Pyotr Petrovich
Semenov-Tyan-Shansky
1827-1914
The achievements of Russian explorers, scientists and geographers are inestimable. Many streets in Moscow are named after them, including Semenov-Tyan-Shansky Street.
Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914) was a famous Russian geographer, botanist, ethnomologist, traveller, collector, statesman and public figure, president of the Russian Entomological Society, honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Arts, member of the State Council and vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society for more than four decades. The brother of the famous statesman of the time of Alexander II, N.P. Semenov, one of the authors of the peasant reform of 1861, P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky laid the foundations for the glorious era of scientific exploration of Central Asia by Russian scientists. He received the prefix ‘Tian-Shansky’ to his surname because he described the Tian Shan Mountains. He was born on January 14, 1827 in Ryazanka Estate, the Ranenburg region (uyezd), the Ryazan governorate. He graduated from St Petersburg University and then made a journey to the Tien Shan (1856-1857), during which he explored the Altai, the Tarbagatai, the Semirechensky and Zailiysky Alatau, the Khan-Tengri mountain range and Lake Issyk-Kul. The publication of the reports of this expedition and the collections of minerals and plants collected during it became an event in world geographical science. After returning from the expedition, he took an active part in the preparation and implementation of the peasant reform of 1861. In 1864 he became director of the Central Statistical Committee and chairman of the Central Statistical Committee. In 1888 he travelled to Turkestan and the Transcaspian region. On his initiative, the first general census in Russia was conducted in 1897. He organised several other scientific expeditions to Central Asia. His son Veniamin, under his father’s guidance, published the work “Russia – a complete geographical description of our Fatherland” (1899-1914), and the scientist himself compiled a unique five-volume Geographical and Statistical Dictionary of the Russian Empire and a three-volume work on the half-century history of the Russian Geographical Society. At the end of the 19th century, the RGS awarded the P.P. Semenov Gold Medal, named in honour of the famous figure. On the initiative of the RGS, in February 2018, the planned driveway № 6643 was given the name ‘Semenov-Tyan-Shansky Street’.
Address: Moscow, Semenova-Tyan-Shanskogo str.
