Ivan Lyakhov (russian: Иван Ляхов), died around 1800, was a Russian merchant who explored large sections of the
New Siberian Islands
The New Siberian Islands ( rus, Новосиби́рские Oстрова, r=Novosibirskiye Ostrova; sah, Саҥа Сибиир Aрыылара, translit=Saña Sibiir Arıılara) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north o ...
in the 18th century.
Expedition
Lyakhov began his explorations in the spring of 1770 on
dogsleds in order to explore the islands off the northern Siberian coast reported by
Yakov Permyakov and
Merkury Vagin
Merkury Vagin (Russian: ''Меркурий Вагин'') (died 1712) was a Russian Arctic explorer.
In 1712, together with Yakov Permyakov, Vagin explored the region of the eastern Laptev Sea coast. His exploration included Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Isl ...
in 1710. In this journey he visited the southern section of the
New Siberian Islands
The New Siberian Islands ( rus, Новосиби́рские Oстрова, r=Novosibirskiye Ostrova; sah, Саҥа Сибиир Aрыылара, translit=Saña Sibiir Arıılara) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north o ...
. Lyakhov's intentions were mainly commercial, for he hoped to find
mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...
ivory. His theory was that both the islands he explored, and which were later named after him
Lyakhov Islands, and those he sighted in the distance but was not able to explore, were mainly formed by a substratum of bones and tusks of mammoths.
[D. Gath Whitley: ''The Ivory Islands in the Arctic Ocean'', Journal of the Philosophical Society of Great Britain XII, 1910]
Lyakhov went on another exploratory venture to the New Siberian Islands in 1773–1774. He visited again the Lyakhov Islands, crossed the
Sannikov Strait and discovered
Kotelny Island.
Lyakhov undertook his last expedition in 1775. This time there was a scientific background to his explorations, for he brought with him a land surveyor. During this journey
Great Lyakhovsky Island (Большой Ляховский) was thoroughly surveyed and described.
References
Explorers from the Russian Empire
Explorers of Asia
Russian and Soviet polar explorers
New Siberian Islands
Explorers of Siberia
18th-century births
1800s deaths
Year of birth unknown
18th-century businesspeople from the Russian Empire
Russian merchants
18th-century explorers
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