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Semyonov-Tian-Shansky- descendants of the Russian geographer Pyotr Semyonov, who was awarded the prefix “Tian-Shansky” by imperial decree of 1906.

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, Pyotr Petrovich (1827-1914) - Russian geographer. Married twice:
∞ First wife (since 1851): Vera Aleksandrovna Chulkova (1833-1853).
∞ Second wife (since 1861): Elizaveta Andreevna Zablotskaya-Desyatovskaya (1842-1915).
- Dmitry Petrovich(1852-1917) (from his first marriage) - scientist-statistician, active state councilor.
  - Rafail Dmitrievich(1879-1919) - statistician; died of exhaustion in Moscow.
    - Kirill Rafailovich(1910-1942) - agronomist, artilleryman during the Second World War; died at the front.
    - Vasily Rafailovich(1912-circa 1920) - died of meningitis.
  - Leonid Dmitrievich(1880-1917) - symbolist poet; killed during the revolution.
  - Mikhail Dmitrievich(1882-1942) - doctor geographical sciences, statistician; died of starvation in Leningrad during the siege.
  - Vera Dmitrievna(1883-1984) - artist.
  - Ariadna Dmitrievna (1885-1920).
  - Nikolay Dmitrievich (1888-1974) - naval officer; died in exile in Paris, was married to Vera Nikolaevna (ur. Baroness Wrangel)
    - Pyotr Nikolaevich(1925-2003) - geologist-paleontologist, scientific photographer.
      - Kirill Petrovich(born 1964) - art critic, lives in France.
      - Irina Petrovna(born 1961) - Professor of Russian at the University of Normandy, Caen (France)
  - Alexander Dmitrievich(1890-1979) - Bishop of Zilon, Orthodox theologian.
- Olga Petrovna(1863-1906) - artist, botanist, ethnographer.
- Andrey Petrovich(1866-1942) - a major Russian zoologist, entomologist, poet-translator; died during the siege.
- Veniamin Petrovich(1870-1942) - Russian geographer, statistician, cartographer, author of fundamental works on zoning; died during the siege of Leningrad.
  - Vladimir Veniaminovich(1900-1972) - shipbuilding theorist, professor, honored worker of science and technology.
    - Marina Vladimirovna(born 1928) - psychiatrist.
  - Roman Veniaminovich(1902-1976) - shipbuilding engineer.
    - Elena Romanovna(1929-1995) - geologist.
    - Alexey Romanovich (19-- - 19--).
- Valery Petrovich(1871-1968) - lawyer, art critic; died in exile in Finland.
  - Alexander Valerievich(1900-1987) - engineer, (after emigrating to Finland) lieutenant in the Finnish army.
- Izmail Petrovich(1874-1942) - Soviet meteorologist, teacher; died during the siege.
  - Oleg Izmailovich(1906-1990) - biologist, professor, organizer of nature reserves in the USSR.
  - Georgy Izmailovich(1910-1989) - mathematical engineer, employee of the Institute of Oceanology.
  - Svyatoslav Izmailovich (1908-1942)
  - Olga Izmailovna(1911-1970) - Soviet chess player, translator.
    - Alexander Vladimirovich- physicist.
  - Anna Izmailovna(d. 1920).

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An excerpt characterizing the Semyonov-Tyan-Shanskys

“I didn’t expect this, this,” he said to Adjutant Schneider, who came to him late at night, “I didn’t expect this!” I didn't think that!
“You need to rest, Your Grace,” said Schneider.
- No, no! “They will eat horse meat like the Turks,” Kutuzov shouted without answering, hitting the table with his plump fist, “they too will, if only...

