- Alexandr Baranov
Aleksandr Andreevich Baranov (Александр Андреевич Баранов in Russian), sometimes spelled Aleksander or Alexander and Baranof, was born in 1746 in
Kargopol , in the Arkhangelsk province ofRussia .Alexandr ran away from home at the age of fifteen. He became a successful merchant in
Irkutsk ,Siberia . He was lured toRussian Alaska , by the growing fur trade there. He became a successful trader there and established and managedtrading post s in theKodiak Island region.From 1799 to 1818, through
Nikolai Rezanov 's interference, he became chief manager for the influentialRussian-American Company . He managed all of the company's interests in Alaska, including the Aleutian andKuril Islands . Activity in the region flourished as trading insea otter s and seals boomed. Baranov convinced native hunters to expand their range to include the coasts ofCalifornia . Baranov also advocated more educational opportunities for native Alaskans. Under his leadership, schools were created and frontier communities became less isolated.During Baranov's rule,
Russian Orthodox missionaries operated in Russian America. Many of them denounced the cruelty and exploitation of the native people by the Russian fur traders. Baranov had a stormy relationship with the missionaries, who often proselytized and helped the natives secretly.Near the end of his life, Baranov embarked on a journey to return to Russia. He sailed to Russia by heading south and then sailing around the
Cape of Good Hope . Baranov became very ill on the journey and died in the Dutch settlement of Batavia, in Java, then part of theDutch East Indies (now Indonesia), in 1819.Baranof Island in Alaska is named after Baranov. libship honor|name=Alexander Baranof|type=his
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