Gleb Semyonovich Shishmaryov (; 1781 - November 3, 1835,

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 ...

) was a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. He is reputed for having surveyed the then little-known coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

as navigator. In 1815–1818 he accompanied

Otto von Kotzebue Otto von Kotzebue (; 30 December 1787 – 15 February 1846) was a Baltic German naval officer in the Imperial Russian Navy. He commanded two naval expeditions into the Pacific for the purposes of exploration and scientific investigation. The fi ...

on his voyage to Alaska and around the world. In 1820 Shishmaryov returned to Alaska in command of the ship ''Blagonamerennyi (Good Intent)'', accompanied by Lt. Mikhail Nikolaevich Vasiliev (1770–1847) on the ship ''Otkrytie (Discovery)''. Shishmaref and Vasiliev entered the

Chukchi Sea The Chukchi Sea (, ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, ...

and explored the coast of Alaska from

Kotzebue Sound Kotzebue Sound is an arm of the Chukchi Sea in the western region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is on the north side of the Seward Peninsula and bounded on the east by the Baldwin Peninsula. It is long and wide. Kotzebue Sound is located in ...

Icy Cape The Icy Cape is a headland on the Chukchi Sea side of the North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. It was discovered and named by James Cook on August 17, 1778, on account of the ice along the coast. Icy Cape is in an area of landspits, boun ...

and later from

Norton Sound The Norton Sound ( Inupiaq: ''Imaqpak'') is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km (150 mi) long and 200 km (125 mi) wide. The Yukon Riv ...

to Cape Newenham. The name of this Russian explorer is sometimes

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

as "Shishmaref" in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

; the town of

Shishmaref, Alaska Shishmaref ( ; , or ''Kigiqtaq''; rus, Шишмарёв, p=ʂɨʂmɐˈrʲɵf) is a City (Alaska), city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is located on Sarichef Island in the Chukchi Sea, just north ...

, and the

Shishmaref Inlet The Shishmaref Inlet ( Inupiaq: ''Qigiqtam Imaġzrua'') is a coastal lagoon on the Chukchi Sea-facing shores of Alaska. It is 5 miles in length. The location of the Shishmaref Inlet is SW 17 mi. to the SW from Sarichef Island, at the mouth ...

have been named after him.The Naming of Alaska, from Grewingk, p. 413; ''Krusenstern Mémoires hydrographiques,'' Vol. II, p. 36
Journal of the Russian Hydrographic Office, 1849, Vol. VII, pp. 106-116

References

1781 births 1835 deaths Chukchi Sea Russian colonization of North America Imperial Russian Navy admirals Russian polar explorers 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire {{Russia-mil-bio-stub