Inostrantsev, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich

Born July 12 (24), 1843, in St. Petersburg; died Dec. 31, 1919, in Petrograd. Russian geologist. Corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1901).

In 1867, Inostrantsev graduated from the University of St. Petersburg, where he became a professor in 1873. His principal works were devoted to the geological investigation of northern European Russia. In 1867 he used the method of microscopic examination of rocks for the first time in Russia. His particular areas of interest were the study of metamorphism, as well as stratigraphy and paleontology. In 1882 he provided a description of a campsite used by primitive man on the shores of Lake Ladoga. Inostrantsev founded a geological museum and laboratory at the University of St. Petersburg.