- Georgy Ushakov
Georgy Alexeyevich Ushakov ( _ru. Георгий Алексеевич Ушаков) (
January 17 (30),1901 -December 3 ,1963 ) was aSoviet explorer of theArctic , Doctor of Geographic Sciences (1950).In 1926, Georgy Ushakov founded the first Soviet settlement on the
Wrangel Island (today called Ushakovsky) and was its head for three years. In 1930-1932, Ushakov headed theSevernaya Zemlya expedition and established a polar station called "Остров Домашний" (Domashniy Island).He and
geologist Nikolay Urvantsev were the first ones to explore Severnaya Zemlya and established that it was anarchipelago . In 1932-1936, Georgy Ushakov was employed at theChief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (Главное Управление Северного Морского Пути).In 1929 and 1930 the icebreaker "Sedov" carried groups of scientists to
Franz Josef Land and also toSevernaya Zemlya , the last major piece of unsurveyed territory in the Soviet Arctic. This archipelago was completely mapped under Georgy Alekseyevich Ushakov between 1930 and 1932. This voyage allowed to obliterate enormous "white spaces" on the Arctic map.In 1935, Ushakov led the first Soviet high-latitude expedition on an icebreaker "Sadko". The cruises of the "Sadko" went farther north than most; in 1935 and 1936 the last unexplored areas in the northern
Kara Sea were examined and the littleUshakov Island was discovered. In 1937 the ship was caught in the ice with two others and forced to winter in theLaptev Sea , adding valuable winter observations to the usual summer ones.Ushakov then worked at the Chief Directorate of
Hydrometeorological Service of the USSR (1936-1940) andSoviet Academy of Sciences (1940-1958).Georgy Ushakov was awarded the
Order of Lenin , two other orders, and a number of medals. Mountains in theAntarctica , a spit and a cape on Wrangel Island, as well as a river onOctober Revolution Island bear Georgy Ushakov's name. But perhaps the greatest honor was that Ushakov Island, which was the last piece of undiscovered territory in the Russian Arctic, was named after him.Georgy Ushakov died in
Moscow , but was buried onDomashniy Island in Severnaya Zemlya.External links
* [http://www.skypole.ru/ushakov/biogr_e.htm Biography of G.A. Ushakov] at Polar World.
* [http://www.vitiaz.ru/congress/en/thesis/87.html Role of Georgiy Alekseevich Ushakov in development of Russian oceanology]
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