Boris Andreyevich Vilkitsky () (22 March (3 April N.S.) 1885, Pulkovo – 6 March 1961) was a Russian hydrographer and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

. He was the son of Andrey Ippolitovich Vilkitsky.

Career

Born in Pulkovo, Tsarskoselsky Uyezd (now part of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

), Vilkitsky graduated from the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

in 1908. He participated in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

of 1904–1905. In 1913—1915 he led the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

hydrographic expedition on the ships ''"Taimyr"'' and ''"Vaigach"'' with the purpose of further exploration of the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (, shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route about long. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. Ad ...

. In 1913, Vilkitsky's expedition discovered Emperor Nicholas II Land (, ''Zemlya Imperatora Nikolaya II'') —later renamed 'Severnaya Zemlya', perhaps one of the most important Russian discoveries in the Arctic at the time. Other discoveries were an island that now bears his name ( Vilkitsky Island), as well as the islands of Maly Taymyr and neighboring Starokadomsky. In 1914–1915, Vilkitsky's expedition made the first through voyage from

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

, discovered Novopashenniy Island (now

Zhokhov Island Zhokhov Island (; ) is an island in the East Siberian Sea, situated 128 km north east of Novaya Sibir Island, the easternmost of the New Siberian Islands. Administratively the island belongs to the Yakutia administrative division of Russia.< ...

), and described the eastern coastline of the territory he named 'Emperor Nicholas II Land'. He was awarded the prestigious Constantine Medal by the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

for his endeavours. In 1918, Vilkitsky was appointed head of the first

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

hydrographic expedition, which never took place due to its seizure by the North Russia intervention in Arkhangelsk. In 1920, Vilkitsky

emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

d to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. In 1923 and 1924, Vilkitsky led

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

expeditions in the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...

at the invitation of the Soviet foreign trade organizations. Later in his life, Vilkitsky was employed as a hydrographer in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

. Boris Vilkitsky died in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1961.

Memory

Stamps of Russia 2013 No 1732-1734 Severnaya Zemlya

Many geographical features in Russia bear Vilkitsky's name: * The most well-known one is

Vilkitsky Strait : Vilkitsky Strait () is a strait between the Taimyr Peninsula and Bolshevik Island in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago of Russia. The strait connects the Kara and Laptev Seas. The length of the Vilkitsky Strait is 128 km, the width approx. ...

, the

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

between Severnaya Zemlya and Taimyr Peninsula, an important landmark of the

. * Zaliv Vil'kitskogo, a bay in the NW shores of

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...

. * Vilkitsky Island in the

. * The Vilkitsky Islands, a division of the Nordenskjold Archipelago. * The Vilkitsky Islands subgroup of the Komsomolskaya Pravda Islands in the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with ...

off the eastern shores of the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia. Ge ...

. * Vilkitsky Island in the De Long Group in the Eastern Siberian Sea.Map Trot, Russia
/ref>

References

Sources

The Arctic Personalities
a
poseidonexpeditions.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilkitsky, Boris 1885 births 1961 deaths Engineers from Saint Petersburg People from Tsarskoselsky Uyezd Russian people of Belarusian descent People from Saint Petersburg 20th-century Russian explorers Polar explorers from the Russian Empire Russian hydrographers Explorers of Asia Explorers of the Arctic Explorers of Siberia Severnaya Zemlya Belgian Congo people Russian military personnel of World War I White movement people Hydrographers from the Russian Empire