Otto Yulyevich Shmidt, be, Ота Юльевіч Шміт, Ota Juljevič Šmit (born Otto Friedrich Julius Schmidt; – 7 September 1956), better known as Otto Schmidt, was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

, and

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

Biography

He was born in the town of

Mogilev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, in what is now

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. His father was a descendant of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

settlers in

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

, while his mother was a Latvian. In 1912-13 while in university he published a number of mathematical works on

group theory In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ...

which laid foundation for Krull–Schmidt theorem. Otto Schmidt 1912

In 1913, Schmidt married Vera Yanitskaia and graduated from the Saint Vladimir Imperial University of Kiev, where he worked as a

privat-docent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

starting from 1916. In 1918 he became a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (internationallists) which was later dissolved in to the Russian Communist Party (b). After the

October Revolution of 1917 The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, he was a board member at several

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English language, English transliteration of the Russian language, Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the pol ...

iats ( narkomats)such as

Narkomprod Narkomprod or the ''People's Commissariat for Food Supplies'', (translit. ''Narodny Commissariat Prodovolstviya'', russian: Наркомпрод, Народный комиссариат продовольствия) was the Commissariat of the Russ ...

from 1918 to 1920 (''Narodnyi Komissariat Prodovolstviya'', or People's Commissariat for Supplies), People's Commissariat for Finance from 1921 to 1922 (''Narodnyi Komissariat Finansov'', or People's Commissariat for Finances). Schmidt was one of the chief proponents of developing the higher education system, publishing, and science in

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. He worked at ''

Narkompros The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charge ...

'' (People's Commissariat for Education), the State Scientific Board at the

Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

, and the

Communist Academy The Communist Academy ( Russian: Коммунистическая академия, transliterated ''Kommunisticheskaya akademiya'') was a higher educational establishment and research institute based in Moscow. It included scientific institutes o ...

. He was Chair of the

Foreign Literature Committee Foreign Literature Committee (russian: Комитет иностранной литературы), or Kominolit (russian: Коминолит), was an interdepartmental committee under the People's Commissariat for Education for the purchase and di ...

from October 1921. Following the Litkens Commission Schmidt was also employed as the director of the State Publishing House (

Gosizdat State Publishing House of the RSFSR (Russian: Госуда́рственное изда́тельство РСФСР), also known as Gosizdat (Госиздат), was the State Publishing House founded in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Repu ...

) from 1921 to 1924, and chief editor of the ''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

'' from 1924 to 1941. From 1923 he was a professor at the Second Moscow State University and later at the

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, and from 1930 to 1932, Schmidt was the head of the Arctic Institute. Otto Schmidt 1936

From 1932 to 1939, he was appointed head of Glavsevmorput' (''Glavnoe upravlenie Severnogo Morskogo Puti'') – an establishment that oversaw all commercial operations on the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of No ...

. From 1939 to 1942, Schmidt became a

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, where he organized the Institute of Theoretical Geophysics (he was its director until 1949). Otto Schmidt was a founder of the Moscow Algebra School, which he directed for many years. In the mid-1940s, Schmidt suggested a new cosmogonical

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can testable, test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on prev ...

on the formation of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

and other

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a ...

s of the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

, which he continued to develop together with a group of Soviet scientists until his death.

Arctic

Schmidt was an explorer of the Arctic. In 1929 and 1930, he led expeditions on the

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

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 sma ...

Georgy Sedov Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (russian: Гео́ргий Я́ковлевич Седо́в; – ) was a Russian Arctic explorer. Born in the village of Krivaya Kosa of Taganrog district (now Novoazovskyi Raion, Donetsk Oblast) in a fisherman's famil ...

'', establishing the first scientific research station on the

Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land, Frantz Iosef Land, Franz Joseph Land or Francis Joseph's Land ( rus, Земля́ Фра́нца-Ио́сифа, r=Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa, no, Fridtjof Nansen Land) is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited on ...

, exploring the northwestern parts of the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipela ...

and western coasts of

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago ...

