Jan Stanisław Franciszek Czerski, also known as Ivan Dementievich Chersky () or Yan Dominikovich Chersky (; – ), was a Polish, Belarusian, and Russian

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 ...

, osteologist,

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, ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. He was exiled to

Transbaikalia Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykal'ye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal at the south side of the eastern Si ...

for participating in the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863. A

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

scientist, he eventually received three gold medals from 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 ...

, and his name was given to a settlement, two mountain ranges, several peaks and other sites. He authored the first map of

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

Biography

Son of Xenia and Dominik Czerski, members of the Lithuanian-Polish

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, he was born in Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire (now

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

). At the age of 18, as a high-school student of the Institute for Nobles in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, he took part in the

(1863–1864). He was captured and taken prisoner on 28 April 1863, and then stripped of his noble status, his lands confiscated and repossessed by another family member loyal to the Russian government. Czerski was then forcibly conscripted into the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

and sentenced to be exiled to Siberia in

Blagoveshchensk Blagoveshchensk ( rus, Благовещенск, p=bləɡɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Amur River, Amur and the ...

near the

Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...

. He never made it to Blagoveshchensk, but was detached instead to serve in a formation near

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

. During this time he was befriended by several Poles living in exile in the Omsk region, including: Marczewski and Kwiatkowski, as well as a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n geographer, Grigory Nikolayevich Potanin. Under their influence, he became interested in the

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

of the region. They provided him with literature on Siberia and the natural sciences, so that during his free time he was able to educate himself and carry out his first research. After release from the army in 1869, he was not given permission to return home, and became a political exile. He was refused entry to university; his publications and his first attempt to join the

were also rejected. For the next two years he was forced to work as a teacher in Omsk, having been denied the right to leave the area. Chersky-expeditions-map

In 1871 he received permission to move to

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

where he met other Polish exiles, turned scholars,

Aleksander Czekanowski Aleksander Piotr Czekanowski, or Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Chekanovsky (, 24 February 1833 – 30 October 1876) was a Polish geologist and explorer of Siberia during his exile after participating in the January Uprising. He took part in and later le ...

and

Benedykt Dybowski Benedykt Tadeusz Dybowski (12 May 183331 January 1930) was a Polish naturalist and physician. Life Benedykt Dybowski was born in Adamaryni, within the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire to Polish nobility. He was the brother of naturalis ...

. With their help, Czekanowski is considered his mentor, he was able to join the

. He secured a job at a local museum and took part in several expeditions, gaining both experience and prominence. He took part in expeditions to the

Sayan Mountains The Sayan Mountains (, ; ) are a mountain range in southern Siberia spanning southeastern Russia (Buryatia, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tuva and Khakassia) and northern Mongolia. Before the rapid expansion of the Tsardom of Russia, the mou ...

Irkut River The Irkut (; Buryat and , ''Erhüü go''l) is a river in the Buryat Republic and Irkutsk Oblast of Russia. It is a left tributary of the Angara. It flows out of lake Ilchir which is situated 50 km away from the highest peak of the Eastern Sayan ...

Valley and the

Lower Tunguska The Nizhnyaya Tunguska ( rus, Ни́жняя Тунгу́ска, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪjə tʊnˈɡuskə, meaning "Lower Tunguska") is a river in Siberia, Russia, that flows through the Irkutsk Oblast and the Krasnoyarsk Krai. The river is a right tributa ...

River. During four expeditions (1877–1881) Czerski explored the valley of the

Selenga The Selenga ( ) or Selenge is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Originating from its headwater tributaries, the Ider and the Delger mörön, it flows for before draining into Lake Baikal. The Selenga therefore makes up the most d ...

river and published a study on

, explaining the origin of the lake and presenting the geological structure of

East Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states sin ...

. Perhaps the most notable of these expeditions was to study of the geological structure of the coast of Lake Baikal. The result was the first geological map of that coast, for which Czerski was awarded a gold medal by the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. He received three medals in total during his career. He received an international award from the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

, Italy. Czerski later put forward the idea for the development of

topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

s (1878) and produced one of the first analyses of the

tectonic Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...

s of central Asia (1886) and pioneered

geomorphological Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topography, topographic and bathymetry, bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. Ge ...

evolution theory. In 1878 he married Marfa Pavlovna Ivanova, a native of Siberia. In 1883 he was pardoned by the Russian government, and later regained his nobility status. He lived in

until 1886, working in the east-Siberian section of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1886, he fell ill with progressive

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and partial

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

. He was allowed to move to

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 ...

, where he joined the St Petersburg Science Academy. Despite his failing health he took time during his travel from Irkutsk to Petersburg to carefully document the geological details along the way. During this period he was appointed head of an expedition to explore the

Yana Yana may refer to: Locations *Yana, Burma, a village in Hkamti Township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of northwestern Burma * Yana, India, a village in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India * Yana, Nigeria, an administrative c ...

