Khariton Prokofievich Laptev (; 1700–1763) was a Russian

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

and

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 ( ...

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 ...

Biography

Khariton Laptev was born in a gentry family, Laptev family which was a branch of the Lopukhin family, in the village of Pokarevo near

Velikiye Luki Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-� ...

(in the southern part of today's

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Pskov. As of the Russian Census ...

), just a year before his cousin Dmitry Laptev was born in the nearby village of Bolotovo. Khariton Laptev started his career in the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

as a

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

in 1718. By 1730, he was already in charge of a military ship, and in 1734 participated in the siege of Gdańsk. In 1739–1742, Khariton Laptev led one of the parties of the

Second Kamchatka expedition The Great Northern Expedition () or Second Kamchatka Expedition () was a major Russian Arctic expedition between roughly 1733 and 1743, which mapped most of the Arctic coast of Siberia and much of the Arctic coast of North America, greatly red ...

. Together with Semion Chelyuskin, N. Chekin, and G. Medvedev, Laptev described the Taimyr Peninsula from the mouth of the Khatanga River to the mouth of the

Pyasina The Pyasina () is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The river is long, and its drainage basin, basin covers . The Pyasina River originates in Lake Pyasino and flows into the Pyasino Gulf of the Kara Sea. There are more than 60,000 lakes ...

river and discovered a few of the islands in the area. After the expedition, he participated in the creation of the "General Map of the Siberian and Kamchatka Coast", and continued his military service in the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

. The sea coastline of the Taimyr Peninsula, a cape on the Chelyuskin Peninsula and other landmarks bear his name. 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 ...

was also named after him (and his cousin Dmitry Laptev). The 1962-built

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

''Ledokol-3'' was renamed ''Khariton Laptev'' in 1966 in his honor.

References

Двоюродные братья Дмитрий Яковлевич и Харитон Прокофьевич Лаптевы
(The cousins Dmitry Yakovlevich and Khariton Prokofyevich Laptev) 1700 births 1763 deaths Explorers of the Arctic Russian polar explorers Laptev Sea 18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire 18th-century explorers from the Russian Empire History of the Kamchatka Peninsula Imperial Russian Navy personnel Great Northern Expedition {{explorer-stub