Traveler Chikhachev Petr Aleksandrovich brief historical background. The meaning of Petr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev in a brief biographical encyclopedia. How and by whom Siberia was settled

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Russian travelers and scientists - the Chikhachev brothers

Platon Aleksandrovich Chikhachev
(1812, Gatchina - 1892, Versailles) The Chikhachev surname has been known for a long time and means a lot in the history of Russia. The brothers Peter and Platon Chikhachev played a special role in this:
- Petr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev is a geographer, geologist and traveler, who has significant discoveries and achievements in science. He went down in history as one of the first explorers of Altai and the largest explorer of the mountains of Asia Minor. In Altai there is a mountain range named after Chikhachev.
- Platon Aleksandrovich Chikhachev - Russian traveler and climber, one of the founding members of the Russian Geographical Society, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Mineralogical Society.
Brothers Peter and Platon Chikhachev wrote many interesting pages in the history of not only geographical, but also historical, political and philosophical sciences. Their names are associated with the study of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The Chikhachev brothers were born into the high-born family of the actual state councilor Alexander Petrovich Chikhachev, who was a colonel of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. After retiring, he was appointed commandant of the palace in Gatchina. Anna Fedorovna Chikhacheva (nee Bestuzhev - Ryumina), mother of the Chikhachev sons, was the cousin of the Decembrist Bestuzhev. She was a highly cultured woman who devoted a lot of time to raising and educating her sons. The outbreak of war with Turkey captivated the ardent 16-year-old youth, and Plato was enlisted as a cadet in the St. Petersburg Army Lancer Regiment. While still a very young man, he quite successfully participated in three wars (1828,1829,1831) against Turkey and Poland. He served zealously and honestly, and already in 1929 he was promoted to officer. He retired in 1833, and in 1835-1837 he made his first big trip around the Northern and South America- from Canada to Tierra del Fuego.

Torres del Paine, Argentina. This is how Platon Chikhachev discovered it for the Russian people.

And as soon as it fell out free time, he was engaged in self-education. A passion for travel and a passion for geography and geology dominated the life of an ordinary young officer. At the slightest opportunity, he wrote down everything that was interesting and useful in his travel diaries. Chikhachev did not write much, but printed works There was even less of him, paying all his attention to diary entries.
During his, one might say, almost half-round-the-world trip, P.A. Chikhachev collected a huge collection of diary entries, but he was unable to translate them into a literary heritage - the diaries were stolen.
It so happened that at the beginning of the Turkish campaign, the work of the then famous Alexander Humboldt fell into the hands of P. Chikhachev, and under his impression Plato developed a desire to see the wonders of the New World for himself. After reading Humboldt's book, a long chain of his travels began. Chikhachev was 24 years old at the time, but he had already experienced many events in his life and seen many countries. As he himself wrote about himself, “the unknown had an inexplicable charm for me, and obstacles only irritated my curiosity.” His dream was to cross the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. He tried to do this at the beginning of the journey - on the way through Santa Fe de Bogota in Colombia, but political turmoil in that country prevented the journey. He made a second such attempt in Peru - from Callao and Lima via Cusco, but again unsuccessfully. Plans included a trip to Europe - through Scotland and England to France and Italy, from where in 1835 (from Palermo) he went to the USA - to Philadelphia. Then he visited Canada (as far as Lake Superior), the plains along the Mississippi and Ohio and returned to New York. Further, his path went by sea to Vera Cruz in Mexico and from Acapulco, again by sea, to Guayaquil in Ecuador. From there, Chikhachev rode horses to the capital of this country - Quito. The same failure befell him in Peru, and only in Chile did he manage to fulfill his plan, having crossed the Andes through the pampas, he reached Buenos Aires. During his journey across the continent of America from Canada to Tierra del Fuego, Platon Chikhachev crossed the Andes, paying attention and time for climbing. In particular, he climbed the peaks of the Andes: Pichinchu, Pasco and others.

Volcano Pichinchu (4787)

