The Presidential Library presented the book “B. A. Vilkitsky and the Hydrographic Expeditions of the Arctic Ocean”

On November 18, 2022 the Presidential Library hosted a presentation of the book B. A. Vilkitsky and the Hydrographic Expeditions of the Arctic Ocean.

The name of Boris Andreevich Vilkitsky is known to everyone who is interested in the history of the Russian North. In 1913 he was appointed captain of the icebreaking ship Taimyr and head of the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean. The expedition ships not only discovered a number of islands and a vast archipelago to the north of the Taimyr Peninsula, but also for the first time in the history of Russia passed from east to west from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk along the coast of Siberia, opening the era of navigation along the Northern Sea Route.

The book B. A. Vilkitsky and the Hydrographic Expeditions of the Arctic Ocean is a collection of materials, including a detailed biographical sketch about the life and career of Boris Vilkitsky. The collection also features documents on the use of the Northern Sea Route during the Civil War and in the 1920s.

The uniqueness of the book is that for the first time the materials from the collections of the Archive of the Russian Geographical Society, the Russian State Archive of the Navy, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Archive of Economics, spotlighting the activities of the expedition led by Captain 2nd Rank B. A. Vilkitsky, are available here.  

The publication is intended for state, political and public figures, historians of Russia and the Arctic, a wide range of readers interested in the history of the Fatherland.

The presentation of the book B. A. Vilkitsky and the Hydrographic Expeditions of the Arctic Ocean at the Presidential Library was attended by the author of the project, Deputy Executive Director of the History of the Fatherland Foundation, member of the Board of the Russian Historical Society Ruslan Gagkuev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Russian Historical Society, President of the Svyaz Epoh Georgy Kuchkov, scientific editor of the book, director of the Russian State Archive of the Navy Valentin Smirnov, chairman of the Polar Commission of the St. Petersburg city branch of the Russian Geographical Society Viktor Boyarsky, vice-president of the Russian Geographical Society Kirill Chistyakov, great-great-granddaughter of General Andrei Ippolitovich Vilkitsky (father of B. A. Vilkitsky ) Irina Tikhomirova and others.

The event recording is available on the institution's Rutube-channel.