Arvid Adolf Etholén, or Adolf Karlovich Etolin (; 9 January 1799 – 29 March 1876) was a

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

officer,

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

who was employed by the

Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, United American Company. Emperor Paul I of Russia chartered the c ...

from July 1818. He was a Swedish-speaking Finn, born in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, which was part of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

at the time of his birth, but was ceded to Russia in 1809. Etholén first reached Novoarkhangelsk (present-day

Sitka, Alaska Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...

) in

Russian America Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

in the service of the Russian-American Company in 1818, rising to become Chief Manager of the Company between 1840 and 1845. ("Chief Manager" was a position sometimes referred to, though incorrectly, as "

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

").

Career

Etholén traveled from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

with Vasily Golovnin in the course of Golovnin's round-the-world voyage (1817-1819) on the ''Kamchatka''. 's ''Baranov, Chief Manager of the Russian Colonies in America'' (1835), quotes Baranov: "If only the Main Office could have sent me men like yourselves earlier, then I would very likely have had more success, and I would have found it pleasant to pass the time in their company!". Etholén transferred from 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 being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

to the service of the Russian-American Company in July 1818. He served in the Pacific from 1818 to 1825 as ship's master, and was part of a group that surveyed the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

from 1822 to 1824. Having returned to European Russia in 1825, he re-joined the Russian-American Company in 1826, was appointed adjutant to the Chief Manager ("Governor") of

in 1834, and became Chief Manager himself from 1840 to 1845. Etholén resigned from the Russian American Company in 1847 with the rank of Rear Admiral. He served as a member of the board of the Russian-American Company in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia from 1847 to 1859. Etholén was ennobled in 1856 and formally enrolled in the Finnish House of Nobility two years later, attending the Diet as a representative of the Nobility in 1863–76. Adolf Etholén died at his estate in Elimäki, Finland, in 1876.

Legacy

The name Etolin, based on the Russian version of Etholén's name, can be found in several places on the map of Alaska. Etolin Island was named after Etolin by the United States in the wake of the

Alaska Purchase The Alaska Purchase was the purchase of Russian colonization of North America, Alaska from the Russian Empire by the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $ million in ). On May 15 of that year, the United St ...

of 1867 (it was formerly the Duke of York's Island). There is also Etolin Strait, as well as a cape, a point and a mountain. The Etholén collection (''Etholén Alaskassa'') in the National Museum of Finland contains a number of Alaskan ethnographic items.''The Etholén collection : the ethnographic Alaskan collection of Adolf Etholén and his contemporaries in the National Museum of Finland'' (by Pirjo Varjola Helsinki: National Board of Antiquities, 1990)

References

External links

100 Faces from Finland – a Biographical Kaleidoscope: Etholén, Arvid Adolf

Etholén Alaska at Museovirasto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etholen, Arvid Adolf 1799 births 1876 deaths Scandinavian explorers of North America Explorers of Alaska Finnish explorers Finnish explorers of the Pacific Governors of the Russian-American Company Explorers from the Russian Empire People from the Russian Empire of Swedish descent Swedish-speaking Finns 19th-century Finnish nobility Finnish people from the Russian Empire Finnish-American history