, and discovering a few islands. In 1932, Schmidt's expedition on the steam icebreaker '' Sibiryakov'' with

Captain Vladimir Voronin Vladimir Ivanovich Voronin (russian: Владимир Иванович Воронин; October 17, 1890 – October 18, 1952) was a Soviet Navy captain, born in Sumsky Posad, in the present Republic of Karelia, Russia. In 1932 he commanded the e ...

made a non-stop voyage from

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near i ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

without wintering for the first time in history. Встреча Папaнинцев

From 1933 to 1934, Schmidt led the voyage of the steamship '' Cheliuskin'', also with

, along the Northern Sea Route. In 1937, he supervised an airborne expedition that established a drift-ice station "

North Pole-1 North Pole-1 (russian: Северный полюс-1) was the world's first Soviet manned drifting station in the Arctic Ocean, primarily used for research. North Pole-1 was established on 21 May 1937 and officially opened on 6 June, some from ...

". In 1938, he was in charge of evacuating its personnel from the ice. Otto Schmidt was a member of the

Central Executive Committee of the USSR The All-Union Central Executive Committee (russian: Всесоюзный Центральный исполнительный комитет, Vsesoyuznyy Tsentral'nyy ispolnitel'nyy komitet) was the most authoritative governing body of the USSR d ...

and a deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

of the first

convocation A convocation (from the Latin '' convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Greek ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose, mostly ecclesiastical or academic. In ac ...

(1938 -1946).

Legacy

The authorities awarded Otto Schmidt three

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

, three other orders and many medals. Schmidt Island in the

Cape Schmidt Cape Schmidt ( rus, Мыс Шми́дта; ''Mys Shmidta'' or Мыс Отто Шмидта; ''Mys Otto Shmidta''; Chukchi: Ир-Каппея ; ''Il-Kappeya''), formerly known as Cape North, is a headland in the Chukchi Sea, part of Iultinsky Dist ...

on the coastline of the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), 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 ...

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukotka (russian: Чуко́тка), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug,, ''Čukotkakèn avtonomnykèn okrug'', is the easternmost federal subject of Russia. It is an autonomous okrug situated in the Russian Far East, and shares a bo ...

, as well as the Institute of Earth Physics at the

Soviet Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

, among other places, bear Schmidt's name. A

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term '' ...

2108 Otto Schmidt 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

discovered in 1948 by

astronomer

Pelageya Shajn Pelageya Fedorovna Shajn, ''née'' Sannikova (Пелагея Фёдоровна Шайн) (22 September 1894 – 27 August 1956), was a Russian astronomer in the Soviet Union, and the first woman credited with the discovery of a minor planet, at ...

commemorates him. The icebreaker ' originally bore the name ''Otto Yulyevich Schmidt''.

Honours and awards

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

, three times *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the ...

, twice *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

Notes

References

Sources

*Aleksey E. Levin, Stephen G. Brush ''The Origin of the Solar System: Soviet Research 1925–1991''. AIP Press, 1995. *Brontman, L.K. ''On top of the world: the Soviet expedition to the North pole, 1937–1938'', New York, 1938. * McCannon, John. ''Red Arctic: Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union, 1932–1939''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. * ''Otto Iul'evich Shmidt: Zhizn' i deiatel'nost. Moscow: Nauka, 1959.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Otto 1891 births 1956 deaths People from Mogilev People from Mogilyovsky Uyezd (Mogilev Governorate) Communist Party of the Soviet Union members First convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Belarusian encyclopedists Baltic-German people Soviet polar explorers Belarusian people of Latvian descent Belarusian people of German descent Belarusian explorers Severnaya Zemlya Soviet astronomers Soviet mathematicians Belarusian astronomers 20th-century Belarusian mathematicians Soviet geophysicists Franz Josef Land Kara Sea Laptev Sea Chukchi Sea East Siberian Sea Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Moscow State University faculty Moscow State Pedagogical University faculty Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin