Mikhail Antonovich Usov (russian: Михаил Антонович Усов; February 20, 1883 in Kainsk (now Kuybyshev),

Tomsk Governorate Tomsk Governorate (russian: Томская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic located in Siberia from 1804 to 1925 as part of t ...

– July 26, 1939 in

Belokurikha Belokurikha (russian: Белоку́риха) is a town and a balneological resort in the Altai region of Russia, located on the Belokurikha River south of Barnaul, the administrative center of the krai. As of the 2010 Census, its population w ...

Altai Krai Altai Krai (russian: Алта́йский край, r=Altaysky kray, p=ɐlˈtajskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai). It borders clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan (East Kazakhstan Region and Pavlodar ...

) was a Russian and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and member of the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

. He was the first native of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

to be elected. He completed his studies at Tomsk Technological Institute (now Tomsk Polytechnic University) under

Vladimir Obruchev Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (russian: Влади́мир Афана́сьевич О́бручев; , Klepenino near Rzhev, Tver Oblast, Russian Empire – June 19, 1956, Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Моск� ...

and later served on the school's faculty. Usov studied the geology of Siberia as well as adjacent regions in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and the gold producing regions of

Kuznetsk Alatau Kuznetsk Alatau (russian: Кузнецкий Алатау) is a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia. The range rises in the Altai-Sayan region of the South Siberian Mountains, northwest of Mongolia. The Siberian Railway skirts the norther ...

and

Transbaikal Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia. The steppe and ...

. His most significant contributions to Russia were in his studies of the geological structure of the

Kuznetsk Basin The Kuznetsk Basin (russian: Кузнецкий угольный бассейн, Кузбасс; often abbreviated as Kuzbass or Kuzbas) in southwestern Siberia, Russia, is one of the largest coal mining areas in Russia, covering an area of aroun ...

. His work enabled an evaluation of the coal reserves in the region and the prospects for developing industry around the coal. Usov Street in

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

, where the Geology Department of

Tomsk Polytechnic University National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) is a technical university in Russia. TPU was a member of 12 international associations, including the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research (CESAER) un ...

is located, is named after him. A small mountain,

Mons Usov Mons Usov is a small lunar mountain that is located in the southeastern part of the Mare Crisium, to the north of the crater Firmicus, west of Concorcet crater, and northwest of Promontorium Agarum. It is essentially a part of the mountainous ...

, in

Mare Crisium Mare Crisium (Latin ''crisium'', the "Sea of Crises") is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. The basin is of the Pre-Imbrian period, 4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago. Characteristics Mare Cri ...

on the moon is also named after him.

References

Lives of Scientists, Produced by the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 30 October 2001 (in Russian)

Tomsk History, Stariy Tomsk Organization, Housed at the Tomsk Oblast Library of Sciences (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usov, Mikhail 1883 births 1939 deaths People from Kuybyshev, Novosibirsk Oblast People from Tomsk Governorate Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Russian geologists Soviet geologists Tomsk Polytechnic University alumni Academic staff of Tomsk Polytechnic University