Iurii Lisianskii

Born Aug. 2 (13), 1773, in Nezhin; died Feb. 22 (Mar. 6), 1837, in St. Petersburg. Russian navigator, captain (1809).

Lisianskii graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in 1786. He fought in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90 and served in the Baltic Fleet from 1790 to 1793. From 1793 to 1799 he sailed aboard British ships and took part in British naval operations (in North America, the West Indies, India, and South Africa). Upon his return to Russia, Lisianskii helped prepare and implement the first Russian expedition around the world (1803–06), as commander of the Neva; I. F. Kruzenshtern, the overall leader of the expedition, was captain of the other ship of the expedition, the Nadezhda. In August 1803 the ships sailed from Kronstadt to the Hawaiian Islands, following the same course. Later, however, the Nadezhda went to Kamchatka, and the Neva sailed on to Alaska, where Lisianskii spent more than a year. On the return voyage, the ships rejoined in Canton and sailed together to South Africa, then separating again. For the first time in the history of navigation, the trip from Canton to Portsmouth was made without stopping (by the Neva). The expedition returned to Kronstadt in August 1806. The expedition investigated little-known regions of the Pacific Ocean; made observations on sea currents, temperature, and the specific gravity of the water; compiled hydrographic descriptions of coastlines; and collected a vast amount of ethnographic material. Upon completion of the expedition, Lisianskii continued to serve in the Baltic Fleet until his retirement in 1809.

An island discovered by Lisianskii in the northwestern part of the Hawaiian Islands, a peninsula on the northern shore of the Sea of Okhotsk, and a mountain on Sakhalin Island are named in honor of Lisianskii.