Famous Russian Explorers

Russian naval officer and explorer Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich was the brother-in-law of the last emperor of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II. He played a significant role in the development of Russian military aviation during WWI. He spent his later life in exile in Paris and conducted many archaeological expeditions.

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen was a Russian cartographer, naval officer, and explorer. He is best remembered for his role in Russia's first circumnavigation of the world. Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen also led another circumnavigation that led to the discovery of Antarctica. 

Russian folk hero Yermak Timofeyevich was a Cossack leader was in charge of the Russian annexation of western Siberia during Tsar Ivan the Terrible’s reign. While fighting Kuchum's Tatars, he eventually died in the Irtysh river, crushed under the weight of the armor sent to him by the Tsar.

Avvakum Petrovich, or Awakum, was a Russian priest and a leader of Old Believers. He drifted away from the Russian Orthodox church and supported the Old Rite, bringing in massive reforms. His memoir and letters have made him a pioneering figure of modern Russian literature, too.

Starting his monastic life at 16, Russian Orthodox monk Saint Herman of Alaska later became a missionary to Alaska. He gained immense respect of the local people in Alaska and also ran a local school, where he taught church subjects and agriculture. He later moved to Spruce Island, where he eventually died.

Nikolay Przhevalsky was a Russian imperial geographer. A renowned explorer of Central and East Asia, he traveled through regions then unknown to the West. He is credited to have made a substantial contribution to European knowledge of Central Asian geography. However, despite his attempts, he could never reach his ultimate goal, the holy city of Lhasa in Tibet.

Yaroslav II, the 13th-century Grand Prince of Vladimir, is known for restoring the reign of the Kievan Rus following the invasion of Mongols. He was poisoned by Mongol emperor Güyük Khan’s mother, Töregene, while in Karakorum for a meeting. He was the father of Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky.

Russian traveler, explorer, artist, priest, and author Fyodor Konyukhov initially worked as a navigator/marine engineer and was part of the Soviet navy. He later became the first Ukrainian Orthodox Church priest to scale Mt. Everest and the first Russian to climb the Seven Summits. He also made records in sailing, rowing, and ballooning.

Russian explorer and anthropologist Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay was one of the first scientists to live with the indigenous community of New Guinea. Named the Moon Man by the Papuans for his ability to produce light through his lantern, he fought against slavery. He was idolized by both Russia and Australia.

Russian explorer and naval minister Ferdinand von Wrangel also served as the 6th governor of Russian America. He co-founded the Russian Geographic Society. His explorations helped in the mapping of the northeastern Siberian coast. Wrangel Island, an island north of Chukotka, bears his name.

Russian explorer and naval officer Otto von Kotzebue is remembered for his pioneering explorations in Oceania and his 3 circumnavigations of the Earth. The second son of German dramatist and diplomat August von Kotzebue, he also penned his travel accounts, which were later translated into English.

Although Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev became the first European to pass through the Bering Strait, his achievement was forgotten for years, while Vitus Bering, who explored the same region 8 decades later, is credited with discovering it. Several Russian and Soviet icebreakers were named after him.

Finnish-Swedish military officer and Russian envoy Adam Laxman was one of the first Imperial Russian people to explore Japan. He made a lot of effort to develop trade between Japan and Russia. However, his efforts were not too fruitful, as Japan still was not ready to open up to foreign trade or accept Christianity.

Russian explorer and navigator Aleksei Chirikov who accompanied Danish cartographer Vitus Bering in the discovery of southern Alaska. On their 2nd Bering expedition, he and Bering were separated by a storm. Though stranded, he survived, while Bering moved to the north and west and died near the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Bessarabian-Bulgarian soldier/spy Ilie V. Cătărău caused 2 bomb attacks to increase tensions between Romania and Austria-Hungary at the onset of World War I. A secret intelligence double agent, he served both Russia and Romania. He spent his later years as a fugitive in Japan, France, and the US, and eventually became a monk.

German-origin Russian explorer Wilhelm Junker is remembered for his expeditions to southern Sudan and Central Africa. He also explored places such as Iceland and Tunis. He formed ties with Equatoria’s governor Mehmed Emin Pasha and conducted ethnographic studies in Zande. He later penned Reisen in Afrika, an account of his experiences.

Russian explorer Alexander Sibiryakov is remembered for his expeditions to Siberia. A gold-mine owner, he also financed many expeditions to Siberia and helped in the publication of Siberian history and in the development of its economy. A Glasgow-made icebreaker, which was later bought by Russia, was named after him.

German-Russian explorer, geographer, and navigator Friedrich Benjamin von Lütke, better known as Fyodor Litke, was mostly reputed for his Arctic explorations. He was associated with St. Petersburg’s Russian Academy of Science and Paris’s French Academy of Science. He contributed immensely to the documented geography of Alaska.