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Birthday anniversary of the Russian traveler and naturalist Ivan Lepekhin
10 (21) September, 1740 in St. Petersburg, in the family of a soldier of Semenov regiment was born one of the most prominent Russian explorers and scientists of the second half of the eighteenth century Ivan Lepekhin.
In 1751, on petition of his father, Ivan Lepekhin was sent to "the academy of science as a pupil" under a decree of the Senate. Owing to the progress shown in the study of sciences he was promoted to a student of the Academy in 1760; and in 1762 Lepekhin was sent to study at the University of Strasbourg, where his teachers were renowned professors of that time - Spielmann, Lobstein, Schurer and others; after graduation Lepekhin was given a degree of Doctor of Medicine.
In 1767 Ivan Lepekhin was elected an associate of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg and was soon appointed head of one of the units of academic expeditions, directed in 1768 to different regions of Russia. Task of the expeditions was to study the natural resources and possibilities of their use, as well as the study population, its economy, life and culture. The unit led by Lepekhin marched from the Gulf of Finland to the Caspian Sea, thence to Orenburg, then across Ural and via Siberia to Tyumen, then to the west to the town of Vyatka (now Kirov) and to the north - to the White Sea, where the travelers arrived in 1772.
As a result of this expedition a famous book by Lepekhin appeared, one of the classic works of national geography - "Day notes of Doctor and the Academy of Sciences Adjunct Ivan Lepekhin travelling to various provinces of the Russian State, 1768 and 1769”.
Lepekhin noted the importance of natural history for public education, and stressed that one should first study the fauna of his homeland, paying attention primarily to those of its representatives who have the greatest economic value. “We are mostly curious about the creatures which are far from us. We prefer something rare and surprising to the well known and useful. It is more important to learn about fish in our rivers than about shells from faraway seas”.
During an expedition in 1771 Lepekhin was promoted to an academic. From 1777 to 1794 he headed the Academic Gymnasium. In 1783 he became Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. In the 1780-1790s Ivan took part in the work on word-formation and elementary vocabularies. He directed translations of Roman and Greek classics, edited translations of works by German scientists and participated in the translation of the famous work by Jean Buffon “Natural History, universal and private".
Lepekhin was a member of the Berlin Society of Naturalists (1776), Hesse and Hamburg Patriotic Society (1778), an honorary member of the State Medical Board (1797), was awarded with the Order of St. Prince Vladimir 4th class (1790), St. Anne's 2nd class (1802), in 1799 received the rank of Councillor of State. Two new species of insects and one rare plant were named in honor of Lepekhin.
Major works by Lepekhin: "Daily Travel Notes (1-3 parts, St. Petersburg., 1771, 2nd edition, 1795, Part 4 was published in 1805, the German translation published in Altenburg, 1774-1783); "Reflections on the need to test medicinal power of our own plants" (St. Petersburg, 1783), "A brief guide to the cultivation of silk in Russia (St. Petersburg, 1798)," Ways to avoid loss of cattle" (St. Petersburg, 1800).
6 (18) April 1802 Ivan Lepekhin died at the age of 62 and was buried in the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Lit.: Лепёхин Иван Иванович [Электронный ресурс] // Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН. 2006-2011. URL: http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=1103; Лепёхин Иван Иванович [Электронный ресурс] // Биография. ру. 2006-2013. URL: http://www.biografija.ru/show_bio.aspx?id=76706; Лукина Т. А. Иван Иванович Лепёхин. 1740-1802. М,; Л., 1965; Соколов В. Б., Парнес Я. А. Иван Иванович Лепёхин (1740—1802) // «Биология»: Новости науки. № 20. 2002; Фрадкин Н. Г. Академик И. И. Лепёхин и его путешествия по России в 1768-1773 гг. М., 1950.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Начертание общего топографического и физического описания Российской империи. СПб., 1778;