Rudolf (Ruvim) Lazarevich Samoylovich (russian: Рудольф Лазаревич Самойлович) (13 September ( O.S. 1 September), 1881 – 4 March 1939) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

polar explorer, professor, and doctor of geographic sciences.

Biography

Samoylovich was born into the family of a Jewish merchant in

Azov Azov (russian: Азов), previously known as Azak, is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. Population: History Early settlements in the vicinity The mout ...

. After graduating from the

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast ( Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russia ...

Gymnasium ( ru), he studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and mathematics at Imperial Novorossiya University where he became involved in revolutionary activities and came under police surveillance. Under pressure from his concerned mother, he relocated to Germany and studied at the Mining Academy in Freiberg. While in Germany he remained politically active, including by shipping to Azov copies of the underground newspaper ''

Iskra ''Iskra'' ( rus, Искра, , ''the Spark'') was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History Due to political repression under Tsar Nicho ...

''. After graduating in 1904, he returned to Azov and worked on the underground printing of revolutionary literature. In 1906, he moved to Rostov-on-Don. Samoylovich participated in rallies and campaigns to organize railroad workers, Cossacks, and soldiers. During this time he was once again under police surveillance and was arrested in July 1906. He lived in

St. 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 ...

for two years as an accountant under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Sorokin. During this time he was involved with the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. He was arrested and exiled to

Pinega Pinega (russian: Пинега) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a settlement), formerly a town, in Pinezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pinega River (hence the name). It se ...

. In 1910, he was allowed to relocate to the nearby city of

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...

where he became involved in Arctic studies and met

Vladimir Rusanov Vladimir Alexandrovich Rusanov (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Руса́нов; – ca. 1913) was a Russian geologist and Arctic explorer. Early life Rusanov was born in a merchant's family in Oryol, Russia. His early ...

. In 1912, he participated in Rusanov's geological expedition to Spitsbergen. Samoylovich was one of the initiators and the first director of the Northern Research and Trade Expedition. In 1925, this research center was reorganized into the Institute of Northern Studies, which was headed by Samoylovich until 1930. The Institute was reorganized as the All-Union Arctic Institute in which Samoylovich served as deputy director from 1932 to 1938. Samoylovich founded the Department of Polar Countries at Leningrad State University and served as its chairman from 1934 to 1937. During this period, Samoylovich also took part in numerous Arctic expeditions. In 1928 he commanded the icebreaker ''Krasin'' in a mission to rescue survivors of the airship ''Italia'' which had crashed during an expedition to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. He led the scientific team on the 1931 Arctic expedition of the airship ''Graf Zeppelin'', which studied magnetism and mapped Franz Joseph Land. He then led Arctic expeditions on several icebreakers: ''

'' in 1932, ''

Georgy Sedov Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (russian: Гео́ргий Я́ковлевич Седо́в; – ) was a Russian Arctic explorer. Born in the village of Krivaya Kosa of Taganrog district (now Novoazovskyi Raion, Donetsk Oblast) in a fisherman's fam ...

'' in 1934, and ''Sadko'' in 1936 and 1937-1938. Samoylovich was arrested in May 1938 and was shot on March 4, 1939 in

Leningrad 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 ...

. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.

Legacy

A strait and a glacier top on

Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land, Frantz Iosef Land, Franz Joseph Land or Francis Joseph's Land ( rus, Земля́ Фра́нца-Ио́сифа, r=Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa, no, Fridtjof Nansen Land) is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited on ...

, a bay on Novaya Zemlya, an island in

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago ...

, a peninsula and a nunatak in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

bear Rudolf Samoylovich's name as does a liquified natural gas carrier built in 2018. He was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

and

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

. In '' The Red Tent'', a 1969 Soviet-Italian film about the ''Italia'' expedition, Samoylovich is played by Grigori Gaj ( ru). Since 1981, the house where Samoylovich lived in Azov has been operated as a museum.

References

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Жертвы политического террора в СССР
lists.memo.ru

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samoylovich, Rudolf 1881 births 1939 deaths Russian Jews Russian geologists Explorers of the Arctic Russian and Soviet polar explorers Russian explorers Great Purge victims from Russia Jews executed by the Soviet Union Soviet rehabilitations Residents of the Benois House