Nikolay Vasilyevich Komarov (russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич Комаро́в; 1831 - after 1875) was a Russian junior commissioned officer ('' praporshchik'') who is commonly considered to be the founder of the city of Vladivostok. Little is known about Komarov's youth. He was born in the village of

Komarovo Komarovo may refer to: *Komarovo, Saint Petersburg, a municipal settlement under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg, Russia * Komarovo, Novgorod Oblast, a former urban-type settlement in Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́ ...

, Tobolsk Governorate (now part of Tyumen) into a family of government peasants and graduated from Omsk Army Commissioned Officers College, after which he was assigned to a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

sent to the Far East to build new outposts. In 1858, his company was quartered in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

, in 1859—in Sofiysk, and in 1860—in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur. On June 20 (July 2 Gregorian style), 1860, the military supply ship ''Manchzhur'' under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Alexey Shefner called at the

Golden Horn Bay Zolotoy Rog (russian: Золотой Рог) or the Golden Horn Bay, is a sheltered horn-shaped bay of the Sea of Japan, located in coastal Primorsky Krai within the Russian Far East. Vladivostok, that lies on the hills at the head of the bay, ...

to establish an outpost called Vladivostok. Komarov with twenty-eight soldiers and two

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s under his command started construction of military barracks, an officers' house, a kitchen, a warehouse, and a bathhouse. This date is now considered the official date of Vladivostok's founding. On the following day, Komarov was appointed a commanding officer of Vladivostok's garrison, but a year later was relieved from duty for theft and alcoholism (according to

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Khitrovo, who visited Vladivostok with inspections, Komarov often fraternized and drank with soldiers). He was replaced by Yevgeny Burachok, an officer who had to disembark in Vladivostok from the clipper ''Razboynik'' for medical reasons. Komarov was soon transferred to the Ussuri River. He retired in 1875 in the rank of ''

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe ( hr, poručnik, cs, poručík, pl, porucznik, russian: script=latn, poruchik, sr, script=latn, poručnik, sk, poručík) is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either ...

'' ( First Lieutenant) (according to other sources—in the rank of Captain-Engineer). A street in central Vladivostok (Komarovskaya St.) was named after Nikolay Komarov in 1860. The street was renamed Borodinskaya and later—Geologov, but in 1985 it was again renamed after Komarov (Praporshchik Komarov St.).

References

*Primorsky Public State Library. ''Primoriana'', CD-ROM encyclopedia. 2001. Entry o
Nikolay Komarov
* (Valery Markov. ''Hello, Vladivostok!''. Far Eastern Book House, 1988.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Komarov, Nikolay Vasilyevich 1831 births Year of death unknown People from Tyumen People from Tyumensky Uyezd Military personnel of the Russian Empire 19th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire Military personnel from Vladivostok