In contrast to Kutuzov, at the same time, in an event even more important than the retreat of the army without a fight, in the abandonment of Moscow and the burning of it, Rostopchin, who seems to us to be the leader of this event, acted completely differently.
This event - the abandonment of Moscow and its burning - was as inevitable as the retreat of the troops without a fight for Moscow after the Battle of Borodino.
Every Russian person, not on the basis of conclusions, but on the basis of the feeling that lies in us and lay in our fathers, could have predicted what happened.
Starting from Smolensk, in all the cities and villages of the Russian land, without the participation of Count Rastopchin and his posters, the same thing happened that happened in Moscow. The people waited for the enemy with carelessness, did not rebel, did not worry, did not tear anyone to pieces, but calmly awaited their fate, feeling the strength within themselves to the fullest. difficult moment find what was supposed to do. And as soon as the enemy approached, the richest elements of the population left, leaving their property; the poorest remained and set fire and destroyed what was left.
The consciousness that it will be so, and will always be so, lay and lies in the soul of the Russian person. And this consciousness and, moreover, the premonition that Moscow would be taken, lay in the Russian Moscow society of the 12th year. Those who began to leave Moscow back in July and early August showed that they were expecting this. Those who left with what they could seize, leaving their houses and half their property, acted this way due to that latent patriotism, which is expressed not by phrases, not by killing children to save the fatherland, etc. by unnatural actions, but which is expressed imperceptibly, simply, organically and therefore always produces the most powerful results.
“It is a shame to run from danger; only cowards are fleeing Moscow,” they were told. Rastopchin in his posters inspired them that leaving Moscow was shameful. They were ashamed to be called cowards, they were ashamed to go, but they still went, knowing that it was necessary. Why were they going? It cannot be assumed that Rastopchin frightened them with the horrors that Napoleon produced in the conquered lands. They left, and the rich were the first to leave, educated people, who knew very well that Vienna and Berlin remained intact and that there, during their occupation by Napoleon, the inhabitants had fun with the charming Frenchmen, whom Russian men and especially ladies loved so much at that time.
They traveled because for the Russian people there could be no question: whether it would be good or bad under the rule of the French in Moscow. It was impossible to be under French control: that was the worst thing. They left before the Battle of Borodino, and even faster after the Battle of Borodino, despite appeals for protection, despite statements by the commander-in-chief of Moscow about his intention to raise Iverskaya and go to fight, and to the balloons that were supposed to destroy the French, and despite all that nonsense that Rastopchin talked about in his posters. They knew that the army had to fight, and that if it couldn’t, then they couldn’t go to the Three Mountains with the young ladies and serfs to fight Napoleon, but that they had to leave, no matter how pitiful it was to leave their property to destruction. They left and did not think about the majestic significance of this huge, rich capital, abandoned by the inhabitants and, obviously, burned (a large abandoned wooden city had to burn); they left each for themselves, and at the same time, only because they left, that magnificent event took place, which will forever remain the best glory of the Russian people. That lady who, back in June, with her araps and firecrackers, rose from Moscow to the Saratov village, with a vague consciousness that she was not Bonaparte’s servant, and with fear that she would not be stopped on the orders of Count Rastopchin, did simply and truly that great the case that saved Russia. Count Rostopchin, who either shamed those who were leaving, then took away public places, then gave out worthless weapons to drunken rabble, then raised images, then forbade Augustine to take out relics and icons, then seized all the private carts that were in Moscow, then one hundred thirty-six carts made by Leppich balloon, then hinted that he would burn Moscow, then told how he burned down his house and wrote a proclamation to the French, where he solemnly reproached them for ruining him orphanage; either accepted the glory of burning Moscow, then renounced it, then ordered the people to catch all the spies and bring them to him, then reproached the people for this, then expelled all the French from Moscow, then left Madame Aubert Chalmet in the city, who formed the center of the entire French Moscow population , and without much guilt he ordered the old venerable postal director Klyucharyov to be captured and taken into exile; either he gathered people to the Three Mountains to fight the French, then, in order to get rid of these people, he gave them a person to kill and he himself left for the back gate; either he said that he would not survive the misfortune of Moscow, or he wrote poems in French in albums about his participation in this matter - this man did not understand the significance of the event that was taking place, but just wanted to do something himself, to surprise someone, to do something patriotically heroic and, like a boy, he frolicked over the majestic and inevitable event of the abandonment and burning of Moscow and tried with his small hand to either encourage or delay the flow of the huge stream of people that was carrying him away with it.

Petr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky - an outstanding geographer, major public figure and for a number of decades vice-chairman of the Russian Geographical Society.

The future scientist was born on January 2, 1827 (January 14, new style) in the estate of the village of Urusov, Ryazan province in noble family. His grandfather took part in Suvorov’s Alpine campaign, his father was a hero of the Battle of Borodino and gained fame in his time as a gifted playwright.

After graduating from the school of guards ensigns in St. Petersburg, Semyonov, who had loved nature since childhood and was keen on collecting collections, in 1845 entered the natural sciences department of St. Petersburg University. He celebrated his graduation from university in a very unusual way - by walking from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

In 1849, Pyotr Petrovich, who by this time had already shown great interest in geography, was elected a member of the Geographical Society, which had arisen only four years earlier. From this moment on, the fate of the scientist and the Russian Geographical Society are intertwined so closely that it is often impossible to determine where the history of the Society ends and the family chronicles of Semenov begin.

