Aleksandra Potanina

Alexandra Viktorovna Potanina (born 25 Januarjul / February 6 1843greg in Gorbatov, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, .. .. † 19 Septemberjul / October 1 1893greg at Zhuo - Hua, China) was a Russian geographer and explorer. She was the first woman to the Russian Geographical Society.

Life

She was the daughter of the teacher of the Nizhny Novgorod seminary, Viktor Lavrovsky. At home she was raised by her older brothers and went to a school for girls from the clergy. She read a lot and had a talent for drawing. 1866, she became a teacher in the urban diocesan school. 1872 she met during a visit to her exiled brother Constantine in Nikolsk ( Vologda Oblast ) whose friend Grigory Potanin, whom she married in 1874 and with whom she moved to Saint Petersburg.

Together with her husband took Potanina in the years 1876 to 1893 participated in four expeditions to Central Asia. The first expedition led 1876/1877 in the north-west of Mongolia, 1879/1880 was followed by an expedition from the place Zaisan in the valley of the Black Irtysh, from 1884 to 1886 were northern China, eastern Tibet and the central Mongolia tours, 1892/1893 finally, the Tibetan plateau and the Gobi desert. During the last expedition Potanina became seriously ill and died near Zhuo - Hua on the way to Shanghai. She was buried in Kjachta ( Buryatia ).

Awards

In 1887 she was honored for her work " The Buryat " with the great gold medal of the Russian Geographical Society. In the mountains of Mongolian Altai a glacier " Alexandrin " is named after her.

Publications

• Буряты ( The Buryats ) ( 1891)
• Из путешествий по Восточной Сибири, Монголии, Тибету и Китаю ( From a trip to eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet and China) ( 1895)
• Статьясен пуххи (1895 )