Nikolay Nikolayevich Urvantsev (russian: Николáй Николáевич Урвáнцев; – 20 February 1985) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and explorer. He was born in the town of

Lukoyanov Lukoyanov (russian: Лукоя́нов) is a town and the administrative center of Lukoyanovsky District in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Tyosha River, south of Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Popul ...

in the Lukoyanovsky Uyezd of the

Nizhny Novgorod Governorate The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate (Pre-reformed rus, Нижегородская губернія, r=Nizhegorodskaya guberniya, p=nʲɪʐɨɡɐˈrotskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə), was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empi ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

to the family of a merchant. He graduated from the Tomsk Engineering Institute in 1918. Urvantsev was among the discoverers of the

Norilsk Norilsk ( rus, Нори́льск, p=nɐˈrʲilʲsk, ''Norílʹsk'') is a closed city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located south of the western Taymyr Peninsula, around 90 km east of the Yenisey River and 1,500 km north of Krasnoyarsk. Norilsk ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

basin and Norilsk

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow t ...

ore region in 1919-1922 and was among the founders of Norilsk town.

Overview

Career

In 1922, while leading a geological expedition, Urvantsev found evidence of the mysteriously disappeared

Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen began ...

's 1918 Arctic expedition crew members

Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen were two young men from Norway who went with fellow Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen on his 1918 Arctic expedition aboard ship ''Maud''. Peter Tessem was a carpenter and Paul Knutsen was an able-bodied seaman. One y ...

. Urvantsev recovered the mail and scientific data that the two ill-fated

Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic peoples, North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians a ...

had been carrying. The valuable documents were lying abandoned on the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipel ...

shore near the mouth of the Zeledeyeva River.William Barr, ''The Last Journey of Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen'', 1919 In 1930-1932 Urvantsev, together with

Georgy Ushakov Georgy Alexeyevich Ushakov (russian: Георгий Алексеевич Ушаков) (17 (30) January 1901 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet explorer of the Arctic. Ushakov broke new ground when he surveyed and explored Severnaya Zemlya, togeth ...

, explored the

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago ...

archipelago where they discovered a number of islands. He published a book about the expedition, ''At the Severnaya Zemlya''. He also explored other remote areas of Russia, Taimyr and

Central Siberian Plateau The Central Siberian Plateau (russian: Среднесибирское плоскогорье, Srednesibirskoye ploskogorye; sah, Орто Сибиир хаптал хайалаах сирэ) is a vast mountainous area in Siberia, one of the Gre ...

. In 1933-34 the newly formed Glavsevmorput’ (Chief Administration of the Northern Sea Route) sent the steamer ''Pravda'' to

Nordvik Nordvik is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1917 until its dissolution in 1962. The island municipality encompassed the central part of the island of Dønna as well as the smaller surrounding is ...

on the historical first

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

expedition to Northern Siberia. This venture was led by Nikolay Urvantsev who travelled on the ''Pravda'' along with his wife, Dr. Yelizaveta Ivanovna. She was the officer in charge of the medical care of the expedition. During the

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the the ...

era Urvantsev was several times wrongfully accused of wrecking. He was convicted and had to serve in

Karlag Karlag (Karaganda Corrective Labor Camp, Russian: Карагандинский исправительно-трудовой лагерь, Карлаг) was one of the largest Gulag labor camps, located in Karaganda Oblast (now Karaganda Region, ...

(

Karaganda Karaganda or Qaraghandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandy, ; russian: Караганда, ) is the capital of Karaganda Region in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is the fourth most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty (Alma-Ata), Astan ...

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espec ...

system) and Norillag (Norilsk

system). Urvantsev was fully exonerated in 1954. Until his death he worked as Chair of the Arctic Geology Department in the Scientific Research Institute of Arctic Geology (НИИГА, now All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of World Ocean Geology and Mineral Resources, VNIIOkeanologiya, ВНИИОкеанология).

Awards and honors

He was the recipient of two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

and several medals and the

honorary title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

of Honored Worker of Science. The USSR Geographical Society elected him an Honorary Member and awarded him the Great Gold Medal.

References

1893 births 1985 deaths People from Nizhny Novgorod Oblast People from Lukoyanovsky Uyezd Russian geologists Soviet geologists Russian explorers Explorers of Siberia Severnaya Zemlya Explorers of the Arctic Arctic scientists Tomsk Polytechnic University alumni Recipients of the Order of Lenin Norillag detainees Soviet rehabilitations Soviet explorers {{russia-scientist-stub

Overview

Career

Awards and honors

See also

References