Pyotr Semyonov about the Russian Geographical Society: “Free and open to everyone who is imbued with love for native land and deep, unshakable faith in the future of the Russian state and the Russian people, the corporation."

Pyotr Petrovich dreamed of making his contribution to geography by exploring the “white spots” on the world map. The largest unexplored territory at that time was Central Asia and the completely mysterious Tien Shan, known only from ancient Chinese sources. This is what Semenov wrote about this region: “Penetrate into the depths of Asia to snowy peaks this inaccessible ridge, which the great Humboldt, based on... meager Chinese information, considered volcanic, and to bring him several samples from the fragments of this ridge, and home - a rich collection of flora and fauna of a country newly discovered for science - that was what seemed most tempting to me feat."

He realized his dream in 1856–1857. Fearing that permission for this trip would be refused, Semenov announced to the Society that he was going to Altai and “the parts of the Kyrgyz steppes adjacent to it.” His route to the Tien Shan lay through Omsk, Barnaul, Rudny Altai, Semipalatinsk and the Vernoye fortification (Alma-Ata). Along the way, Pyotr Petrovich met his friend, the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, exiled to Semipalatinsk.

Semyonov managed to penetrate into depths that were mysterious to his contemporaries mountainous country. He drew a diagram of the Tien Shan ridges, explored Lake Issyk-Kul, discovered the upper reaches of the Syr Darya, saw the Tengri-Tag mountain group and the majestic Khan-Tengri pyramid, and reached the glaciers originating in the Tengri-Tag group. The researcher established the absence in the Tien Shan active volcanoes(in those days this was considered an irrefutable statement), proved that eternal snow lies on the Tien Shan at very high altitude, established vertical natural belts of the Tien Shan, discovered dozens of new plant species unknown to science. His enormous achievement is the compilation of the first orography diagram of the Tien Shan in the form of a system of latitudinal ridges. In addition, he collected the richest collections rocks and plants.

Some of these studies took place in a tense military-political environment of internecine hostility between the Kyrgyz tribes and required great personal courage from Pyotr Petrovich.

Semyonov laid the true foundation of geological geographical knowledge about Tien Shan. This merit, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his expedition (1906), was noted by adding the component “Tian-Shansky” to Semyonov’s surname.

In 1873 he was elected vice-president of the Society and held this post until his death in 1914. He also published a three-volume history of the Society’s activities over the first 50 years of its existence.

Heading the Geographical Society, Semenov-Tyan-Shansky proved himself to be a remarkable organizer of large expeditions and educator of a brilliant galaxy of scientists. The merits of Semenov-Tyan-Shansky in organizing research are especially great Central Asia: Przhevalsky, Potanin, Pevtsov, Roborovsky, Kozlov, Bogdanovich, Grumm-Grzhimailo, Obruchev - this is far from full list travelers who owe their success not only to themselves, but also to the inspiring role and perseverance of Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, the versatility and complexity of the programs that he developed for these expeditions. Semyonov provided energetic assistance to the plans of Miklouho-Maclay and, together with Shokalsky, organized the Kamchatka expedition of the Russian Geographical Society.

On the initiative and insistence of Semenov, according to his plans and programs, in 1897 the first general census of the population of Russia was carried out, which turned out to be the only one before the 1917 revolution.

The Russian Geographical Society, as a result of the activities of Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, gained great authority among similar Societies around the world. “For us, old workers in the Society, the name of Pyotr Petrovich and the Geographical Society are inseparable,” wrote the famous geographer and cartographer Yuliy Shokalsky in a collection of articles about Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (1928). Geographer and zoologist, president of the Society from 1940 to 1950, Lev Berg more than once emphasized that, despite the long period that has passed since the death of Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, his name “is surrounded within the walls of the Geographical Society with the same reverence as when his life, and they continue to call him by his first name and patronymic."

Pyotr Petrovich was not only an outstanding scientist, but also a charming person. Without exception, all his biographers and authors of memoirs note his sharp mind, selfless devotion to science, responsiveness, sensitivity, humanity, ebullient energy and perseverance.

Semenov Tian-Shansky died in 1914, having dedicated 65 years of his life to the Russian Geographical Society.

The Russian Geographical Society awards geographers for outstanding achievements gold and silver medals named after P.P. Semenov.

