Feodosy Nikolayevich Chernyshov or Feodosii Nikolaevich Chernyshev (; – ) was a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and a

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

. He was among the first to produce high resolution geological maps of the Urals region where he discovered

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

strata. Chernyshev was an Honorary Member of Russian and Foreign Learned Societies.

Early life

Chernyshev was born in Kiev where his parents were teachers. He was named after St. Theodosius. After studies at home, he joined Kiev gymnasium where he studied languages, mathematics and physics. He became interested in travels after meeting a family acquaintance who brought stories of sea voyages. He then joined the naval school in 1872 but in 1875 his father asked the head of the school to dismiss his son due to poor health (probably poor eyesight) and this was granted. He then joined the mining institute in 1875 and graduated from the St. Petersburg Mining Institute in 1880. Here his teachers included P.V. Eremeev and V.I. Möller, A.P. Karpinsky, I.V. Mushketov, and G. D. Romanovsky. He also received a Catherine's Scholarship. He then joined the civil service as a mining engineer and worked under V.I. Möller in the Urals. His field surveys led him to the study of

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

deposits in the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

. In 1882, he was put in charge of compiling a geological map at the scale of 10 Versts to an inch. In 1892, he directed the mapping of the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

area and geologic maps of the southern Urals and

Timan Ridge The Timan Ridge ( – ''Timansky Kryazh'') is a highland in the far north of European Russia. Most of the Timan Ridge is situated in the Komi Republic, but the northernmost part is in Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Arkhangelsk Oblast. The highest ...

. He later, in 1900, became the director of the Geologic Museum. He died suddenly in 1914 and was buried in Smolensk Cemetery, St. Petersburg.

References

External links

WorldCat bibliographyHistory of the Russian Geological Research Institute
(VSEGEI) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chernyshov, Feodosy Nikolayevich 1856 births 1914 deaths Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Saint Petersburg Mining University alumni Geologists from the Russian Empire Paleontologists from the Russian Empire