On this campaign, Chikhachev crossed the Cumbre Pass (3965 m). The name of the pass is given by the name of an ancient small mining village (there used to be a silver mine there). Many years later, a cogwheel railway was built through this pass, and now a three-kilometer tunnel has been dug under it for the railway line and highway connecting Santiago and Buenos Aires. Having completed his campaign, Chikhachev became the first Russian traveler to cross the Andes.
In Buenos Aires, he suggested that he could get into Central Asia quite possibly from the north. He drew up a plan, which was approved by A. Humboldt. With the assistance of the latter, this plan was presented to the Emperor himself during his stay in Berlin in 1838. Despite the sympathy and approval of the plan by the Sovereign, Chikhachev could not carry it out, as he encountered strong opposition from Count Nesselrode, who was famous for constantly obstructing any Russian movement in Asia. With great difficulty, Chikhachev only managed to secure a secondment to the detachment going to Khiva, so that, having reached Khiva with him, he could continue the further journey himself, at his own expense and personal responsibility (!). The Khiva expedition failed. Platon Chikhachev is still just thinking about research activities Central Asia, as the same Humboldt gave a new impetus in this direction. If we take into account that by this time Humboldt had already become a venerable and internationally recognized scientist, then even he did not foresee any visible prerequisites for negative answers. Chikhachev made a very good impression on him with his ideas and enthusiasm. A letter from Humboldt dated April 11, 1839 to the Russian Minister of Finance E.F. has been preserved and published. Kankrin, where he recommends to the latter “a young man who, possessing courage and the happiest natural gifts, has the desire to devote his life to something wonderful, for example, traveling to Central Asia. He needs your patronage, and he deserves it... His desire for knowledge is not an empty appearance. This is an excellent young man, in whose person a lot could perish if he is not supported at home.” We have received information that Humboldt also addressed Tsar Nicholas I with a similar recommendation. But in vain. Chikhachev “was not supported at home,” as the perspicacious Humboldt foresaw. As Chikhachev’s contemporaries later claimed, Nicholas I was hostile to both Chikhachev brothers for their progressive views and sympathy for the Decembrists. Returning to his homeland, in 1845 Chikhachev took part in a very important undertaking - the organization of the Russian Geographical Society (RGO). He signed the call for its creation along with many other outstanding scientists of that era - Academician P.I. Keppen, G.P. Gelmersen, V.Ya. Struve, Rear Admiral F.P. Wrangel, V.F. Odoevsky, V.A. Perovsky and others. The Society’s charter was approved in August 1845 and indicated that the purpose of the Russian Geographical Society would be “the organization and direction of research and investigations in the geography of Russia”, “the collection and dissemination in Russia geographical information", as well as verification and refutation of "unfounded information" in order to prevent "the spread of false concepts about Russia." In the very near future, he made a review at the Geographical Society of studies of the peaks (as the upper reaches of the rivers were called at that time) of the Syr Darya and Amu- Daria. This did not save the situation - he got into trouble. Continuing to prepare for his journey, he actively sought to acquire the necessary scientific knowledge, attended lectures and worked under the guidance of first-class European scientists. Only the Crimean War took away his last hope of organizing a new expedition, and instead, in 1855, Chikhachev went as a volunteer to Sevastopol, where he remained under the commander-in-chief, Prince Gorchakov, until the armistice. In 1856, Chikhachev married and since then, due to family circumstances and poor health, lived for the most part abroad, devoting most of his time to geographical research and science in general. In his numerous travels, Chikhachev devoted a lot of time to hiking in mountainous areas, making ascents in order to acquire new knowledge in new regions of the Earth. So, in the Pyrenees, he made an interesting ascent to the most high mountain Pyrenees - Aneto peak (Annetu, Neto, and in Spanish - Aneto). This third highest mountain in Spain is also known by its French name, Pic de N&233thou. This mountain is considered the masterpiece of the Pyrenees and soon became a permanent must-climb to its summit. Naturalist writer Louis Ramon de Carbonnières (1755-1827) described Aneto as a heap of needles of ice. It is possible that the current name is related to the small town of Aneto, located on the eastern slope. Local shepherds and hunters called the peak simply a peak, a prong (Spanish “punta”) or “Mala(x)ita” (can be translated as: “broken/bad pin/nail (without a head).” The interest of researchers and climbers in Aneto awoke back at the beginning of the 18th century, but until the middle of the 19th century, attempts to climb the mountain ended tragically (dared souls died in the cracks of the glacier), which is why Aneto began to be accompanied by notoriety.

Aneto Peak. (3404). Pyrenees. Spain. Province of Huesca.