The name of Semyonov-Tian-Shansky on maps is borne by a glacier and a peak in the Central Tien Shan, a ridge south of Lake Kukunar, Peak Petr Petrovich in the Mongolian Altai, peaks in the Kyrgyz Alatau, the Caucasus, Alaska, Spitsbergen.

About a hundred new forms of plants and animals were named in honor of Semenov-Tyan-Shansky.

The Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Arts, almost all Russian universities, many Russian and foreign scientific societies elected Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky as an honorary member.

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky Petr Petrovich - (before 1906 - Semyonov; January 2 (14), 1827 (18270114) - February 26 (March 11), 1914) - Russian geographer, botanist, statistician, statesman and public figure.

Vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (since 1873) and president of the Russian Entomological Society (since 1889). Honorary member: Imperial Academy of Sciences (1873) and Academy of Arts (1874). Senator of the 2nd (peasant) department of the Governing Senate (since 1882). Member of the State Council (since 1897). Member of the Russian Mining Society (1900). Full member of all Russian universities.

It seemed to me that I had discovered... an area that had not been seen by anyone and was inaccessible to anyone, but surpassing in the beauty of its nature everything that I had ever seen before I was ten years old.

In 1856-1857 he explored the Tien Shan. Initiator of a number of expeditions to Central Asia. In 1859–60 he participated as an expert member and manager of the affairs of the Editorial Commission for the preparation of the peasant reform of 1861. Organizer of the first Russian population census in 1897.

Father of geographer Veniamin Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky and geographer, entomologist, coleopterologist Andrei Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky. Grandfather of Bishop Alexander (Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky) of Zilon (1890-1979).

Born into the family of a retired captain of the Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment, Pyotr Nikolaevich Semyonov (1791-1832), on the Ryazanka estate (now Chaplyginsky district, Lipetsk region). Brother statesman Nikolai Semenov. Until the age of 15, he was brought up in the village, developing independently, with the help of books. family library. As a child, his interest in geography was awakened by a game - geographic lotto with the names of countries, continents, rivers, cities. The boy was especially attracted to the world of plants. A rich collection of books on gardening helped him independently understand the taxonomy of plants, of which there were many in his home greenhouse. He came up with his own names for them and tried to find out as much as possible, making increasingly distant excursions beyond the estate and the nearest forest. Then he entered the school of guards ensigns and cadets, and upon completion of the course he became a volunteer student at St. Petersburg University in the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics in the Department of Natural Sciences.

Having passed the exam for the candidate's degree, in 1849 he was elected a member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, and from that time he constantly took an active part in the works of the society, as secretary of the department physical geography, then as chairman of the same department and, finally, as vice-chairman of the society (since 1873).

The first expedition was the transition from St. Petersburg to Moscow through Novgorod with the study of vegetation. It then continued in the black earth zone of Russia, in the Voronezh province, in the upper reaches of the Don. As a result, a dissertation for the title of Master of Botany was defended. This was followed by a trip to Europe and continued studies at the University of Berlin. There Semyonov met an outstanding scientist XIX century Alexander Humboldt, with whom he shared his plans for exploring Central Asia. “Bring me a sample of volcanic rock from the Tien Shan,” Humboldt asked him.

In 1851 he made a trip to the basins of the Oka and Don rivers, the result of which was the study “The Don flora in its relations with the geographical distribution of plants in European Russia" This work earned him a master's degree in botany. In 1853, Semenov went abroad and listened to lectures at the University of Berlin for three years, at which time he published the work “Ueber die Fossilien der Schlesischen Kohlenkalkes” in the “Proceedings of the German Geological Society.” The time remaining from desk studies was devoted to numerous scientific trips to Germany, Switzerland, Tyrol and Italy.

My work on Asian geography led me... to a thorough acquaintance with everything that was known about inner Asia. I was particularly attracted to the most central of the Asian mountain ranges - the Tien Shan, which had not yet been touched by a European traveler and which was known only from scanty Chinese sources...

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky Pyotr Petrovich

Having published in 1856 the first volume of the translation of “Earth Studies of Asia” by Karl Ritter with additions equal in volume to the original itself, Semenov undertook an expedition on behalf of the Russian Geographical Society to explore the Tien Shan mountain system, which was then an area inaccessible to Europeans. Within two years, Semenov visited Altai, Tarbagatai, Semirechensky and Trans-Ili Alatau, Lake Issyk-Kul, was the first European traveler to penetrate the Tien Shan and the first to visit the highest mountain group - Khan Tengri. In Issyk-Kul, Semenov looked for the Christian monastery mentioned on the Catalan map, which is currently identified with the archaeological complex in Ak-bulun. At this time he collected rich collections of natural history and geology of the country. Drawings by Tomsk artist P. M. Kosharov, made by him during the expedition of P. P. Semenov, are stored in the archives of the Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg. By imperial decree on November 23, 1906, for his services in the discovery and first exploration of the mountainous country of Tien Shan, the prefix “Tian-Shansky” was added to his surname “with descending descendants.”

Petr Petrovich Semenov - Russian geographer, botanist, statistician. In 1849 he graduated from St. Petersburg University and became a member of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1853, Semenov went abroad and attended lectures at the University of Berlin for three years. The idea of the Tien Shan expedition arose in him on the eve of his trip to Europe. Semenov himself wrote about this in his memoirs: “My work on Asian geography led me... to a thorough acquaintance with everything that was known about inner Asia. I was especially attracted to the most central of the Asian mountain ranges - the Tien Shan, which had not yet been touched by a European traveler and which was known only from meager Chinese sources... To penetrate deep into Asia to the snowy peaks of this unattainable ridge, which the great Humboldt, based on the same meager Chinese information, I considered it volcanic, and to bring him several samples from the fragments of rocks of this ridge, and home - a rich collection of flora and fauna of a country newly discovered for science - that was what seemed the most tempting feat for me.”

Pyotr Semenov began to carefully and comprehensively prepare for the trip to the Tien Shan. In 1853 and 1854 he visited the Alps and made numerous excursions in the mountains there on foot, without a guide, with a compass, doing geological and botanical research. He also visited Vesuvius, making about two dozen ascents on it. Returning to Russia in 1856, Semenov received consent from the Council of the Geographical Society to equip him for the expedition. At a time when Semenov was already preparing for the long journey, at the foot of the Trans-Ili Alatau - one of the northern ranges of the Tien Shan - the Russians founded the fortification of Vernoye (now the city of Almaty).

At the beginning of May 1856, Pyotr Semenov set off on his journey. “...I traveled by rail to Moscow and further to Nizhny along the highway, bought a Kazan-made tarantass there and rode by mail along the great Siberian highway...” he told about the beginning of the journey in his memoirs. The route ran through Barnaul, Semipalatinsk, Kopal to the Vernoye fortification - to the foot of the Trans-Ili Alatau.

2 Lake Issyk-Kul

The study of the Tien Shan began with a visit to Issyk-Kul. With great difficulty, the traveler reached the then deserted shores of this mountain lake, covered only with groves of small trees and tall bushes. “Only occasionally,” he wrote, “from such groves the felt yurts of Kyrgyz shepherds turn white and the long neck of a Bactrian camel is exposed, and even more rarely, a large herd jumps out from the vast forest of dense reeds bordering the grove wild boars or the formidable ruler of these reed thickets - a bloodthirsty tiger.”

Issyk-Kul is a huge lake, one of the deepest in Europe and Asia. About 80 mountain rivers flowing into Issyk-Kul, originating in the Tien Shan mountains, but not a single river flows out of it. At the time of Semenov’s travels, information about Issyk-Kul was insignificant. Geographers believed, for example, that it was from this lake that one of the large Central Asian rivers, the Chu River, began. Semenov's two trips to Issyk-Kul, especially the second, when he visited its western tip, were marked by great scientific results. Having passed through the narrow Boom Gorge, through which the Chu noisily carries its waters, Semenov reached the Issyk-Kul coast. Here he conducted a series of geological and geographical observations and for the first time established that the Chu begins not from the lake, but in one of the mountain valleys of the Tien Shan. In his letter sent to the Russian Geographical Society, Semenov wrote: “My second big trip to the Chu River exceeded my expectations with its success: I not only managed to cross the Chu, but even reached Issyk-Kul this way, i.e. its western an extremity on which no European has yet set foot and which has not been touched by any scientific research».

Semenov’s observations established that the Chu, before reaching Issyk-Kul, turns sharply in the opposite direction from the lake, crashing into the mountains rising on the western side of Issyk-Kul and, finally, bursts into the Boom Gorge.

3 First ascent of the Tien Shan

The following year, 1857, Semenov went to the mountains. His companion was the artist Kosharov, an art teacher at the Tomsk gymnasium. Having left Verny, the travelers reached the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, and from there, through the anciently famous Zaukinsky Pass, they penetrated to the upper reaches of the Syr Darya, which had not yet been reached by anyone before them.

Having passed through the forest zone of the Tien Shan, Semenov left the detachment accompanying him with packs and camels at the last fir trees and continued climbing, accompanied by Kosharov and several companions. “At last we reached the top of the pass, which presented me with an unexpected sight; the mountain giants were no longer in front of me, and in front of me lay an undulating plain, from which snow-covered peaks rose in relatively low hills. Between them were green lakes, only partially covered with ice, and where there was no ice, flocks of beautiful scoters swam on them. The hypsometric measurement gave me for absolute altitude Zaukinsky pass 3,380 meters. I felt a noise in my ears, and it seemed to me that they would immediately bleed.”

The travelers continued south along the rolling highlands. In front of them lay a vast syrt plateau, on which were scattered small semi-frozen lakes, located between relatively low mountains, but covered on the tops with snow, and on the slopes with the luxurious greenery of alpine meadows. Luxurious meadows with large, bright flowers of blue and yellow gentians, lavender bathworts, white and yellow buttercups covered all the hillsides. But most beautiful of all were the vast fields, completely overgrown with the golden heads of a special, previously undescribed type of onion, which later received the name Semenov’s onion from botanists.

From the top of one of the mountains, travelers saw the upper reaches of the Naryn tributaries flowing from the Syrt lakes. Thus, for the first time, the sources of the vast river system of Jaxartes were reached by a European traveler. From here the expedition moved back.

4 Second ascent of the Tien Shan

Soon Semenov made a second, even more successful ascent of the Tien Shan. This time the expedition route went in a more eastern direction. Climbing along the Karkara River, a significant tributary of the Ili River, then along Kok-Jar, one of the upper rivers of Karkara, the traveler climbed to a pass of about 3,400 meters, separating Kok-Jar from Sary-Dzhas.

“When we got ... to the top of the mountain pass,” wrote Semenov, “we were blinded by an unexpected sight. Directly south of us rose the most majestic mountain range I had ever seen. It all, from top to bottom, consisted of snow giants, of which I could count at least thirty to the right and left of me. This entire ridge, together with all the spaces between the mountain peaks, was covered with an unbroken veil of eternal snow. Just in the middle of these giants stood one, sharply separated by its colossal height, a snow-white, pointed pyramid, which seemed from the height of the pass to be twice as high as the other peaks.”

This is how the Khan Tengri peak was discovered, which until recently was considered the highest in the Tien Shan. Having visited the sources of Sary-Dzhas, Semnov discovered the vast glaciers of the northern slope of Khan Tengri, from which Sary-Dzhas originates. One of these glaciers was subsequently named after Semenov.

In the upper reaches of the Sary-Jaz, Semenov made another interesting discovery. He was the first researcher to see with his own eyes the huge mountain sheep of the Tien Shan - the kochkar - an animal that zoologists considered completely extinct.

On the way back to the foot of the Tien Shan, Semenov took a different road, following the valley of the Tekesa River. That same summer he explored the Trans-Ili Alatau, visited the Katu area in the Ili Plain, the Dzhungar Alatau and Lake Ala-Kul. The completion of the expeditions of 1856 - 1857 Semenov visited two mountain passes of Tarbagatai.

By imperial decree on November 23, 1906, for his services in the first exploration of the Tien Shan, the prefix “Tian-Shansky” was added to his surname “with descending descendants.”

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914)

(until 1906 - Semenov; January 14 (January 2, Old Style) 1827 - March 11 (February 26, Old Style) 1914 - Russian geographer, botanist, statistician and public figure.

Vice-chairman and head of the Russian Geographical Society (since 1873) and the Russian Entomological Society (since 1889). Honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1873). Member of the State Council (1897). Member of the Russian Mining Society (1900).

Second voyage 1857 Semenov managed to penetrate into the heart of the Tien Shan, to its gigantic mountains, the following year, 1857. His companion was the artist Kosharov, an art teacher at the Tomsk gymnasium, whom Semenov invited to participate in the expedition. Having left Verny, the travelers reached the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, and from there, through the anciently famous Zaukinsky Pass, they penetrated to the upper reaches of the Syr Darya, which had not yet been reached by anyone before them.

Results of the expedition. Semenov’s Tien Shan expedition lasted for about two years. On geographical map The traveler's discoveries were captured: the sources of the Chu, Syr Darya and Sary-Jaz rivers, the peaks of Khan Tengri and others. Semenov installed in general outline the location of the Tien Shan ridges, the height of the snow line in this area and discovered the huge Tien Shan glaciers.

