Vladimir Alexandrovich
Rusanov
1875-1913
The study of the Russian North has long been one of the most important directions of Russian policy. Therefore, the exploits of domestic researchers, scientists, geographers are priceless. Many Moscow passages are named after them, including Rusanov Passage, named after Vladimir Alexandrovich Rusanov.
Vladimir Alexandrovich Rusanov was a Russian Arctic explorer. He was born on November 3, 1875 in the city of Orel in a merchant family. For his participation in the revolutionary movement, he was exiled to the Ust-Sysolsky District of the Vologda Governorate, where he studied the nature and economy of the Pechora Region. At the end of his exile, Rusanov was not allowed to live in any of the major cities of Russia. In the autumn of 1903, together with his wife, he went to Paris, where he entered Sorbonne University. In 1907 he received his doctorate. Subsequently, Vladimir Alexandrovich Rusanov decided to collect material for a dissertation on Novaya Zemlya, the geology of which had not been almost studied, and minerals had not been explored. In 1907-1911 he was engaged in the exploration of Novaya Zemlya, first independently, and then as part of a French expedition, and later as part of Russian expeditions organized by the governor of the city Arkhangelsk I.V. Sosnovsky. In 1912, Rusanov led an expedition to Svalbard (Spitsbergen) on the ship “Hercules” to conduct geological surveys. The expedition found coal deposits in Svalbard (Spitsbergen) and carried out significant hydrological studies. From there, the “Hercules” headed for Novaya Zemlya. Subsequently, the expedition went missing. In 1934 Soviet hydrographers found a pole with the inscription “Hercules, 1913”, the remains of the camp and the belongings of the participants of the deceased expedition. A bay and a peninsula on Novaya Zemlya, a glacier on Severnaya Zemlya, a mountain in Antarctica, streets in Moscow, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk are named after Rusanov. Vladimir Alexandrovich Rusanov became the prototype of Captain Tatarinov from the outstanding novel “Two Captains” written by Veniamin Alexandrovich Kaverin.
Address: Moscow, Rusanov’s passage
