- Alexander Philipov Postels
Alexander Philipov Postels (
24 August 1801 Estonia -26 June 1871 ), was a Russian naturalist, mineralogist and artist.Postels studied at St.Petersburg University and in 1826 lectured there on
inorganic chemistry .In the 1820s political relations between
Russia and theUnited States were troubled by the extent of Russian territory inNorth America . Russia intended to enforce its claims by sending two warships to the disputed areas. When the two countries agreed on 54°40′N as the southern limit of Russian claims, Czar Nicolas I changed their orders in 1826 to an extended three-year survey of the Russian-American and Asian coasts.Otto von Kotzebue had returned on 10 July 1826 from his voyage of discovery aboard "Predpriyatiye". On 16 August 1826, Captain Lieutenant Fedor Petrovich Litke, sailed on board the Russian vessel "Senyavin", accompanied by the "Möller" under Captain Lieutenant M. N. Staniukovich. Postels sailed with Litke as a naturalist/artist and had the distinction of being the first St. Petersburg University graduate to join such a large-scale expedition. On board were also the naturalistKarl Heinrich Mertens (1796-1830), who died in Kronstadt shortly after his return fromIceland and another trip on the "Senyavin", and the ornithologist Baron von Kittlitz. Their orders were to"reconnoitre and describe the coasts of
Kamchatka , the land of theChuchkis and theKoriaks (the coasts of which have not yet been described by anyone, and which are unknown except by the voyage of Captain Bering); the coasts of theOkhotsk Sea , and theShantar Islands , which although they are known to us, have not been sufficiently described."The expedition sailed from
Kronstadt , the Russian port onKotlin Island , viaPortsmouth and roundedCape Horn on 24 February 1827. The "Senyavin" called atConcepcion inChile , before sailing north toSitka , and arriving atPetropavlovsk in mid-September. They explored theCaroline Islands and the Bonin-Jima group for four months, returning to Kamchatka in May. During the summer they sailed fromAvacha Bay to Karaginskii Island and on through theBering Strait to reconnoitre the coast as far north as theAnadyr River . They returned viaManila and theCape of Good Hope , arriving back inKronstadt on 16 September 1829. [http://books.google.com/books?id=kpMGlc-cvAoC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=Senyavin+ship+Postels&source=web&ots=ldnpuk03oE&sig=xyNVwYM5qLg77xyt0t4SA9dt5dQ#PPA128,M1]The expedition was called the largest and most productive voyage of discovery of the era [ [http://sciweb.nybg.org/Science2/Onlinexhibits/exhbtcata.html Plants and Gardens Portrayed: Rare and Illustrated Books from The LuEsther T ] ] , and brought back some 4 000 natural history specimens, including mammals, insects, birds, plants, and minerals. More than 1250 sketches of their findings were made on the voyage. Twelve island groups were discovered along the Asian coast, and 26
Caroline Islands were explored and described. The flattening of the earth's poles was investigated using aninvariable pendulum . Postels was appointed assistant-professor of the Department of Mineralogy and Geology of St.Petersburg University. During the voyage Postels depicted more than 100seaweeds or marine algae from the northern Pacific in "Illustrationes algarum in itinere circa orbem jussu Imperatoriis Nicolai I" published inSt. Petersburg in 1840. The seaweed genus "Postelsia " is named in his honour.Postels was elected an Honorary Member of the
Russian Academy of Sciences on 14 January 1866 and invited to act as curator of the Mineralogical Museum. He tutored the Grand Duchesses Maria and Ekaterina, daughters of Czar Nicolas I's brother Mikhail, and was the tutor of Prince Oldenburgski's children. [ [http://www.kunstkamera.ru/en/history/the_museum_and_its_directors/ KUNSTKAMERAThe Museum and its directors ] ]External links
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=kpMGlc-cvAoC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=Senyavin+ship+Postels&source=web&ots=ldnpuk03oE&sig=xyNVwYM5qLg77xyt0t4SA9dt5dQ#PPA128,M1 Ships of Discovery and Exploration (Lincoln P. Paine)]
* [http://www.micsem.org/photos/europeans/16.htm Senyavin expedition images]References
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