The active Russian officer Chikhachev surprised local residents quite a bit when he began to collect information about this peak and receive the necessary advice, wanting to climb Aneto Peak. Local residents strongly dissuaded Chikhachev from attempting to climb this mountain. The peak was notorious among local shepherds and hunters. For a long time, the dangerous peaks of the Pyrenees range, where Peak Anetou is located, clearly did not evoke much tenderness among the locals, who gave this mountain range the name Maladetta (Spanish - “cursed”). But in reality this peak turned out to be not the most difficult to climb. In July 1842, he submitted on the first attempt to a group of climbers led by the Russian officer Platon Chikhachev. He was accompanied on the ascent by local guides Pierre Sanio de Luz, Luchonnet Bernard Arrazo and Pierre Redone. In this group was the botanist Albert de Frankville with his guide Jean Sure. They stormed the summit from the “Renklus refuge” - this is a natural cave at an altitude of 2140 meters, which for a long time served as a refuge for smugglers.
At the top of the mountain they built a pyramid of stones and left a bottle with a note containing the names of all the expedition members.
To mark such an unusual event, the Toulouse Academy published Chikhachev's reported barometric measurements of Maladette Peak and recognized his work with a silver medal. He was the first traveler to reach the most high point mountain, and barometrically determined its height at 3414 meters. After this ascent, one of his French acquaintances (de Joinville) expressed doubt about the accuracy of Chikhachev’s determination of the height of this peak, and perhaps even about the very fact of the ascent. Chikhachev repeated this ascent on a bet with de Joinville himself. At the top, of course, they found Chikhachev's calling card. And the second measurement of the peak height gave the same result as the first. A member of several Academies and geographical societies in a number of countries, at home in Russia (especially in its government circles) Chikhachev was not popular. This attitude was explained by the progressive views of both Chikhachevs and their sympathy for the Decembrists. This attitude was especially evident in the idea expressed by Chikhachev to conduct an expedition to Central Asia to study the upper basin of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers (in those days, this was, as they say, a “pioneer project” of science). Even the energetic support of the Geographical Society organized in Russia, the implementation of such a project, as they wrote later: “... met with insurmountable obstacles from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Society was unable to equip an expedition to Central Asia in the initial period of its activities. As a result of cabinet intrigues, the talented and courageous, and also excellently trained Platon Aleksandrovich Chikhachev, who could have become a pioneer of Russian geographical science in the study of Central Asia, had to abandon his cherished dream and, having gone abroad for a long time, “erased myself,” so to speak, from the ranks of Russian explorers of Inner Asia.”
The pages of the biography of Peter and Platon Chikhachev are filled with information about ancient times, when Russian geographical science, which already had considerable fame for research on the seas, entered the continent and turned its attention to the study of distant and inaccessible countries, including the mountainous countries of the world. The tireless traveler Platon Chikhachev, being an expert on mountain paths, passes and ascents to a number of peaks in Western Europe, Africa and America, later turned his persistence, experience and erudition to preparing expeditions to Central Asia, which was a “blank spot” on the maps of those times. Alas, through no fault of his own, these plans did not achieve their goal, and he left behind only a most interesting overview of geographical data about Central Asia.
After his marriage to E.F. Offenberg in 1856, Platon Aleksandrovich Chikhachev moved abroad almost forever. He devoted himself there to caring for his family. Until 1874 he lived mainly in Paris, in the years 1874-1880. - in Wiesbaden, Germany, and spent his last years in Cannes, in the south of France. During this time, he wrote several interesting articles about “California and the Ussuri region” and o “ Railway Canadian Pacific" (1890-1891). In them, he combined an analysis of the physical, geographical and economic conditions of the countries of Asia and America.
The life of Platon Aleksandrovich Chikhachev abroad was very solitary, alien to any broad public connections and honors corresponding to a scientist of his rank. He tried to give his children the same good education that he himself received: his son Fyodor Platonovich became a famous mineralogist. Petr Alexandrovich Chikhachev– the elder brother of Platon Chikhachev, a Russian geographer and geologist. In 1876 he was elected an Honorary Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Since 1890, he became an Honorary Member of the Russian Geographical Society. One of the majestic ridges of Altai, where he once conducted his research, is called the Chikhachev Ridge. He visited all the mountain ranges of the Anatolian Peninsula and made many ascents for purely research purposes. As a result of a trip to Italy and Southern France (1839-1841), he compiled a geological map of the Apennine Peninsula based on materials from a trip to Altai and North-West China (1842), compiled a geographical and geological description of these territories in 1845, and in Russia he wrote a description of Kuznetsky coal basin. One of the oldest coal mines in Kubassa.

In 1847-1863 Undertook a number of expeditions across Asia Minor in 1877-1878, traveling through Spain, Algeria and Tunisia.
For his interesting and brilliantly written article on the Pamirs, Pyotr Chikhachev collected a lot of little-known information, starting with the descriptions of the 7th century Buddhist monk-traveler Giun-Tsang and the diaries of Marco Polo in the 13th century and ending with the reports of English agents Moorcroft, Wood and others. To the text of his work, which included both physical and geographical information and data on communication routes, passes, etc., Chikhachev also attached a “Hypothetical map of the Pamirs and the peaks of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya” (Hypothetical map).
Chikhachev’s map already quite correctly represented the river system of both mentioned rivers (as well as the Tarim River in the east), the position of the Mustag, or Than-Shan ridges (as the name Tien Shan was written at that time), and the Himalayas, which the author combined with the Karakorum . But the Pamir mountain systems were depicted only in the form of one meridional ridge, called Bolorsky - there was still so little information about them. It connected three mountain nodes on this map, the first of which was located northwest of Kashmir (Srinagar), where the Himalayas and Hindu Kush meet. The second node was located in the upper reaches of the Amu Darya, where Khun-Lun-Shan (Kuen-Lun) adjoins Bolor from the east, and the third - not far from Margelan, where, as Chikhachev thought, Than-Shan branches off to the east.
The main works on geography and geology left by Pyotr Alexandrovich relate to Asia Minor, the Mediterranean countries (Italy and Southern France, Spain, Algeria, Tunisia) and Altai. P.P. Zakharov (Based on materials: dic.Akademic.RU, Wikiznanie.RU, Club – crystal. RU, Rilex.RU. Books by V.V. Tsybulsky “Likhachevs”. Photos from Internet publications, photogallerys.ru/en , Ocenil.RU, Kristur,Usoz.UA, http://dlyakota.ru/21198-ugled, Images/ yandex.RU)

CHIKHACHEV PETER ALEXANDROVICH

Diplomat, geographer, geologist and cartographer, traveler.

One of the founding members of the Russian Geographical Society. Honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg Mineralogical Society.

Chikhachev published about a hundred brochures, articles and books, among which the eight-volume “Asia Minor” gained worldwide fame. Published work “Travel to Eastern Altai” in 1825, illustrated by artists E.E. Mayer and I.K. Aivazovsky, became a monument of Russian and world geographical literature dedicated to Southern Siberia for the first half of the 19th century century. His path passed through Altai, Tuva, Kazakhstan and through our region, at that time the Tomsk province, through the villages of Zenkovo, Afonino, Itat, Tisul and many others.

Chikhachev established the presence of coal seams in various regions of Southern Siberia. He conducted geological research for the first time and proved that here, on Kuznetsk land, there is a powerful coal basin. He determined its dimensions, compiled the first geological map of the entire basin, and named it Kuznetsk.

Thus,Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev gave us the name KUZBASS

Based on various fossils, he also determined that Kuzbass coal was not of lake origin, but of marine origin.

