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

. 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 {{explorer-stub