Gennady Nikitich Olonkin (russian: Геннадий Никитич Олонкин, no, Gennadij Nikititsj Olonkin) (1898-September 1960) was a Russian-Norwegian

polar explorer This list is for recognised pioneering explorers of the polar regions. It does not include subsequent travelers and expeditions. Polar explorers * Jameson Adams * Stian Aker * Valerian Albanov * Roald Amundsen * Salomon August Andrée * Piotr ...

telegraphist A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Roya ...

and

radio operator A radio operator (also, formerly, wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system. The profession of radio operator has become largely obsolete with the automation of ra ...

Biography

Gennady Nikitich Olonkin was born in the

Arkhangelsk Governorate Arkhangelsk Governorate (russian: link=no, Архангельская губерния, ''Arkhangelskaya guberniya'') was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 until 1929. ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Olonkin was the only son among twelve children of a Norwegian mother and a Russian father. From 1918 to 1925, he was a telegraph and radio operator as well as

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning an ...

on the polar ship '' Maud'', led by

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen bega ...

. In 1926, Olonkin took part in the first part of the Amundsen-Ellsworth 1926 Transpolar Flight with the airship ''

Norge Norge is Norwegian (bokmål), Danish and Swedish for Norway. It may also refer to: People * Kaare Norge (born 1963), Danish guitarist * Norge Luis Vera (born 1971), Cuban baseball player Places * 11871 Norge, asteroid Toponyms: *Norge, Oklah ...

'' from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

providing radio contact with the different ground control stations. In 1926 he was honored as a Knight of the Order of St. Olav. Olonkin acquired Norwegian citizenship and worked at the

Norwegian Meteorological Institute The Norwegian Meteorological Institute ( no, Meteorologisk institutt), also known internationally as MET Norway, is Norway's national meteorological institute. It provides weather forecasts for civilian and military uses and conducts research in ...

. He served on

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger nort ...

in the years 1928–1929, 1930–1931, 1933–1934, and 1935–1936. From 1958 he worked in conjunction with an expansion of a

LORAN LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

station (

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

) on Jan Mayen. Gennadij Olonkin was married and had one son and two daughters. He died during 1960 in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Both Cape Olonkin and

Olonkinbyen Olonkinbyen (literally ''The Olonkin Town'') is the only settlement on the Norway, Norwegian island of Jan Mayen (aside from isolated cottage huts such as Puppebu). It was named after Russian-Norwegian explorer Gennady Olonkin. The only inhabit ...

on the island of Jan Mayen have been named in his honor.

References

External links

Gendij Olonkin at Norsk Polarhistorie

Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; no, Norsk Polarinstitutt) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Min ...

(in Norwegian)
Place names at Svalbard and Jan Mayen
(Norwegian Polar Institute) {{DEFAULTSORT:Olonkin, Gennady 1898 births 1960 deaths People from Arkhangelsky Uyezd Norwegian polar explorers Russian explorers Russian people of Norwegian descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Norway Naturalised citizens of Norway Jan Mayen