Louis de l'Isle de la Croyère ( – 10 October 1741) was a French

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

, who served 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 ...

and became an academician of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

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 ...

Biography

Louis de l'Isle was the son of historian and geographer Claude Delisle (1644–1720) and half brother of cartographer

Guillaume Delisle Guillaume Delisle, also spelled Guillaume de l'Isle, or Guillelmo Delille (; 28 February 1675, Paris – 25 January 1726, Paris) was a French cartographer known for his popular and accurate maps of Europe and the newly explored Americas. Childhoo ...

(1675–1726). He was invited to Russia in February 1726 by his brother

Nicolas Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

(1688–1768) who had arrived the previous year as the director of the

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

department at the Imperial Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Louis de l'Isle was made professor of

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and academician in January 1727. He was named as the head of the first astronomical and geological expedition in Russia's European north. He reported observations on the region of

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

and on the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...

(1727–1729). His journals were the first to report the geographical locations of many shores along the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

. As part of the academic component of the Second or

Great Northern Expedition The Great Northern Expedition () or Second Kamchatka Expedition () was a major Russian Arctic expedition between roughly 1733 and 1743, which mapped most of the Arctic coast of Siberia and much of the Arctic coast of North America, greatly red ...

, in 1741 de l'Isle was with the Russian explorer

Aleksei Chirikov Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov (; 1703 – November 14, 1748) was a Russian navigator and captain who, along with Vitus Bering, was the first Russian to reach the northwest coast of North America. He discovered and charted some of the Aleutian Islands w ...

on the ship St. Paul en route from Kamchatka to Alaska. On the return voyage, he died of scurvy at

Avacha Bay Avacha Bay () is a Pacific Ocean bay on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is long and wide (at the mouth), with a maximum depth of . The Avacha River flows into the bay. The port city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the c ...

(Oct. 21, Gregorian). He was buried near Avacha.

References

* Klein, Olivier. ''Un voyage scientifique au XVIIIème siècle: le voyage de Delisle de la Croyère dans le nord de la Russie,'' Mémoire d'Histoire, Université Paris VII, 2002.

Notes

1680s births 1741 deaths Scientists from Paris 18th-century French astronomers 18th-century astronomers from the Russian Empire {{Russia-bio-stub