Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev (Russian:Дмитрий Яковлевич Лаптев) (1701 – January [O.S. 10 January] 1771) was a RussianArcticexplorer andVice Admiral (1762). TheDmitry Laptev Strait is named in his honor and theLaptev Sea is named in honor of him and his cousin, and fellow Arctic explorer,Khariton Laptev.
Dmitry Laptev was born in the village of Bolotovo, nearVelikie Luki, in 1701. A year earlier his cousinKhariton Laptev was born in nearby Bolotovo.[1] He and his cousin were some of the first students at the School of Mathematics and Navigational Sciences inSaint Petersburg, established byPeter the Great. After graduation, he quickly moved up naval ranks and became a ranking naval officer on a number of different vessels.[1]
Dmitry Laptev was a lieutenant in the Navy assigned to theSecond Kamchatka Expedition in 1735 underVitus Bering. With the death of the head of theYakutsk captainVasili Pronchishchev in 1736, Bering appointed Laptev to be the head of theYakutsk crew and chart the coast of theArctic Ocean from theLena River eastward.[2] With permission from Bering, Laptev returned to Saint Petersburg for the winter. A second attempt the next year similarly failed to reach the eastern fleets of the expedition.[3]
In 1739, Laptev was the commander of an expedition to chart theAnadyr region in the far east of the continent. The expedition went poorly at first and theYakutsk became trapped by ice very quickly. That winter the crew, led by Laptev, were the first Russians to live amongst the indigenous population of the lowerIndigirka River.[4] Villagers fromRusskoye Ustye provided crucial food, assistance, and even moved the ship to open water when spring came.[4] Although sea travel never yielded much, Laptev and the crew provided significant mapping of the areas, often through overland treks and expeditions.[3]
After the expedition, he continued his military service in theBaltic Fleet. Laptev was promoted toVice Admiral rank in 1762, and retired the same year.[1]
A cape in thedelta of the Lena River and astrait between theBolshoy Lyakhovsky Island and Asian mainland bear his name. TheLaptev Sea is also named after Dmitry Laptev and his cousin, and arctic explorer,Khariton Laptev.