Mikhail Dmitriyevich Tebenkov (russian: Михаил Дмитриевич Тебеньков; also Tebenkof; 1802 – April 3, 1872) was a Russian

hydrographer Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary p ...

and vice admiral of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

. From 1845 to 1850, he served as director of the

Russian American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс� ...

and the governor of

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

. He is especially noted for having surveyed and mapped the still little-known coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. His ''Atlas of the Northwest Coasts of America: from Bering Strait to Cape Corrientes and the Aleutian Islands'' was published in 1852 and contained 39 engraved maps.

Career

In 1821, Mikhail Tebenkov graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps School. For the next three years, he served on different ships in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. In 1824, Tebenkov was put in charge of logging for shipbuilding purposes near

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...

. In January 1825, he joined the

, which led colonizing and trade efforts in North America. He would later command the company-owned brigantines ''Golovnin,'' ''Ryurik,'' ''Chichagov,'' and a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

named ''Urup'' in 1826–1834. Tebenkov surveyed

Norton Sound Norton Sound (russian: Нортон-Саунд) is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km (150 mi) long and 200 km (125 mi) wide. The Yukon ...

on behalf of the Imperial

Russian Hydrographic Service The Russian Hydrographic Service, full current official name Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation ( rus, Управление навигации и океанографии Министер ...

in 1831 and was the first European to sight the bay that now bears his name. He surveyed Tebenkof Bay in 1833 before returning to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1835 Tebenkov sailed from

Cronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...

back to Alaska via

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

as commander of the Russian American Company's ship ''Elena.'' He arrived in

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

in April 1836. Between 1845 and 1850, Tebenkov served as the director of the

and the governor of

. Tebenkov was perhaps the most outstanding Russian surveyor of the time, dedicating much time and patient work to the improvement of charts of the Alaskan coast.

Legacy

Trebenkov's noted ''Atlas of the Northwest Coasts of America: from Bering Strait to Cape Corrientes and the Aleutian Islands'' was published in 1852. The 39 maps of this atlas were engraved at Sitka around 1849 by

Kozma Terentev Kozma is a Hungarian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dominik Kozma (born 1991), Hungarian swimmer * István Kozma (footballer) (born 1964), Hungarian footballer * Július Kozma (1929-2009), Slovak chess player * Mihály Kozma ( ...

(or Terentief), an Alaskan-Russian creole man. Besides Tebenkof Bay, other geographic features of Alaska, including Tebenkof Glacier, Mount Tebenkof and Point Tebenkof were named after Captain Mikhail Tebenkov.

Works

*''Atlas sieverozapadnykh beregov Ameriki.'' Sitka (1872). *''Gidrograficheskiia zamiechaniia k Atlasu sieverozapadnykh beregov Ameriki.'' Sitka (1872).

References

External links

Atlas, images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tebenkov, Mikhail 1802 births 1872 deaths Imperial Russian Navy admirals Bering Sea Governors of the Russian-American Company Russian and Soviet polar explorers Explorers from the Russian Empire Explorers of Asia Explorers of Alaska Russian explorers of North America