Hydrographic Society Russia

Pleasant Meeting with Young Pupils

We have previously mentioned HSR’s collaboration with the historical–geographical club ‘Boris Vilkitzki’ in Saint Petersburg, school No. 43, supervised by the geography teacher Mrs Elena Nazarenko. On 20–21 February, some HSR members took part in the conference entitled “Great geographical opening during the epoch of the Romanov House tzars”, which was devoted to the 395th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty and the 95th anniversary of the opening of the Emperor Nikolay II Earth (Northern Earth). Participating in the conference were Mr Peter Vilkitzki (grandson of Boris Vilkitzki, who discovered the Emperor Nikolay II Earth) and his wife, who had arrived from Germany. Also participating were Mrs Irina Tikhomirova (the niece of the great-granddaughter of Boris Vilkitzki), and Mrs Irina Evgenova (the daughter of Russian Arctic researcher Nikolay Evgenov) and her daughter.
On the first day, the pupils of classes 7–10 made 22 messages that told of all representatives of the Romanov House and the famous Russian explorers and seafarers, from Semen Dezhnev and finishing with Boris Vilkitzki. After the childrens’ presentation, it was the turn of the HSR members. They expressed great satisfaction with the conference, thanking the organisers and handing over some books and articles concerning the history of sea research in Russia.

The following day, the children and the guests visited the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, where the honorary right to make a ­traditional midday shot from a gun was given to Peter Vilkitzki. Flowers were laid by one group of participants at the memorial plaque of Admiral G.I. Nevelskoy and by another group at the tombs of the famous hydrographers Andrey (father) and Boris (son) Vilkitzki in Smolensk orthodox cemetery.

The dinner – held in the school dining room and during which the HSR members once again thanked the school director and teachers for their admirable work in educating the young generation – was the natural end of the conference.

HSR Rewards Young Hydrographers
The official graduation ceremony of the next group of young hydrographers took place on 5 March 2008 in an ancient building on Vasiljevsky Island in St Petersburg, where the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy (SMA) of the Russian Transport Ministry is located.

A few days earlier, the Directors of the SMA Arctic Faculty (which prepares specialist hydrographers) addressed the HSR Council with a request to reward two graduates with an honorary diploma instituted by the HSR. This year they were Igor Prozorov for hydrography and Xenia Belova for hydrometeorology. Both candidates had studied well and had presented interesting work for their degrees.

After the HSR Council made the positive decision on the honorary diplomas, the President of HSR Nikolay N. Neronov carried out their decision during the ceremony. It is the first time that a woman was rewarded an honorary HSR diploma.