Semion Chelyuskin

Semyon Ivanovich Tscheljuskin (Russian Семён Иванович Челюскин, scientific transliteration Semen Ivanovich Čeljuskin; probably * 1700, † probably 1764) was a Russian polar explorer.

Tscheljuskin was trained at the Moscow School of Mathematics and Navigation and later at the St. Petersburg Naval Academy. From 1726, he served as the assistant navigator in the Russian Baltic Fleet. In 1733 he was promoted to the Navigator. From 1733 to 1742 Tscheljuskin participated in the Great Northern Expedition under Vitus Bering. Tscheljuskin worked here under the polar explorers Vassily Prontschischtschew and Chariton Laptev Prokofjewitsch. In the spring of 1741, he undertook a journey from the Chatanga to Pjassina. This Tscheljuskin first described the western coastline of the Taymyr Peninsula by the Faddeja Bay in the east to the mouth of the Taimyra in the West.

In 1760 he was discharged with the rank of Captain from the Baltic fleet and probably died in 1764.

Tscheljuskin as a name

Tscheljuskin discovered the northernmost continental mainland point of the earth. This was named in 1843 in recognition of his achievements by Alexander Theodor von Middendorff after him Cape Tscheljuskin.

In the 1930s, a named after him " Tscheljuskin " Soviet vessel was sent on an exploration of the Northeast Passage. The ship was trapped by pack ice and sank in 1934 in the Arctic Ocean. The " Tscheljuskinzy " said castaways were, however, rescued by Russian pilots.