XII RGS Congress
The XII congress of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) took place from 15th to 19th August, in Kronstadt. Participants were delegates from all regions of the Russian Federation. Among them and invited persons were an appreciable number of HSR members. This is not surprising: the interests of hydrographers and geographers, especially regarding studying oceans and the seas, have always coincided. It is pertinent to recollect in this connection that the famous Russian seafarer and hydrographer Admiral F. P. Litke was a founder of the HSR and the first head at creation of the RGS in 1845. On this occasion HSR members showed themselves well, making twelve reports in all.
Delegates to the congress elected RGS directing bodies and honorary members, of whom there are two: HSR members Rear-admiral (ret.) Alexander Sorokin and the HSR President Captain of the 1st rank (ret.) Nikolay Neronov. The Chief of the Head Department of Navigation and Oceanography Admiral Anatoly Komaritsyn was elected the new RGS president.
Resolutions accepted by congress outlined some problems for study over the coming five years 2005-2010. Closing the congress, the new president expressed his opinion that a mainstream of geographical research during this period should be the further study of oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and other water objects, as the future wellbeing of mankind will be even more connected to hydrosphere.
An interesting cultural programme was offered to congress participants, including excursions across Kronstadt and Saint Petersburg. In addition, the famous Russian bard, HSR member and doctor, Professor Alexander Gorodnitsky performed his songs and ballads devoted to researchers of Earth and Ocean.
Tsars of the Polar Ice
The support of activities connected to a history of hydrography and help to educational institutions is an HSR task determined by its Statute. HSR members therefore took part with satisfaction in activities dedicated to the anniversary of successful end of works of the Hydrographic Arctic Ocean Expedition (HAOE).
This meeting took place thanks to an initiative of the Historic-geographical club named after Boris Vil’kitskij. This club was created some years ago in Saint Petersburg secondary school No. 43 due to the energy and enthusiasm of the teacher of geography, Mrs Elena A. Nazarenko. The club organises conferences, meetings and other activities connected to famous geographical discoveries.
On 2nd September this year, in connection with this anniversary, teachers and pupils of school No. 43, cadets belonging to the hydrographic faculty of the Saint Petersburg naval institute, HSR members and others gathered in the Smolensk orthodox cemetery of Saint Petersburg. They met together near the tombs of Lieutenant-General Andrey Vil’kitskij and his son Boris Vil’kitskij. HSR President Nikolay Neronov made an introductory speech, reminding all present that the Hydrographic Arctic Ocean Expedition was created at the end of the nineteenth century with the purpose of studying northern seas and development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Up until the beginning of the twentieth century it had executed researches in the Barents and Kara Seas. After 1904 there began preparations for continuation of researches in the eastern part of the NSR.
Father Vil’kitskij, as Chief of the Russian Hydrographic Department, played an important role in the preparation of this expedition. In Saint Petersburg, two icebreaking hydrographic vessels Taymyr and Vaigach were constructed and in 1910 the HAOE began to carry out complex research of the northern seas from the east. In 1913, Captain of the 2nd rank Boris Vil'kitskij was designated HAOE Chief. Attempts to pass by the Northern Sea Route from east to west whilst carrying out complex hydrographic and other research led on 3rd September 1913 to the expedition discovering archipelago Severnaya Zemlya. On 3rd September 1915 both vessels, after a one-year wintering in polar ice, arrived in Arkhangelsk. It was the first navigation along the northern Russian coast from east to west by the Northern Sea Route.
The St. Petersburg Nobiliary assembly leader Igor Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, scientific employee Maria Gavrilo, Captain of the 1st rank (ret.) Aleksandr Gruzdev and teacher Elena Nazarenko then took the floor. The pupil Artem Krylov read a poem ‘Tsars of polar ice’, composed for successful completion of the expedition in 1915. The meeting ended with participants placing flowers on the tombs of father and son Vil’kitskij.
Contact
Hydrographic Society Russia (HSR)
Att. Viktor Rybine
Kozhevennaja linija 41
Saint-Petersburg 199106
Russia
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