Pyotr Petrovich Shirshov (; 17 February 1953) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

hydrobiologist Hydrobiology is the science of life and life processes in water. Much of modern hydrobiology can be viewed as a sub-discipline of ecology but the sphere of hydrobiology includes taxonomy, economic and industrial biology, morphology, and physiolog ...

, polar explorer, statesman, academician (1939), the first minister of Ministry of Maritime Fleet of the USSR and

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

(1938). Pyotr Shirshov graduated from the Odessa Public Education Institute in 1929. In 1929–1932, he was a researcher at the Botanical Garden of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. In 1932–1936, Pyotr Shirshov was employed as a researcher at the All-Union Arctic Institute. He participated in numerous Arctic expeditions, including the ones on icebreakers ''

Sibiryakov Sibiryakov is a Russian (') or Ukrainian (') surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Sibiryakov (1849-1933), Russian gold mine and factories owner and explorer of Siberia * Andrei Sibiryakov (1964-1989/1990), Russian seria ...

'' (1932) and '' Chelyuskin'' and a

drifting ice station A drifting ice station is a temporary or semi-permanent facility built on an ice floe. During the Cold War the Soviet Union and the United States maintained a number of stations in the Arctic Ocean on floes such as Fletcher's Ice Island for res ...

North Pole-1 North Pole-1 () was the world's first crewed drifting ice 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 the North Pole by the expedition into the ...

'' (1937-1938). In 1942–1948, Pyotr Shirshov was People's Commissar of the Maritime Fleet, later minister of Ministry of Maritime Fleet of the USSR. In 1946–1953, he headed the Institute of Oceanology of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, which he had established himself. In 1946–1950, Pyotr Shirshov chaired the Pacific Ocean Science Committee. Pyotr Shirshov authored numerous works dealing with his research on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

in polar regions. He is known to have proven the fallacy of the hypothesis that there is no life in high latitudes of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

. Pyotr Shirshov was awarded three

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

, four other orders, and several medals.

Memoria

A bay in the

Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land () is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited only by military personnel. It constitutes the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast and consists of 192 islands, which cover an area of , stretching from east ...

, an underwater range in the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

, and Shirshov Institute of Oceanology bear Pyotr Shirshov's name.

Mount Shirshov Mount Shirshov () is a small mountain lying 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Mount Selwood in the Tula Mountains, Enderby Land. The mountain was visited by geologists of the Soviet Antarctic Expedition The Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE or S ...

, in the

Tula Mountains The Tula Mountains are a group of extensive mountains lying immediately eastward of Amundsen Bay in Enderby Land, Antarctica. They were discovered on January 14, 1930, by the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) ...

Enderby Land Enderby Land is a projecting landmass of Antarctica. Its shore extends from Shinnan Glacier at about to William Scoresby Bay at , approximately of the earth's longitude (planets), longitude. It was first documented in western and eastern liter ...

, is also named after Shirshov.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirshov, Pyotr 1905 births 1953 deaths People from Dnipro People from Yekaterinoslavsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union First convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Soviet marine biologists Soviet oceanographers Explorers of the Arctic Soviet polar explorers Soviet explorers Ukrainian marine biologists Russian scientists Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery