ARKHANGELSK, October 17. /TASS/. A project about geologists who explored the Novaya Zemlya archipelago was presented in Arkhangelsk. According to Head of the Historic and Cultural Heritage Department at the Russian Arctic National Park Evgeny Yermolov, the project is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Vladimir Rusanov and the 120th anniversary of Mikhail Yermolayev.
Vladimir Rusanov (1875-1913) was a Russian Arctic explorer, who participated and led scientific expeditions to polar archipelagos - Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen. Mikhail Yermolayev (1905-1991) was a Soviet Arctic researcher, polar geologist, who founded the Ocean Geography Department at the Kaliningrad State University.
"We tell about them in a rather similar manner. Maps of Novaya Zemlya, Rusanov's routes and Yermolayev's routes across the archipelago. Rusanov's expeditions to Novaya Zemlya were earlier - from 1907 to 1912. As for Yermolayev, he described the main adventures of 1932, and then we present his further research. Plus, of course, authentic photographs of the expeditions from archives of museums in Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg," the historian said.
Rusanov conducted systematic geological surveys of the archipelago, and in 1907 he explored the coast of the Matochkin Shar Strait on foot, and in 1908 he walked across the Severny Island for the first time. In 1909-1911, he led expeditions around Novaya Zemlya on motor sailing ships. In 1912, Rusanov on board the Hercules ship sailed to Spitsbergen, where he surveyed coal-bearing areas, and then the expedition headed east and went missing.
Mikhail Yermolayev managed the first hydrometeorology station that was opened on Novaya Zemlya in 1932 in the Russian Harbor Bay. He came to the archipelago for the first time when a teenager. At the age of 15, he was diagnosed with an open form of tuberculosis. The doctor advised him to go to the Arctic, because in the cold air "everything is dying." The young man took the advice literally, went to Arkhangelsk and took a voyage on a ship of the Northern Scientific and Commercial Expedition. The disease retreated, and Yermolayev became a regular participant in Arctic expeditions.
Cinematic history
One of the most famous episodes of the geologist's work: the story of Yermolayev group's trip from the Russian Harbor to Cape Zhelaniya was used for the plot of the Seven Brave feature film by Sergey Gerasimov in 1936. In the autumn of 1932, a supply ship could not approach Novaya Zemlya, and dozens fishermen were left there without supplies. In early 1933, the food situation became critical. Yermolayev, being the station chief, tried to help, but available supplies anyway were not designed for that many people. The Krasin icebreaker was sent to help - it was in February, when there are no landmarks in the Arctic due to the polar night season.
The plan was that the Krasin would be guided by a radio beacon at Cape Zhelaniya, but a radio lamp failed there. A spare one was found in the Russian Harbor. Yermolayev decided to bring it to Cape Zhelaniya traveling by air sled, hoping the trip in one direction would take one day. The sled's crew was three people: the station's chief, mechanic Vladimir Peterson and German geophysicist Kurt Wolcken. But first, the sled hit an area with sharp rocks and got stuck while trying to leave. The sled's runners froze in the cold, and then there outburst Novaya Zemlya's 'bora' - a blizzard storm. For ten days, the polar explorers had to hide in a crevice, then they went on but got stuck once again. In the long run, they had to walk to Cape Zhelaniya, leaving injured Wolcken behind.
"Later on, to fetch him was sent a radio operator from Cape Zhelaniya - in whatever foreign languages he knew only one phrase - "Are you married?" Anyway, the lamp was delivered, the radio beacon resumed working, the Krasin arrived safely, rescued everyone, and everyone survived. Yermolayev, Peterson and Wolcken were taken to the Russian Harbor. Yermolayev was awarded," the historian added.
The project is complemented by The Arctic: Harsh and Tender exhibition, which has opened at the Russian Arctic National Park's Visitor Center - about 20 paintings, graphics, watercolors, book illustrations, and installations of Novaya Zemlya's views.