In recognition of the services of P.A. Chikhachev, before the country and science, his name was given to: one of the greatest ridges of Altai - the Chikhachev Ridge, a bay in the Sea of Japan, a coal deposit in Tuva, and streets in the cities of the Kemerovo region: Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Leninsk-Kuznetsk.

BIOGRAPHY:

Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev was born on August 16 (28), 1808 in the Great Gatchina Palace - the summer residence of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. His father, Alexander Petrovich Chikhachev, a retired colonel of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, was appointed director of the city of Gatchina in 1804, where he headed the “city settlement” and exercised “main supervision over the palace and its accessories.” Moving on to civil service, Alexander Petrovich received the rank of actual state councilor.

Chikhachev's mother, Anna Fedorovna, nee Bestuzheva-Ryumina (cousin of the future Decembrist), a woman of high culture, energetic and very knowledgeable in court etiquette, devoted a lot of time to raising her sons (Peter's brother Platon was born in 1812).

In childhood and adolescence, Peter received highest degree thorough and comprehensive home education. At the age of twelve he was fluent in German and French, and then in Tsarskoye Selo he studied Greek and Latin.

Soon the Chikhachev family moved to Tsarskoye Selo, where they bought a house near the lyceum. However, Peter's parents decided to continue their home education with an invitation from the lyceum professors.

In 1823, Peter became a student at the State College of Foreign Affairs.

On November 18, 1827, his father died. The Chikhachev brothers sold the estates that belonged to the Chikhachevs in the Tambov and Saratov provinces, as well as a house in Tsarskoe Selo and moved to St. Petersburg. An independent period of life began for both brothers.

In March 1829, Pyotr Alexandrovich’s internship at the College of Foreign Affairs ended, and in March of the following year he entered the university as a free student, “where he listened for 10 months, with commendable behavior, to the science of the Faculty of Law.”

Natural sciences fascinated Pyotr Alexandrovich so much that in 1829-1830 he repeatedly traveled to Western European countries to listen to lectures by leading scientists.

Returning to St. Petersburg to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pyotr Aleksandrovich quickly began to move up the career ladder. On April 5, 1830, actuary Pyotr Chikhachev was “granted a translator at the State Collegium of Foreign Affairs” and on April 30 he was sent to the Asian Department. A year later he was promoted to the rank of chamber cadet, and in September 1832 to the rank of collegiate assessor.

In the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chikhachev dealt primarily with the Eastern issue. Wanting to personally get acquainted with the countries of the Near and Middle East, as well as North Africa, he visited Egypt, traveled through Palestine, the Libyan Desert, Sinai and the Syrian Desert, and visited Constantinople.

The capital of the Ottoman Empire so captivated Chikhachev with its oriental flavor, the enchanting beauty of the straits and complex international military-political contradictions that he decided to secure a position at the Russian embassy.

In Constantinople, Pyotr Alexandrovich, along with his official duties as assistant secretary at the Russian embassy, studied the history and ethnography of the peoples inhabiting Asia Minor, improved his knowledge of the modern Greek language, and began to study Turkish and Spanish. Here fate brought him together with the famous translator Mikhail Vronchenko, “an excellent surveyor who was studying the geography of Asia Minor at that time and subsequently published valuable books about his journey through this country.”

In 1835, while the artist Bryullov was in Constantinople, Chikhachev accompanied him on trips to the most picturesque places of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. Bryullov painted Chikhachev in an oriental costume, in which the latter usually traveled on various official assignments throughout Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and other countries of North Africa.

In 1834-1836 he visited not only various cities of the vast Ottoman Empire, but also Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and other European states.

Yielding to his calling, Platon Aleksandrovich began to study physical and historical-economic geography. In 1836, he left the service and decided to devote himself entirely to scientific research.

In 1839, Pyotr Alexandrovich, on the recommendation of Alexander Humboldt, began studying the natural resources, and, above all, the geology of the Apennine Peninsula. “It is impossible without recreating the historical past,” he wrote, “to understand the appearance of the present, for the distant past and the modern are connected by a continuous thread.”

At the end of February 1839, Pyotr Chikhachev arrived on the largest island of the Tyrrhenian Sea - Sicily and headed towards the Nebrodi mountains. Having passed the northern coast of Sicily from Palermo to Messina, he moved to Reggio Calabria, already on the Apennine Peninsula.

In a vast area extending to the northeast and northwest of Rocca Imperiale, Chikhachev during July 1840 studied mainly alluvial rocks formed here from “gradual destruction under the influence of the flowing waters of the Apennine mountain system.”

Chikhachev climbs to the peaks of Monte Vulture itself and a number of adjacent mountains, explores groups of freshwater lakes located in upper areas district. Special attention The history of the formation of Lake Lesine, located in the northwestern part of Monte Gargano, deserves to be written by him.

In March 1840, Pyotr Alexandrovich descended along the valley of the Garigliano River to the vast volcanic zone of the Naples region. For four months he studied the surroundings of Naples, especially the Rocca Monfine area, the Phlegrenian fields, the volcano Vesuvius, the islands of Ischia, Capri, etc.

In August 1840, he completed his journey through the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Naples. In 1842, Pyotr Aleksandrovich was sent by the headquarters of the corps of mining engineers to Altai and the Sayans, then little explored. At the head of a large detachment, he went on a journey.

