Soimonov, Fedorivanovich

Born 1692 in Moscow; died there July 11 (22), 1780. Russian state figure and hydrographer. Son of a nobleman.

Soimonov studied at the Navigational School in Moscow. In 1718 and 1719, during the Northern War (1700–21), he fought in naval battles against the Swedes. In 1719 and 1720 and from 1724 to 1727 he conducted hydrographic work on the Caspian Sea. In 1722 and 1723 he took part in the Persian Campaign. He was made a general and Kriegskommissar in 1739.

From 1740 to 1742, Soimonov served a term of exile in the city of Okhotsk for his involvement in the A. P. Volynskii affair. In 1753 he became the leader of the comprehensive Nerchinsk expedition. He founded the Navigational School in Nerchinsk in 1754 and the Geodetic School in Tobol’sk in 1758. From 1757 to 1763 he served as governor-general of Siberia and from 1763 to 1766 he was a senator. Soimonov’s main works are on the economics, geography, and history of Siberia.