Yuri Lysianskyi

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Yuri Lysiansky
Portrait of Lisyansky by Vladimir Borovikovsky.
Born	April 1(12), 1773 Nizhyn
Died	March 6, 1837(1837-03-06) (aged 63) Saint Petersburg
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Navy
Battles/wars	Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790), Battle of Sitka 1804
Awards	Order of Saint Vladimir

Yuri Fedorovych Lysianskyi (also spelled as Urey Lisiansky and Lisianski and Lysyansky) (Ukrainian: Юрій Федорович Лисянський, Jurij Fedorovyč Lysjanskyj; Russian: Ю́рий Фёдорович Лися́нский, Jurij Fëdorovič Lisjanskij, 1(13) April 1773 – 6 March 1837) was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy and explorer of Ukrainian origin. He headed the first Russian circumnavigation aboard the Neva and was among the early western explorers to visit Easter Island. Several places are named after him.

Biography[]

Lysiansky was born in Nizhyn (now Ukraine, then Russian Empire) in the family of the orthodox priest and was a descendant of old Cossack family. In 1786 he graduated from the and took part in the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790). During 1790-1793 he served in the Baltic Fleet. During 1793-1799 he sailed British ships all over the globe. Between 1793 and 1795 he served as a volunteer aboard the 36-gun HMS Oiseau, under her captain, Robert Murray. Lysiansky recalled in his memoirs his experiences on the North American Station operating against French convoys and privateers, and how while in the West Indies he was struck by yellow fever, recalling how Murray had helped his recovery, even giving up part of his own accommodation for the sick Lysiansky.^[1]

Map of the Neva's route

In 1803-1806 Lysiansky as the commanding officer of the Russian-American Company's merchant sloop Neva took part in the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth. The expedition was under the command of Count Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov, Plentipotentiary of Alexander I for the Far Eastern and Western colonies of the Russian Empire, and Captain Adam Johann von Krusenstern in Nadezhda. The ships also included a naturalist, Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius, and astronomer Johan Caspar Horner (1734-1834).^[2] They started from Kronstadt, but the ships split after visiting Hawaii, and Count Nikolay Rezanov and Lysianskyi headed to Russian America (Alaska). In 1804 Neva visited Easter Island,^[3] and later that year, was essential in defeating the Tlingit in the Battle of Sitka, Alaska. In 1805 he met Krusenstern again in Macau, but they soon separated. Also in 1805, he was the first to describe the Hawaiian monk seal on the island which now bears his name.^[4] Eventually, Neva was the first to return to Kronstadt on 22 July 1806. For his feats Lysiansky received several rewards, including the Order of Saint Vladimir of 3rd degree.

Lysianskyi's grave

Lysiansky was buried at Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, St. Petersburg.

Memorials[]

A number of places are named after him: Lisianski Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a peninsula of Baranof Island, Alaska, a bay, a strait, a river, and a cape in North America, an undersea mountain in Okhotsk Sea, and a peninsula by the Okhotsk Sea. There is monument and Memorial museum of U.Lysianskyi in ukrainian town of Nizhyn.

Citations[]

References[]

• Lisyansky, Yuri (1814). A Voyage Round the World in 1803, 4, 5 & 6 in the Ship Neva. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. ISBN 9780839811626.
• Naming of Alaska