Georgy Alexeyevich Ushakov (russian: Георгий Алексеевич Ушаков) (17 (30) January 1901 – 3 December 1963) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

explorer of the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, 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 (Greenla ...

. Ushakov broke new ground when he surveyed and explored Severnaya Zemlya, together with four other Arctic explorers, establishing that it was an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

. He was honoured by being named Doctor of Geographic Sciences in 1950.

Career

In 1926, Ushakov founded the first Soviet settlement on

Wrangel Island Wrangel Island ( rus, О́стров Вра́нгеля, r=Ostrov Vrangelya, p=ˈostrəf ˈvrangʲɪlʲə; ckt, Умӄиԓир, translit=Umqiḷir) is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the 91st largest island in the w ...

(today called Ushakovsky) and was its head for three years. In 1930–1932, Ushakov headed the

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago s ...

expedition and established a polar station called ''Остров Домашний'' (Domashniy Island).Biography of G. A. Ushakov
at Polar World. In 1929 and 1930 icebreaker ''Sedov'' carried groups of scientists to

Franz Josef Land , native_name = , image_name = Map of Franz Josef Land-en.svg , image_caption = Map of Franz Josef Land , image_size = , map_image = Franz Josef Land location-en.svg , map_caption = Location of Franz Josef ...

and later to former

Emperor Nicholas II Land Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago s ...

, the last major piece of unsurveyed territory in the Soviet Arctic. In 1926 the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR had renamed the still not fully explored land ''Severnaya Zemlya'' (Northern Land). This archipelago was completely mapped under Ushakov, together with

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 ...

Nikolay Urvantsev Nikolay Nikolayevich Urvantsev (russian: Николáй Николáевич Урвáнцев; – 20 February 1985) was a Soviet geologist and explorer. He was born in the town of Lukoyanov in the Lukoyanovsky Uyezd of the Nizhny Novgorod Gove ...

, surveyor Sergei Zhuravlev and radio operator Vasily Khodov thoroughly surveyed Severnaya Zemlya during a 1930–1932 expedition to the archipelago.Архипелаг Северная Земля — один из наиболее крупных районов оледенения на территории России
/ref> between 1930 and 1932. This voyage allowed to obliterate enormous "white spaces" on the Arctic map. Geographic features of the territory were named after

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

organizations, events and personalities. About the bleakness of Severnaya Zemlya Ushakov wrote: In 1935, Ushakov led the first Soviet high-latitude expedition on an icebreaker ''Sadko''. The cruises of the ''Sadko'' went farther north than most; in 1935 and 1936 the last unexplored areas in the northern

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...

were examined and the little

Ushakov Island Ushakov Island (russian: Остров Ушакова, ''Ostrov Ushakova'') is an isolated island located in the Arctic Ocean, Russian Federation. The average yearly precipitation ranges from at a height of and between and around the highest po ...

was discovered. In 1937 the ship was caught in the ice with two others and forced to winter in the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, th ...

, adding valuable winter observations to the usual summer ones. In 1932–1936, Georgy Ushakov was employed at the

Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route The Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (russian: Главное Управление Северного Морского Пути , translit=Glavnoe upravlenie Severnogo morskogo puti), also known as Glavsevmorput or GUSMP (russian: ГУ� ...

(Главное Управление Северного Морского Пути). Ushakov then worked at the Chief Directorate of

Hydrometeorological Service of the USSR The Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia (russian: Гидрометцентр России, ''Gidrometcentr Rossii'') is the national meteorological service in Russia, part of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitori ...

(1936-1940) and

Soviet Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

(1940-1958). Ushakov died in

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 ...

, but was buried on Domashniy Island in Severnaya Zemlya.

Honours

Mountains in the

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, a spit and a cape on Wrangel Island, as well as a river on

October Revolution Island October Revolution Island (Russian: Остров Октябрьской Революции, ''Ostrov Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii'') is the largest island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian Arctic. It is named after the October Revolution ...

bear Ushakov's name. But perhaps the greatest honor was that

, which was the last piece of undiscovered territory in the Russian Arctic, was named after him.

Medals

Ushakov was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

, two other orders, and a number of medals.

References

External links

Role of Georgiy Alekseevich Ushakov in development of Russian oceanologyThe Russian Arctic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ushakov, Georgy 1901 births 1963 deaths Russian and Soviet polar explorers Polar exploration by Russia and the Soviet Union Russian explorers Severnaya Zemlya Kara Sea Laptev Sea Explorers of the Arctic Recipients of the Order of Lenin Soviet explorers