Gleb Semyonovich Shishmaryov (russian: Глеб Семёнович Шишмарёв; 1781 - November 3, 1835,

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 ...

) was a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

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 ...

. He is reputed for having surveyed the then little-known coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

as navigator. In 1815–1818 he accompanied

Otto von Kotzebue Otto von Kotzebue (russian: О́тто Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; – ) was a Russian officer and navigator in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was born in Reval. He was known for his explorations of Oceania. Early life ...

on his voyage to Alaska and around the world. In 1820 Shishmaryov returned to Alaska in command of the ship ''Blagonamerennyi (Good Intent)'', accompanied by Lt. Mikhail Nikolaevich Vasiliev (1770–1847) on the ship ''Otkrytie (Discovery)''. Shishmaref and Vasiliev entered the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west b ...

and explored the coast of Alaska from

Kotzebue Sound Kotzebue Sound (russian: Залив Коцебу) is an arm of the Chukchi Sea in the western region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is on the north side of the Seward Peninsula and bounded on the east by the Baldwin Peninsula. It is long and w ...

to Icy Cape and later from

Norton Sound Norton Sound (russian: Нортон-Саунд) is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km (150 mi) long and 200 km (125 mi) wide. The Yukon ...

to Cape Newenham. The name of this Russian explorer is sometimes

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

as "Shishmaref" in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; the town of

Shishmaref, Alaska Shishmaref ( ; ik, Qigiqtaq, ; rus, Шишмарёв, p=ʂɨʂmɐˈrʲɵf) is a city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is located on Sarichef Island in the Chukchi Sea, just north of the Bering Strait and five miles from ...

, and the Shishmaref Inlet have been named after him.The Naming of Alaska, from Grewingk, p. 413; ''Krusenstern Mémoires hydrographiques,'' Vol. II, p. 36
Journal of the

Russian Hydrographic Office The Russian Hydrographic Service, full current official name Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation ( rus, Управление навигации и океанографии Министер ...

, 1849, Vol. VII, pp. 106-116

References

1781 births 1835 deaths Chukchi Sea Russian America Imperial Russian Navy admirals Russian and Soviet polar explorers Explorers from the Russian Empire 19th-century people from the Russian Empire {{Russia-mil-bio-stub