Pyotr Petrovich Shirshov (russian: Пётр Петрович Ширшов; in
Ekaterinoslav 17 February 1953 in
Moscow) was a
Soviet oceanographer,
hydrobiologist
Hydrobiology is the science of life and life processes in water. Much of modern hydrobiology can be viewed as a sub-discipline of ecology but the sphere of hydrobiology includes taxonomy, economic and industrial biology, morphology, and physiolog ...
, polar explorer, statesman, academician (1939), the first minister of
Ministry of Maritime Fleet of the USSR and
Hero of the Soviet Union (1938).
Pyotr Shirshov graduated from the
Odessa Public Education Institute
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...
in 1929. In 1929–1932, he was a researcher at the
Botanical Garden of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. In 1932–1936, Pyotr Shirshov was employed as a researcher at the
All-Union Arctic Institute
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. He participated in numerous Arctic expeditions, including the ones on icebreakers ''
Sibiryakov'' (1932) and ''
Chelyuskin'' and a
drifting ice station ''
North Pole-1'' (1937-1938).
In 1942–1948, Pyotr Shirshov was
People's Commissar of the Maritime Fleet
The Ministry of the Maritime Fleet (Minmorflot; russian: Министерство морского флота СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union.
The Merchant Maritime Fleet of the USSR is abbreviated Morflot (). All Sovie ...
, later minister of
Ministry of Maritime Fleet of the USSR. In 1946–1953, he headed the
Institute of Oceanology of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, which he had established himself. In 1946–1950, Pyotr Shirshov chaired the Pacific Ocean Science Committee.
Pyotr Shirshov authored numerous works dealing with his research on
plankton in polar regions. He is known to have proven the fallacy of the hypothesis that there is no life in high latitudes of the
Arctic Ocean. Pyotr Shirshov was awarded three
Orders of Lenin, four other orders, and several medals.
Memoria
A bay in the
Franz Josef Land, an underwater range in the
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...
, and Shirshov Institute of Oceanology bear Pyotr Shirshov's name.
Mount Shirshov, in the
Tula Mountains,
Enderby Land, is also named after Shirshov.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirshov, Pyotr
1905 births
1953 deaths
Soviet marine biologists
Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Soviet oceanographers
Heroes of the Soviet Union
Explorers of the Arctic
Russian and Soviet polar explorers
Soviet explorers
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Ukrainian marine biologists