Kozma Fyodorovich Spassky-Avtonomov () was born in 1807, in Zakharovka, now

Lipetsk Oblast Lipetsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Lipetsk. As of the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census, its population was&n ...

and died in 1890. He was a Russian researcher of the region of

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, then a city in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, but now in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. Baku is interesting geologically as it is the lowest lying national capital in the world, some 28 metres below sea level. It is located on the southern shore of the

Absheron Peninsula The Absheron Peninsula () is a peninsula in Azerbaijan. It is the location of Baku, the most populous city of the country, and the Baku Metropolitan Area, with its satellite cities Sumqayit and Khyrdalan. It extends eastward into the Caspian S ...

, alongside the

Bay of Baku Bay of Baku (Baku Bay) is a natural harbor of the Baku port and local yacht club, on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula and on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Description It has an area of 50 km² and a coastline of 20&nb ...

. Spassky-Avtonomov arrived in Baku with his children on July 27, 1847, shortly after the discovery of oil in the region. He became the head of Baku Quarantine Customs Service. During this time, the instrumental studies of the Caspian Sea level, started in 1830, were ongoing. Spassky-Avtonomov began writing about Baku in 1847, leaving numerous accounts of the city and its inhabitants in detail. Along with his brother Mikhail, he was one of the leading scientists in the fields of

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

and

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

in the country. Kozma, a member of the Russian Geographic Society, was versed on both subjects, but his main interests were in the study of local folk literature.

Notes

1807 births 1890 deaths History of Baku Meteorologists from the Russian Empire Climatologists from the Russian Empire Geographers from the Russian Empire {{Russia-bio-stub