He proved the absence of volcanoes in the Tien Shan and thereby refuted Humboldt's erroneous theory about the volcanic origin of the Heavenly Mountains, which was widespread in Western European science. Semenov obtained rich, versatile information about the geological structure, vegetation and fauna of the Tien Shan. This became possible only because he, as one of the later researchers of inner Asia G.E. rightly said about Semenov. Grumm-Grzhimailo, was a comprehensively trained scientific researcher, “combining in his person a geologist, a botanist and a zoologist.”

On this remarkable journey, Semenov proved himself to be a major geographer. Ahead of his contemporary science in his views on nature, he studied the dependence of relief on geological structure terrain. The scientist identified in the Tien Shan natural areas and gave a description of the characteristics of each of these zones, considering their climate and vegetation in close connection. With his expedition, Semenov laid the foundation for genuine geographical knowledge about the Tien Shan and created the foundations of a new geographical methodology for expeditionary work.

In 1906, for his services in the discovery and first exploration of the mountainous country of Tien Shan, the prefix “Tian Shan” was added to his surname.

A preliminary report on his journey was published in the "Bulletin of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society" for 1858, and then in 1867 brief overview the results of the trip appeared in “Notes of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society” and in “Peterm. Mitheil." Other materials were used in compiling the supplement to volume II of Ritter’s Asia and the Geographical-Statistical Dictionary of the Russian Empire, published by the Geographical Society, under the close supervision and active collaboration of Semenov.

Work and activities after the Tien Shan expedition

Petr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky

In 1858, Semenov was invited to take part in classes on peasant affairs, and in 1859 he was made a member and expert of the “Editing Commissions” and the head of their affairs. As one of Ya. I. Rostovtsev’s closest collaborators, he took an active part in all the efforts to liberate the peasants and draw up the Regulations of February 19, 1861.

In 1864, in collaboration with V.I. Melder, Semenov published a geological study on the transition strata between the Devonian and Carboniferous systems in Central Russia in the Bulletin de l’Acad. Imper. des Sciences".

In 1864 he was appointed director of the central statistical committee, which he served for 16 years, and in 1875 - chairman of the statistical council, which he headed until 1897. During this time, he created the correct system official statistics and a number of works on statistics were produced (for example, “Statistics of land ownership in Russia” and a number of reports at international statistical congresses).

In 1882 he was appointed senator of the 2nd (peasant) department of the government Senate. In 1873 he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences.

Having collected the richest collection of paintings by Flemish and Dutch artists XVI and XVII centuries, the second most complete in Europe (kept in the Hermitage, most sold Soviet power in the 30s to the west), Semenov published an extensive work: “Sketches on the history of Dutch painting.”

In 1874 he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Arts. Participation in the activities of many charitable societies, as their chairman, gave rise to several articles by Semenov on charity issues.

In 1888, Semenov toured the Transcaspian region and Turkestan, which resulted in extensive entomological collections that added to his enormous collection of insects, and the article: “Turkestan and the Transcaspian region in 1888.” In addition to the above-mentioned works, Semenov wrote a whole series articles and essays on various issues geography (for example, all introductions to the volumes of “Picturesque Russia”, published under his editorship) and all articles on geography in “ Encyclopedic Dictionary", published in the 1860s. In 1893, he participated in the compilation of the collection “Siberia, the Great Siberian railway", published by the Ministry of Finance for the World's Fair in Chicago, and in the same year wrote an article: "The Colonization Role of Russia."

Continuing to edit Ritger's edition of Asia, Semenov in 1894 and 1895 published two extensive volumes, constituting a huge addition or, in essence, a completely new work on geographical description Transbaikalia, in which Semenov himself owns a considerable share. At the same time, “Description of the Amur Region” by G. E. Grum-Grzhimailo was published, compiled on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, and many chapters in this work were written by Semenov.

In 1895, the 50th anniversary of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society was celebrated, on the occasion of which Semenov wrote “The History of Half a Century of Activities of the Geographical Society” (3 vols.).

In 1896, Semenov organized the Siberian department of the Nizhny Novgorod All-Russian Exhibition, and was the organizer of the outlying department at world exhibition in Paris.

The first general census of Russia, completed in 1897, was prepared and carried out under the main leadership of Semenov, who published an article on this occasion: “Characteristic conclusions from the first general census.”

