Stepan Krasheninnikov | |
|---|---|
| Степан Крашенинников | |
 Stepan Krasheninnikov | |
| Born | Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov (1711-11-11)November 11, 1711 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | March 8, 1755(1755-03-08) (aged 43) Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Other names | Stephan Krascheninnikow |
| Occupations | Naturalist and geographer |
| Known for | ExploringKamchatka andSiberia |
Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov (Russian:Степа́н Петро́вич Крашени́нников; November 11 [O.S. October 31] 1711 – March 8 [O.S. February 25] 1755) was a Russian explorer ofSiberia,naturalist andgeographer who gave the first fulldescription ofKamchatka in the early 18th century. He was elected to theRussian Academy of Sciences in 1745. TheKrasheninnikov Volcano on Kamchatka is named in his honour.
Krasheninnikov was educated in theSlavic Greek Latin Academy ofMoscow (1724–32), whereLomonosov was his class-mate. As part ofVitus Bering’s extensive preparations for theSecond Kamchatka Expedition, 12 students from theacademy were selected as potential student interns or assistants for the professors – Krasheninnikov being one of them. Thus, he furthered his education inSt Petersburg before embarking upon theSecond Kamchatka Expedition (1731–42).[1]
Krasheninnikov studied plants, animals and minerals, but in addition he developed a strong interest inSiberian history and geography.[1] During the early part of the expedition, he accompanied professorGmelin on the travel through theUral Mountains and westernSiberia toYeniseysk. He made numerous observations ofnatural history,ethnology andlinguistics, e.g. records ofEvenki (tungus) andBuryat vocabulary. FromBering’s headquarters atYakutsk, the expedition professorsGmelin andGerhard Friedrich Müller sent Krasheninnikov ahead toOkhotsk andKamchatka to build house and make preliminary observations. Thus, he became the member of the expedition with the most extensive knowledge of the peninsula. He published his observations in 1755 ("Описание земли Камчатки";[2][3] English translation byJames Grieve (1764) asHistory of Kamtschatka[4][5]). It is claimed that he drew extensively on the manuscripts of the deceasedGeorg Wilhelm Steller, but it is also argued that "it was in fact Steller who used the materials which Krasheninnikov gave him in Kamchatka, and the completed sections which later went into Krasheninnikov's book".[6] Apart from detailed accounts of the plants and animals of the region, there also were reports on the language and culture of the indigenousItelmen andKoryak peoples, with whom he is said to have got along extremely well.
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Krasheninnikov spent ten years on theSecond Kamchatka Expedition. On his return toSt Petersburg, he wrote and defended hisdoctoral thesis onichthyology in 1745. He was appointed adjunct at theAcademy of Sciences, and later head of the Academy'sBotanic Garden andprofessor ofnatural history at theuniversity. He was one of only 26Russians to becomeAcademy members in the 18th century.[1] In 1752, Krasheninnikov went on his last expedition to the tracts ofLake Ladoga andNovgorod to investigate theflora. He died before being able to publish his observations, which instead were published byDavid de Gorter.[7]
More than 20 species have been named in his honour,[8] e.g.