Soon the expedition reached the Katun - the most beautiful river in Altai. It is crossed by the only path leading from Biysk to the Chuya River. Chikhachev describes in detail the difficult crossing of such a huge caravan, numbering more than 50 horses, many of which were loaded to capacity. These semi-wild horses “with wandering eyes, with swollen nostrils, with their manes raised on end, shy away from the stormy waves.”

The immediate task of the expedition after crossing the Katun was to reach the mouth of the Chui River, and then along the Chui Valley to reach its sources. Over the course of two weeks, starting on May 21, the caravan barely made it this way. Traveling along the lower reaches of the Chui was very dangerous, since there were no roads here, and in some places the mountains “crowded” the river so much that travel in the valley itself was impossible. Then it was necessary to climb the mountain slopes at great risk.

On June 2 (14), Chikhachev crossed the Seilyugen mountain range. Some of its peaks were covered with "eternal" snow. Moving along the massif in the direction of the stream, on June 4 (16) the expedition reached the source of the Chui - “... the Builogom stream turned into a thin stream of water seeping through the swamps and snow bordering the northwestern edge of Burultaiga, and finally we saw that the stream was completely "disappeared under the damp spongy bark covering the soil. This served us as definite proof," writes Chikhachev, "that we were at the source of the Chui."

The next task of the expedition was to reach and explore the sources of the Chulyshman River. For this purpose, Chikhachev headed to Lake Dzhulukul through a rather swampy place that stretched between the sources of the Chui and Chulyshman. “When I looked at the surface, trembling with every movement of our horses, the following comparison occurred to me: it seemed that we were moving through a huge bubble filled with compressed water, which, at the slightest pressure, threatened to break through the shell holding it and swallow the body resting on at her."

Rising up the Chulcha River, Chikhachev reached the lake of the same name on July 1, near which he discovered the source of the Bolshoi Abakan, one of the largest tributaries of the Yenisei. In order to study the source of Abakan, Chikhachev headed along west bank lakes. “I was fully rewarded,” writes Chikhachev, “for all the fatigue and toil I endured, when the old Kazakh hunter who accompanied me pointed his finger at the source of Abakan, which is one of the main objects of the difficult task that was entrusted to me... Trying to exhaustively complete my difficult journey by exploring the sources of this beautiful river, the modest cradle of which I had just discovered, I now had to complete my plan - to study its gradual development, moving along 350 km to its mouth in the Yenisei.

Beyond the source of the river, Chikhachev saw the southwestern part of the Abakan ridge, which “hides Lake Teletskoye from view,” and in the north he discovered the sources of the Small Abakan, separated from the Big Abakan by the short Karlygan ridge. So Chikhachev became the first scientific explorer of the Western Sayan.

Dreaming of tracing the course of the Abakan to the Yenisei, Chikhachev walked from the headwaters of the Chulcha River east through hilly and swampy terrain with many lakes and reached the Alash River (Yenisei system). He penetrated into the Uriankhai region (Tuva) and carried out his first research. Having given the people and horses a five-day rest and replenishing food supplies, Chikhachev turned north and unexpectedly discovered the mountain lake Kara-Khol, “hidden in the masses of huge mountains.” Continuing to move north, he reached the upper reaches of the Ona (a tributary of the Abakan). On the night of July 17, heavy rain broke out, turning into thick snow. In the morning Chikhachev saw that "the branches coniferous trees bent under the weight of snow masses..."

Chikhachev descended into the valley of the Kantegir flowing to the northeast (the left tributary of the Yenisei). From the pass he saw “a whole ocean of mountains with slightly rounded contours, covered with forest” and gradually descending. Having crossed this mountain range, he reached the Abakan River along the valley of a small river.

So Chikhachev crossed the Western Sayan. He collected not only important geographical materials, but also the first geological data about this entire mountainous country, which had not been previously visited by any naturalist.

Chikhachev also left a number of interesting observations. When the expedition reached Russian houses, the Kyrgyz accompanying it were amazed.

“Some time passed before my mountaineers,” writes Chikhachev, “became familiar with so many objects, which were completely unfamiliar to them until now, and understood the way of their use and purpose. For example, they were explained in detail that houses are the same yurts, but motionless and built of wood. However, they found that the entrance to these houses was very inconvenient, since they imagined that the windows served this purpose; they began to crawl through them and tumble heavily into the rooms... The stoves seemed to them a completely unusual structure. to examine them thoroughly, they stuck their heads into the mouth of the furnace and came out with their faces smeared with soot and ash, which always caused a fit of cheerful laughter among the spectators.”

Based on the materials from his trip, Chikhachev compiled for the first time orographic and geological maps of Altai and Western Sayan and significantly advanced the study of the hydrography of these mountainous countries. From 1848 to 1863, Pyotr Chikhachev conducted eight scientific expeditions in Asia Minor, Armenia, Kurdistan and partly in Eastern Thrace.

As a result of many years of expeditions to these countries, Chikhachev repeatedly crossed the main mountain ranges and ridges, climbed the tops of mountains, among which there were such as Erciyes and Bingel, on which no man had set foot before him. He explored and described numerous rivers, lakes, bays, and measured the depths of the Marmara and Aegean Seas, as well as the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. Chikhachev published interesting materials about water currents in the straits and the Sea of Marmara. He published over 20 works on the geology and paleontology of Asia Minor.

