The Gold Book of Saint-Petersburg

On 14th October some HSR members took part in a rare event: a ceremony of signing of a page of ‘The Golden Book of Saint Petersburg’, devoted to the Russian Hydrographic Office. ‘The Golden Book of Saint Petersburg’ was created ten years ago. The purpose of the project was to add to the city annals ‘In names and acts’. From this time, names of persons and organisations that have made the greatest contribution to development of the city began to be entered in it.

Books of similar status have not been created in Russia for some centuries. This concerns a hand-worked volume of more than 20kg in weight and made in a single copy by masters of printing house _1 of publishing house ‘Nauka’ (‘Science’) under the direction of its director, a former hydrographer and active HSR member Nikita Markov. The paper for the book was made in France; the cover was made in Germany from goat leather, using an ancient technology. Outstanding artists of Saint Petersburg took part in its design. Chairman of the executive committee of the Association that initiated the project, Mr Sergey Grigorjev is responsible for the storage and realisation of records in the Book.

Depending on the importance of their contribution to the development of the city, either a quarter, a half, or a full page is allocated to persons or organisations. The offer of an entry in the book was made in 2002, in connection with the 175th anniversary of the first Hydrographic Office in Saint Petersburg (then ‘the Management of General – Hydrographer’, now Head Department of Navigation and Oceanography, Ministry of Defence). For 175 years Russian hydrographers have occupied an outstanding position in the study of oceans and seas, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, having carried out about forty voyages of circumnavigation and surveyed boundless areas of the seas adjoining Russia. The activities of the Hydrographic Office have been inseparably related to the city of Saint Petersburg, and Naval hydrographers in many respects promoted prosperity of the city and its transformation into ‘sea cap-ital’ of Russia.

The offer of being thus re-corded was accepted, and a whole page of the book was allocated for text, art design and signatures. HSR member Rear Admiral (retd.) Vyacheslav Romanov, and employee of the Chart division, Mrs Valentina Agerova were responsible for preparing the text. Mrs Agerova also artistically arranged the page.
The ceremony of signing the page in ‘The Golden Book of Saint Petersburg’ took place in the HDNO assembly hall. Signatures solemnly placed were those of Chief of the HDNO Admiral Anatoly Komaritsyn, Rear Admiral (retd.) Vyacheslav Romanov, Rear Admiral (retd.) Grigory Baranov, Captain of the 1st rank (retd.) Nikita Markov, and HSR president, Captain of the 1st rank (retd.) Nikolay Neronov.

Contact
Hydrographic Society Russia (HSR)
Att. Viktor Rybine
Kozhevennaja linija 41
Saint-Petersburg 199106 Russia
Tel/Fax: +7 812 350 5026