Indigirka The Indigirka (; ) 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 isolated village of Russkoye Ustye, located on the delta of the Indigi ...

and

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

river basins. He collected and catalogued over 2,500 ancient bones, publishing a large work on

Quaternary Period The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s in 1888, followed by an even larger work on Siberian mammal fossils in 1891. He died on 25 June 1892 during an expedition to the

and

Indigirka River The Indigirka (; ) 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 isolated village of Russkoye Ustye, located on the delta of the Indigi ...

s. He was buried near the Omolon River.

Named after Czerski

Several landmarks in Siberia were named in his honour, including: * the

Chersky Range The Chersky Range (, ) is a chain of mountains in northeastern Siberia between the Yana River, Yana and Indigirka River, Indigirka Rivers. Administratively, the area of the range belongs to the Sakha Republic, although a small section in the eas ...

in the

East Siberian Mountains The East Siberian Mountains or East Siberian Highlands () are one of the largest mountain systems of the Russia, Russian Federation. They are located between the Central Yakutian Lowland and the Bering Strait in Northeast Siberia. The area of th ...

* the

Chersky (settlement) Chersky (also anglicized Cherskiy) (; , ''Çerskey'') is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Nizhnekolymsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the Kolyma River, east from Yakutsk, the c ...

in the

Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

* the

Chita Oblast Chita Oblast ( rus, Чити́нская о́бласть, r=Čitínskaja óblastj, p=tɕɪˈtʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. ...

* the Chersky Mountain - highest peak (2572 m) of the

Baikal Range The Baikal Mountains or Baikal Range (, ''Baykalskiy khrebet''; , ''Baigalai dabaan'') are a mountain range that rises steeply over the northwestern shore of Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia. The highest peak in the range is 2,572 m high ...

* the ''

Chersky Peak Chersky Peak (; ) is a mountain in the Komarinsky Range, Khamar-Daban, Russian Federation. This peak is named after Polish explorer Jan Czerski (1845–1892), who greatly contributed to the study of neighboring Lake Baikal.Khamar-Daban Khamar-Daban (; , from – "nut", and – "pass" or "ridge"), is a mountain range in Southern Siberia, Russia. Geography The range is located in Buryatia, with a small section in Irkutsk Oblast. It rises near the Baikal Mountains not far from ...

Range * the ''Chersky Pass'' in the same mountains * the Chersky Stone (728 m) - a peak nearby in Listvyanka * the ''Chersky Valley and ''Chersky Plateau'' in the

* a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

near the Baikal Lake, * an

inactive Inactive is a TRPV channel in invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including ...

volcano in the ''Tunkinsk Valley'' * ''Chersky's Place'' - an archeological site near Irkutsk where ancient human remains were discovered In 2016, after being acquired by

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...

, the pipe-layer "Jascon 18" was renamed " Akademik Cherskiy". Three species of anomal fossils were named after him: ''Osteolepis tscherskii'' (

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

), ''Leperditia czerskii'' (

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

) and ''Polyptchites tscherskii]''(

ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

) as well as numerous extant species, including

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a Family (biology), family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barb (fish), barbs and barbel (fish), barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the ...

fish ''Sarcocheilichthys czerskii'',

sculpin A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Perciformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand acros ...

''Cottus czerskii'', char ''Salvelinus czerskii'', Baikal endemic

amphipod Amphipoda () is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphipod species cur ...

''Eulimnogammarus czerskii'' and

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

''Bombus czerskii''. The

-based ''Jan Czerski Belarusian Culture Society'', an organization of the Belarusian minority in Russia is named after Jan Czerski. A street in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, is named after Jan Czerski, ''Jonas Čerskis''.

Works

The full list of Czerski's works contains 97 positions. Over a hundred published works have been dedicated to him. * "Otczot o gieołogiczeskom issledowanii bieriegowoj połosy oziera Bajkała" (1886) * "Gieołogiczeskije issledowanije Sibirskogo pocztowogo trakta ot oziera Bajkała do wostocznogo chriebta Uralskogo" (1888) * "Dziennik podróży A. Czekanowskiego" (Czekanowski's Travel Journal) * His major work in 1891

Notes

References

WIEM Encyklopedia WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia. The encyclopedia was based on the first printed edition was released in mid-1990s (with Vo ...

Czerski Jan
* PWN Encyklopedia
Czerski Jan
* Monika Szabłowska−Zaremba

* Halina Urban

Biography in Muzeum Geologiczne (Geological Museum) of Państwowy Instytut Geologiczny (Polish National Geological Institute) *

Biography * Maria Dybowska

Short biography

External links

Jan Czerski
- Russian TV, March 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Czerski, Jan 1845 births 1892 deaths People from Verkhnyadzvinsk district People from Drissensky Uyezd Polish nobility Polish explorers Polish geographers 19th-century Polish geologists Polish paleontologists Polish entomologists Geologists from the Russian Empire Geographers from the Russian Empire 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire Explorers of Siberia History of Siberia January Uprising participants Polish prisoners and detainees Polish exiles in the Russian Empire