Since 1899, a new extensive work “Russia” began to be published, edited under the general leadership of Semenov. Since 1897 Semenov was a member state council, present in the department of laws.

Semenov and famous Russian expeditions of the 19th century

Petr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky

Two remarkable dates - the years 1856 and 1870 - stand out especially clearly in the chronicle scientific activity Russian Geographical Society. And both of them are closely connected with the name of Semenov. 1856 - the beginning of his famous journey, which discovered new era in Inner Asian Studies. In 1870, at the end of October, N.N. set off from the Kronstadt raid on the corvette Vityaz to the shores of New Guinea. Miklouho-Maclay, and in November of the same year N.M. left Kyakhta on his first Central Asian trip. Przhevalsky. When 24-year-old Miklouho-Maclay came to the Geographical Society with a project for an expedition to New Guinea, the young researcher’s plans were initially treated with distrust. But Semenov supported the author and his project.

The meeting with Semyonov was also of decisive importance in the life of Przhevalsky. When he came to the Geographical Society in 1867, still unknown to anyone at that time, with a proposal to organize an expedition to Central Asia, the great scientist, “in deep confidence what a talented young man he might turn out to be a wonderful traveler,” guided Przhevalsky’s first steps, giving him advice to first try his hand at traveling around the Ussuri region. With the assistance of Semenov, Przhevalsky’s first expedition to Central Asia was organized.

Even during the Tien Shan expedition, Semenov, while passing through Omsk, met two young men: G.N. Potanin and Ch.Ch. Valikhanov, and noticed in them the makings of extraordinary researchers. In his memoirs, Semenov tells how, in his conversations with Potanin at that time, he “tried to develop in him a love of nature and natural science, which subsequently attracted the outstanding young man to St. Petersburg University and developed him into a wonderful traveler, ethnographer and naturalist.”

Under the influence of Semenov, he became a traveler and a major scientist and named his brothers P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky. He taught the complexity of geographical research, determination scientific work, simplicity and imagery geographical characteristics, the breadth and boldness of generalizations based on the collected factual material.

Science “is not a vague distraction of scholastic minds; it is...knowledge of surrounding objects and forces of nature, the ability to subordinate them to one’s power, to use them for one’s needs and needs.”

“The desire of every scientist, if he does not want to remain a cold cosmopolitan, but wants to live one life with his compatriots, should be, in addition to trying to advance human knowledge absolutely forward, also a desire to introduce its treasures into people’s lives.” This is what he said at the dawn of his scientific activity, on the eve of his trip to the Tien Shan.

Semenov died in St. Petersburg on March 11 (February 26, Old Style) 1914 from pneumonia at the age of 88.

The Russian Geographical Society established a gold medal named after Semenov-Tyan-Shansky.

Named after Semenov

A number of geographical features in Central and Central Asia are named in Semyonov's honor, including a peak and glacier in the Saryjaz range in the Tien Shan, as well as features in the Caucasus, Alaska and Spitsbergen, and about 100 new forms of plants and animals.

Main works

1. The Don flora in its relationship with the geographical distribution of plants in European Russia. St. Petersburg, 1851.

2. First trip to the Tien Shan, or Heavenly Ridge, to the headwaters of the river. Yaxarte, or Syr Darya, in 1857. "Bulletin of the Russian Geographical Society", 1858.

3. Geographical-statistical dictionary Russian Empire, vol.1. St. Petersburg, 1863.

4. Geographical and statistical dictionary of the Russian Empire, vol.2. St. Petersburg, 1865.

5. A trip from the Verny fortification through the mountain pass near Suok-Tyube and the Buam gorge to the western tip of the lake. Isyk-Kul in 1856. Excerpt from travel notes. "Notes of the Russian Geographical Society on general geography", vol. 1. St. Petersburg, 1867.

6. Geographical-statistical dictionary of the Russian Empire, vol.3. St. Petersburg, 1867.

7. Geographical and statistical dictionary of the Russian Empire, vol.4. St. Petersburg, 1870.

8. Review of the activities of the society in general geography “Twenty-fifth anniversary of the Russian Geographical Society.” St. Petersburg, 1872.

9. Geographical-statistical dictionary of the Russian Empire, vol.5. St. Petersburg, 1885.

Sources

1. A. Aldan-Semyonov. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky. From the series Life wonderful people. M., Young Guard, 1965.

2. N. Fradkin. P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky. To the 125th anniversary of his birth. Around the World 1952 N1.