up on the survey previously done by

Karl Van Verden Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

during tsar Peter the Great's drive for reform and modernization at the beginning of the 18th century. He led the Caspian Expedition that explored the coasts of the sea. As a result of the survey Soimonov drew a set of maps of the Caspian for the 'Atlas of the Caspian Sea' ''(Atlas Kapiiskago Moria)'' and wrote the 'Pilot of the Caspian Sea'. Published in 1731 by the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

, these became the first comprehensive report and the first modern maps of the Caspian in history. Between 1730 and 1738 he was employed as a cartographer for the

Russian Admiralty Board Board of Admiralties (russian: Адмиралтейств-коллегия, ''Admiralteystv-kollegiya'') was a supreme body for the administration of the Imperial Russian Navy and admiralty shipyards in the Russian Empire, established by Peter the ...

, which had been established in 1718 by

Peter I the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

. Soimonov led the Russian Admiralty Board between 1739 and 1740, publishing Экстракт штурманского искусства. Из наук, принадлежащих к мореплаванию, сочинённый в вопросах и ответах для пользы и безопасности мореплавателей ''(Ekstrakt shturmanskago iskusstva iz nauk prinadlezhashchikh k moreplavaniiu sochinennyi)'' (St Petersburg, 1739). In 1740 Soimonov fell from grace after having been accused of conspiring against Empress

Anna of Russia Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...

's lover

Ernst Johann von Biron Ernst Johann von Biron (german: Ernst Johann von Biron; russian: link=no, Эрнст Иоганн Бирон; (german: link=no, Bühren); ) was a Duke of Courland and Semigallia (1737–1740 and 1763–1769) and briefly regent of the Russian E ...

. He was exiled to

Okhotsk Okhotsk ( rus, Охотск, p=ɐˈxotsk) is an types of inhabited localities in Russia, urban locality (a urban-type settlement, work settlement) and the administrative center of Okhotsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located at the mou ...

, the main Russian base on the Pacific coast at that time, where he was condemned to live as a serf. He regained freedom in 1749 under Empress

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...

's rule and went back to his estate in Moscow where he kept a low profile until 1753, when he was appointed to lead the

Nerchinsk Nerchinsk ( rus, Не́рчинск; bua, Нэршүү, ''Nershüü''; mn, Нэрчүү, ''Nerchüü''; mnc, m=, v=Nibcu, a=Nibqu; zh, t=涅尔琴斯克（尼布楚）, p=Niè'ěrqínsīkè (Níbùchǔ)) is a town and the administrative ce ...

Expedition and was sent to map the then little explored area of the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

and its tributaries. He made the cartography of the Shilka, which was partly in Chinese territory, but was turned back when he reached its confluence with the Argun. As a result of these explorations he published the 'Atlas of Nerchinsk'. Soimonov was the governor of the

Siberia Governorate Siberia Governorate (russian: Сибирская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia and then the Russian Empire, which existed from 1708 until 1782. Its seat was in Tobolsk (initially sp ...

between 1757 and 1763. During his tenure he earned a reputation as a competent administrator, fighting against corruption and pushing for the development of the vast region. From 1764 to 1766 he became a senator and Empress Catherine's chief counsellor for Siberian affairs. He accelerated the development of agriculture, establishing regulations for the allotment of land for farming and also publishing scientific works such as 'An Outline of Crops Growing in Siberia'. Under Catherine the Great Fedor Soimonov, also implemented the vision of the state by monitoring the advancement of Russian nautical schools. His task was meant to facilitate scientific exploration and geographic coverage of the new Russian territories by better preparing Russian captains and crews for shipping on the open seas.Henner Kropp, ''Halfway around the World''. p. 15 In 1766 he retired from active service owing to ill-health. He died in 1780 and was buried at the

Vysotsky Monastery Vysotsky Monastery (russian: Высоцкий монастырь) is a walled Russian Orthodox monastery commanding the high left bank of the Nara River in Serpukhov, about 2 km from its confluence with the Oka. Its name stems from the Russian wo ...

Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲɛrpʊxəf) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers, south from Moscow ( from Moscow Ring Road) on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow— T ...

References

External links

Caspian Sea Biodiversity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soimonov, Fyodor Ivanovich 1692 births 1780 deaths History of the Caspian Sea Cartographers from the Russian Empire Explorers from the Russian Empire People of the Russo-Persian Wars

Biography

See also

References

External links