Chikhachev was the first to collect numerous fossils of flora and fauna, which made it possible for the first time to publish a monumental work on the paleontology of Asia Minor. “The entire number of organic fossils given in my “Palaeontology of Asia Minor,” he wrote, “contains no less than 575 species, of which 57 are completely new.” A whole series of paleontological fossils, as well as minerals, first discovered and described by Chikhachev, were given his name.

Having studied the botanical treasures of Asia Minor, Chikhachev noted their extraordinary diversity of species, which was a natural consequence of the extremely diverse topography, climatic and soil conditions.

In the Chikhachev herbarium there were up to 3,500 plant species of Asia Minor. To imagine the real significance of this figure, it is enough to note that it is more than what in the time of Linnaeus represented the number of known plants on the entire globe, and amounted to two thirds total number species from all over Europe known at that time.

On September 25, 1877, Chikhachev set off from Paris on a new journey to explore North Africa.

He first visited Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and other places in North Africa back in 1835, while working at the Russian embassy in Constantinople. His new journey began in Spain. From the port city of Cartagena, he set off by steamship to the shores of North Africa.

On November 17, 1877, Chikhachev landed at the Mediterranean port of Oran, and on December 1, he arrived in the vast port city of Algiers. He traveled around Algeria for seven months, after which on May 25, 1878, he went by ship to Tunisia.

Arriving in Tunisia, Chikhachev was afraid that he would not be allowed to conduct any research on the area, and perhaps even be arrested, as had happened more than once in previous trips to the countries of the East. This fear was justified by the fact that during this period there was a Russian-Turkish war.

After a 10-day acquaintance with the city of Tunisia, Chikhachev began exploring its surroundings. First of all, he went to the Zaghouan region, located 40 kilometers south of Tunisia. A magnificent aqueduct has been preserved here, built 18 centuries ago by Emperor Hadrian in order to bring water to Carthage from springs gushing from the Zaghuan massif, located 130 kilometers from the city.

On June 4, Chikhachev visited the healing springs of Hammam El-Ener, flowing from the Jebel Bou Qurnein mountain range. The next day, the scientist began exploring the area where the ancient city of Carthage once stood.

“The almost complete disappearance of Carthage from the face of the Earth,” he wrote, “represents a unique phenomenon of its kind, for none of the cities glorified in antiquity, such as Nineveh, Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, disappeared as completely as Carthage..." Archaeological data says almost nothing about the Phoenician, Greek and Roman eras that made this ancient city so famous.

Chikhachev gives detailed description history of ancient cities - Jerusalem, Rome and especially Carthage. Moreover, this description is based partly on the manuscripts of ancient authors and is therefore of great scientific value.

On June 9, 1878, after almost a year's stay in North Africa, Chikhachev set sail from Tunisia to Naples, and from there returned to Florence a few days later.

Chikhachev is the founder of field research by Russian scientists, mainly in the geology and botany of this part of Africa. He has priority in geological research and in identifying many plant species in a number of areas in North Africa, including the Jur-Jur, Aures, and Zaghuan mountain ranges. He was the first to describe North Africa in popular form, showing both man and nature in their most diverse manifestations.

Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev was born on August 28, 1808 in the Great Gatchina Palace, the summer residence of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. His father, Alexander Petrovich Chikhachev, a retired colonel of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, was appointed director of the city of Gatchina in 1804 with the rank of full state councilor.

Chikhachev's mother, Anna Fedorovna, nee Bestuzheva-Ryumina (cousin of the future Decembrist), a woman of high culture, devoted a lot of time to raising her sons (Peter's brother Plato was born in 1812). Chikhachev received a thorough education at home: at the age of twelve he was fluent in German and French, and later in Greek and Latin.

On April 5, 1830, Chikhachev was “granted a translator at the State Collegium of Foreign Affairs” and on April 30 he was sent to the Asian Department.

In the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chikhachev dealt primarily with the Eastern issue. He visited Egypt, traveled through Palestine, the Libyan Desert, Sinai and the Syrian Desert, and visited Constantinople.

Soon Chikhachev received a position at the Russian embassy in Constantinople. Along with his official duties as an assistant secretary, he studied the history and ethnography of the peoples inhabiting Asia Minor, and began to study Turkish and Spanish.

In 1835, during the artist Bryullov’s stay in Constantinople, Chikhachev accompanied him on his trips. Bryullov depicted him in oriental costume, in which the latter usually traveled around Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and other countries of North Africa.

In 1834-1836 he visited the cities of the Ottoman Empire, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and other European states. In 1836, he left the service and decided to devote himself to scientific research.

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At the end of February 1839, he arrived on the largest island of the Tyrrhenian Sea - Sicily and headed towards the Nebrodi mountains. Having passed the northern coast of Sicily from Palermo to Messina, he moved to Reggio Calabria, on the Apennine Peninsula.

In the area extending northeast and northwest from Rocca Imperiale, Chikhachev studied in July 1840 mainly alluvial rocks formed from “gradual destruction under the influence of the flowing waters of the Apennine mountain system.” He explored the mountainous region of Castel Sarrazino, which had not been explored before by either geologists or botanists. Here Chikhachev replenished his herbarium with rare plant species.

Chikhachev climbs the peaks of Monte Vulture and a number of adjacent mountains, explores groups of freshwater lakes located in the upper regions of the region. The history of the formation of Lake Lesine, located in the northwestern part of Monte Gargano, deserves special attention.

