Pyotr Kuzmich Pakhtusov () (1800 in
Kronstadt
Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...
– November 19, 1835 in
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 ...
) was a Russian
surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...
and
Arctic
The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
explorer. He is credited with the first thorough survey of
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...
.
Between 1832 and 1835, Pakhtusov undertook two exploratory journeys to Novaya Zemlya. He wintered on the island on the two occasions and took detailed meteorological observations.
Pakhtusov carefully surveyed the southern and eastern parts of Novaya Zemlya along with fellow explorer and cartographer
Avgust Tsivolko during the last two years of the expedition. Thanks to their work, the first reliable maps of Novaya Zemlya's southern shores and part of the northern island's coastline were published.
A small island in the eastern shore of Novaya Zemlya and a group of islands in the
Nordenskiöld Archipelago are named after Pakhtusov. His feat as a scientist and researcher was immortalized in 1886. Colleagues of Pakhtusov and expedition members initiated the creation of a monument in Kronstadt.
References
Russian Arctic ExplorationNovaya Zemlya, a Russian Arctic LandPicture of a monument to PakhtusovHistory of the Northern Sea Route
1800 births
1835 deaths
Explorers of the Arctic
Russian polar explorers
Year of birth unknown
19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire
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