Birth of Vladimir Voronin, pioneer navigator and polar captain

5 (17) October 1890 in the village of Sumsky Posad, Kem county, Arkhangelsk province (at present, the territory of the Belomorsk region, Republic of Karelia) was born the famous seafarer, captain of the Soviet ice-breaker fleet Vladimir Voronin. His parents came from the ancient Russian Pomorye family. Vladimir Voronin had a school life, which was normal for the time: he started putting out to sea at the age of 8 as a plover-boy at a fishery on Murman coast, then as a sailor on sailboats. In 1912 he graduated from the Naval School of Sumsky Posad, which trained skippers for the ships of coastwise navigation.

Having graduated as a navigator of small ships, Vladimir worked as a navigator on local Belomorsk steamers. He continued his education in the Arkhangelsk Naval College. After his graduation in 1916, followed by two years of navigation practice, he became a sea captain in 1918. The first appointment of Voronin was a steamship "Fedor Chizhov."  

In the 1920s the captain took an active part in the development of the Soviet Arctic. From 1920 to 1921 he participated in the first Soviet expeditions to the Kara Sea. In 1926, Voronin was appointed the captain of the icebreaker "George Sedov", which in 1928 set out to find and rescue the Italian expedition of Umberto Nobile, which flew to the North Pole in an airship.

From 1929 to 1930, the icebreaker "George Sedov" made a research expedition led by Academician Otto Schmidt, which resulted in establishing of the national flag of the USSR on the Franz Josef Land, in organizing of a polar station in the Silent Bay, and in discovering of new islands in the north-western part of the Kara Sea. One of the newly discovered islands was named after the captain of the icebreaker, Voronin. In 1932, Vladimir Voronin was appointed captain of the icebreaker "Alexander Sibiryakov.” On board of the ship, an expedition led by Schmidt, made the first-ever trip following the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation. For this heroic navigation the captain was awarded the Order of Lenin.

In March 1933, Voronin received a letter from Schmidt: "Dear Vladimir! The government decided in the very shortest time to master completely the Northern Sea Route. This year, another expedition to the Arctic Ocean will be organized. I was appointed head of the expedition. It is clear that the first condition to perform such a task is to invite the captain <...> Of course, not only us, but the whole country wants to see you at the helm during this navigation."

Thus, in 1933-1934 Vladimir led the heroic voyage on the steamship "Chelyuskin", which made a voyage along the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk to the Bering Strait in one navigation. During the expedition, the ship was crushed by ice. The survived members of the crew of the icebreaker and the expedition were rescued by Soviet pilots, who were the first to be awarded the honorary title "Hero of the Soviet Union."

In 1935, Captain Voronin moved to Leningrad, but did not forget his native land. In 1937, he granted to the library and the school in the village of Sumsky Posad over 50 books and allocated 1,000 rubles.

From 1934 to 1938, Vladimir Voronin was the captain of the icebreaker "Yermak", the most powerful ship in the world at the time. In autumn 1938, Vladimir Voronin, commanding the icebreaker "Joseph Stalin" came to the aid of the icebreaker" George Sedov" drifting in the ice.

During the Great Patriotic War, he was the captain of the icebreaker "Levanevsky", the flagship of the Northern Icebreaking Fleet "Joseph Stalin" accompanying ships with cargo to Murmansk. For courage and bravery shown during the Great Patriotic War, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st and 2nd degree, the Order of Nakhimov 2nd degree.

After the war, he led the first expedition to the Antarctic and accompanied the whaling fleet "Glory" to the southern polar seas. From 1947 and until his death Vladimir Voronin commanded the flagship icebreaker "Joseph Stalin "("Siberia") on the Northern Sea Route.

Vladimir Voronin died in the Arctic, suddenly, on the captain’s bridge, just after having brought from ice the last boat of the caravan heading to the Dixon Island, October 18, 1952. He was buried at the Shuvalovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Vladimir Voronin was awarded the Order of Lenin (twice), of the Red Star, of the Red Banner of Labor, the Badge of Honor, and many medals. He was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the Primorsky constituency of the Arkhangelsk Region (1946).

The memory of the brave captain remained in geographic names all around the world. In the Arctic, an island, an underwater trench in the Kara Sea, a bay on the Novaya Zemlya, a glacier and a cape on the Franz Josef Land were named after him. A bay on the coast of Antarctica was also named after him.

Vladimir Voronin is one of the most famous people of the Karelian White Sea. In the city of Belomorsk in 1969 a street was named after him. On the facade of the House of Culture in his native village Sumsky Posad, Belomorsk district, a memorial plaque was inaugurated in his honor. The text of the commemorative plaque says: "Vladimir Voronin (1890-1952) was born in Sumsky Posad, in the family of a White Sea fisherman, who had brought up six sons-navigators."

The village of Sumsky Posad was formerly a part of the Arkhangelsk province that is why in the Arkhangelsk region the memory of Vladimir Voronin is also revered. A street and the Marine College of Arkhangelsk were named after him, a monument was raised.

The streets in the cities of St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Severodvinsk also bear the name of Captain Voronin.

Lit.: Громов Б. В. Наперекор стихии... . М., 1971; Карасев Н. П. Годы и встречи. Л., 1986. Из содерж.: В. И. Воронин. С. 123-127; Карельские полярники : сб. воспоминаний карел. моряков-полярников / ред. С. А. Макарьев. Петрозаводск, 1935. Из содерж.: Воронин В. И. Наш рейс. С. 9-24; Воронин В. И. Жизнь, отданная морю : автобиография. С. 27-45; Воронин Ф. И. Мужественный капитан : из воспоминаний брата. С. 46-49; Кликачев А. Ледовый флагман // Карелия. Годы. Люди. Петрозаводск, 1967. С. 112-123; Миронов А. Е. Ледовая Одиссея : зап. челюскинца : док. повесть. М., 1966; Романова Л. Ледовый флагман : к 120-летию со дня рождения Владимира Ивановича Воронина, ледового капитана, поляр. исследователя, участника многих совет. экспедиций в Арктике // Беломор. трибуна. 2010. 14 окт. (№ 40). С. 4; Селезнёв С. А. Ледовый капитан. Архангельск, 1969; Юнга Е. С. Капитан Воронин : (путь к подвигу). М., 1957.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Development of the Arctic: [digital collection].

Material was provided by the National Library of the Republic of Karelia