In March 1840, Chikhachev descended along the valley of the Garigliano River to the volcanic zone of the Naples region. For four months he studied the surroundings of Naples, the Rocca Monfine area, the Phlegrenian fields, Vesuvius volcano, the islands of Ischia, Capri, etc.

In August 1840, he completed his journey through the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Naples.

In 1842, Chikhachev was sent to Altai and the Sayan Mountains, which were then little explored.

Soon the expedition reached the Katun, the most beautiful river in Altai. It is crossed by the only path leading from Biysk to the Chuya River. The immediate task of the expedition was to reach the mouth of the Chuya River, and then along the Chuya Valley to reach its sources. The next task was to study the sources of the Chulyshman River. Chikhachev headed to Lake Dzhulukul along a swampy area between the sources of the Chuya and Chulyshman.

Then, rounding the mountains from the south, Chikhachev headed along the valley of the Dzhalda River to the Bashkaus River.

Rising up the Chulcha River, he reached the lake of the same name, near which he discovered the source of the Big Abakan, the largest tributary of the Yenisei. To study the source of Abakan, Chikhachev headed along the western shore of the lake. Beyond the source of the river, Chikhachev saw the southwestern part of the Abakan ridge, and in the north he discovered the sources of the Small Abakan, separated from the Big Abakan by the short Karlygan ridge. Chikhachev became the first scientific explorer of the Western Sayan.

Chikhachev walked from the headwaters of the Chulcha River east through hilly and swampy terrain with many lakes and reached the Alash River (Yenisei system). He penetrated into the Uriankhai region (Tuva) and explored it. Then Chikhachev turned north and discovered the mountain lake Kara-Khol, “hidden in the masses of huge mountains.” Continuing to move north, he reached the upper reaches of the Ona (a tributary of the Abakan). Chikhachev descended into the valley of the Kantegir flowing to the northeast (the left tributary of the Yenisei). From the pass he saw “a whole ocean of mountains with slightly rounded contours, covered with forest” and gradually descending. Having crossed this mountain range, he reached the Abakan River. So Chikhachev crossed the Western Sayan. He collected important geographical materials and the first geological data about this mountainous country. Based on the materials from his trip, Chikhachev first compiled orographic and geological maps of Altai and Western Sayan.

From 1848 to 1863, Chikhachev conducted eight scientific expeditions in Asia Minor, Armenia, Kurdistan and Eastern Thrace. He crossed mountain ranges and ridges, among which were such as Erciyes and Bingol - which no man had set foot on before him. He researched and published interesting materials about water currents in the straits and the Sea of Marmara. He published over 20 works on the geology and paleontology of Asia Minor. Chikhachev was the first to collect numerous fossils of flora and fauna and publish a monumental work on the paleontology of Asia Minor. “...The entire number of organic fossils given in my “Palaeontology of Asia Minor,” he wrote, “contains no less than 575 species, of which 57 are completely new.” A whole series of paleontological fossils, as well as minerals, first discovered and described by Chikhachev, were given his name. In the Chikhachev herbarium there were up to 3,500 plant species of Asia Minor.

On September 25, 1877, Chikhachev set off from Paris on a new journey to explore North Africa.

He traveled around Algeria for seven months, after which on May 25, 1878, he went by ship to Tunisia. After a 10-day acquaintance with the city of Tunisia, Chikhachev began exploring its surroundings. First of all, he went to the Zaghouan region, located 40 kilometers south of Tunisia. A magnificent aqueduct has been preserved here, built 18 centuries ago by Emperor Hadrian in order to bring water to Carthage from springs gushing from the Zaghuan massif, located 130 kilometers from the city.

After completing the excursion through the Zaghuan mountain range, Chikhachev went to the ruins of the ancient city of Utica, located halfway from Tunisia to Bizerte.

On June 9, 1878, after almost a year's stay in North Africa, Chikhachev set off by steamship from Tunisia to Naples, and from there to Florence.

Chikhachev is the founder of field research in geology and botany of North Africa. He has priority in identifying many plant species in North Africa, including the Jur-Jur, Aures, and Zaghuan mountain ranges. He was an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876). He spent most of his life in France.

Chikhachev died in Florence on October 13, 1890, at the age of 82. He was buried in the Allori cemetery. On the tombstone made of gray granite, for the 150th anniversary of his birth, a white marble slab was placed with the inscription: “The Motherland honors you, dear Pyotr Alexandrovich.”

One of the Altai ridges, where Chikhachev conducted research, is named after him.

