Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev (russian: Дмитрий Яковлевич Лаптев) (1701 - ) was a Russian

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and Vice Admiral (1762). The Dmitry Laptev Strait is named in his honor and the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, t ...

is named in honor of him and his cousin, and fellow Arctic explorer,

Khariton Laptev Khariton Prokofievich Laptev (russian: Харитон Прокофьевич Лаптев) (1700–1763) was a Russian naval officer and Arctic explorer. Khariton Laptev was born in a gentry family in the village of Pokarevo near Velikiye Luki (in ...

Early life

Dmitry Laptev was born in the village of Bolotovo, near

Velikie Luki Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-П ...

, in 1701. A year earlier his cousin

was born in nearby Bolotovo. He and his cousin were some of the first students at the School of Mathematics and Navigational Sciences in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, established by

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

. After graduation, he quickly moved up naval ranks and became a ranking naval officer on a number of different vessels.

Arctic exploration

Dmitry Laptev was a lieutenant in the Navy assigned to the Second Kamchatka Expedition in 1735 under

Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering, was a Danish cartographer and explorer in ...

. With the death of the head of the ''Yakutsk'' captain Vasili Pronchishchev in 1736, Bering appointed Laptev to be the head of the ''Yakutsk'' crew and chart the coast of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

from the

Lena River The Lena (russian: Ле́на, ; evn, Елюенэ, ''Eljune''; sah, Өлүөнэ, ''Ölüöne''; bua, Зүлхэ, ''Zülkhe''; mn, Зүлгэ, ''Zülge'') is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean ...

eastward. With permission from Bering, Laptev returned to Saint Petersburg for the winter. A second attempt the next year similarly failed to reach the eastern fleets of the expedition. In 1739, Laptev was the commander of an expedition to chart the Anadyr region in the far east of the continent. The expedition went poorly at first and the ''Yakutsk'' became trapped by ice very quickly. That winter the crew, led by Laptev, were the first Russians to live amongst the indigenous population of the lower

Indigirka River The Indigirka ( rus, Индиги́рка, r=; sah, Индигиир, translit=Indigiir) is a river in the Sakha Republic in Russia between the Yana to the west and the Kolyma to the east. It is long. The area of its basin is . History The i ...

. Villagers from Russkoye Ustye provided crucial food, assistance, and even moved the ship to open water when spring came. Although sea travel never yielded much, Laptev and the crew provided significant mapping of the areas, often through overland treks and expeditions. After the expedition, he continued his military service in the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

. Laptev was promoted to Vice Admiral rank in 1762, and retired the same year.

Legacy

A cape in the delta of the Lena River and a

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...

between the

Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island (russian: Большой Ляховский остров), or Great Lyakhovsky, is the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands belonging to the New Siberian Islands archipelago between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea ...

and Asian mainland bear his name. The

is also named after Dmitry Laptev and his cousin, and arctic explorer,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laptev, Dmitry 1701 births 1771 deaths Explorers of the Arctic Russian and Soviet polar explorers Explorers from the Russian Empire Laptev Sea 18th-century people from the Russian Empire 18th-century explorers Great Northern Expedition Imperial Russian Navy personnel