Chikhachev, Petr Alexandrovich

Famous learned traveler and geographer, member of many learned societies and institutions; born in Gatchina in 1808. His father, a retired colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, served as director of the palace under Empress Maria Feodorovna. Ch.'s mother was born Bestuzheva-Ryumina. P. A. received his upbringing at home, but for that time, apparently, it was very good. His parents, wealthy people, moved to Tsarskoe Selo, and P. A., together with his younger brother Plato, studied with professors of the local Lyceum. In 1830, P. A. entered the service in the diplomatic corps and was at the Russian mission in Constantinople. His early passion for travel was partly satisfied by traveling on various assignments to Asia Minor, Egypt, Syria and Greece. But in 1835, he, yielding to his attraction to the study of geography and natural science in general, left the service and devoted himself entirely to scientific studies and travel around Europe for educational purposes. In this sense, he conducted his studies for a number of years, first in Freiberg, where he listened to Naumann and Breithaupt, in Munich, where he worked with Liebig, in Berlin he listened to Leopold von Buch and Gustav Rose, and then in Paris he studied at the Ecole de mines and at the Collége de France. Here he became a student of Elie de Beaumont, who had a great influence on his scientific development. He had another close acquaintance with the paleontologist A. de Verneuil and the Marquis d'Archiac, as well as with the famous S. R. Murchison. P. A. began his scientific career in the forties. His first published article was: “Geognostiche Schilderung des monte Gargano in den Jahren 1839 und 1840", placed in "Leonhard's Neue Fahrbuch für Mineralogie", 1841, pp. 39-58. This first article was followed in the same 1841 in German by a note about geological structure Nice, and a year later the first separately published essay appeared: "Coup d"oeil sur la constitution géologique des provinces meridionalles du Royaume de Naples", Berlin, 1842. For this essay (discussed in detail in "Leonhard"s N. Fahrbuch" for 1842 d.) Ch. was, at the behest of the king of the Two Sicilies, elected a member of the Reggia Scientific Society in Calabria. In the same 1842, another work was published in Berlin: “Coup d’oeil sur le charpente rocheuse des montagnes de la Calabre, de la Sicile et des Alpes maritimes de Nice.” Returning to Russia, Ch. continued his scientific studies under under the leadership of Fischer, director of the Botanical Garden, Kupffer, director of the physical observatory, and zoologist Brandt. In 1842, by order of the Highest, P. A. made a trip to Altai, an area until that time very little known. The main goal of his trip was to discover sources of Chuya, Chulyshman and Abakan; and also to explore in geological, topographical, botanical and zoological terms not only the places through which these rivers flow, but also the border waters of China. Ch. outlined the description of this journey and its results in an essay that brought him European fame and flattering reviews from the scientific world: "Voyage scientifique dans l"Altaï oriental et les parties adjointes de la frontière de Chine." Paris. 1845. The first part of this work contains a historical outline of the journey, physical observations, ethnographic and other notes about the path traveled. The second part, in the processing of which the author was assisted by the French geologists Elie-de-Beaumont, de Verneuil and others, as well as the German paleontologist prof. Geppert, who developed fossil plants, contains the geological observations of the author and his predecessors in Altai; Attached to this part is a map compiled from our own observations, the collections of the Mining Institute, as well as from the writings of Pallas, Shangin, Gmelin and others. scientists who visited Altai; but the author still did not dare to call it geological. The atlas attached to the essay contains 4 sheets of routes, from Biysk to Krasnoyarsk, taken by a topographer sent from Omsk; plans and sections of some mines (Zmeinogorsky, Cherepanov, etc.), as well as views of different areas of Altai, beautifully engraved on steel according to drawings by the artist Meyer, who was with Ch. After traveling to Altai, Ch. served for two years as an attaché at the Russian embassy in Constantinople, where he zealously began studying the Turkish language, preparing for the trip and natural history study of Asia Minor. The latter was conceived under the influence of A. Humboldt, with whom Ch. had established friendly relations even earlier. Having left the service, and this time forever, Ch. devoted himself from 1847 to 1863, as a versatile scientist and experienced, brave traveler, to the study of Asia Minor and Armenia, from the shores of the Bosphorus, Marmara and Mediterranean seas- to Erzurum. Almost every year he traveled to different directions of this country, collecting topographical and geographical data, rich collections of fossil plants and animals. The result of P. A. Ch.’s travels, which he made exclusively at his own expense, mostly accompanied by only one European minister (he only took the painter twice), was a major and considered classic work entitled: “Asie Mineure, description physique , statistique et archéologique de cette contrée" par P. de Tchihatchef". Only the "description physique" itself was published in eight large volumes, of which the first appeared in 1853, and the last in 1869. The first part of "Asie Mineure" contains description of the shores of Asia Minor, its rivers, lakes and the orography of the country. Appendix to this volume are tables of heights of points, barometrically determined for the most part by P. A. Ch. himself and his predecessors, the English travelers Ainsworth and Hamilton. Second Appendix of the first volume make up the depths of the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles Strait and the Gulf of Smyrna. The second part of A. M. is climatology and zoology. The third part in two volumes contains a description of the flora of Asia Minor, Armenia and the islands of the Greek Archipelago. Finally, the fourth part in four volumes is the geology and paleontology of Asia Minor, to which the author, who loved these branches of knowledge more than others, paid more attention. The first three volumes contain a description of igneous rocks different parts Asia Minor, showing their geographical distribution; then a description of the Devonian, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary and other recent formations. Supplementary to descriptive geology are two geological maps of Asia Minor, part of Armenia, as well as the environs of the Bosporus and Constantinople. Paleontology, based on Ch.'s collections, processed by French scientists, makes up the fourth volume. This enormous work, in which many leading scientists, mainly French, took part, will forever remain a worthy monument to the author, who was chosen for him as an honorary member of the St. Petersburg, Berlin and Munich Academy of Sciences and a member of many other scientific societies and institutions. During his travels throughout Asia Minor, Ch. traveled a total of approximately 14,000 miles and his routes, which provided rich cartographic material, really draw a map of Asia Minor along and across. They were processed, according to original journals, by Kiepert and published in 1868 in Ergänzungsheft No. 20 Petermann's Geographische Mittheilungen. Some of the routes were published in the journal of the Berlin Geographical Society ("Zeitschrift f. Allg. Erdkunde sechster Lieferung 1859) and in" News of the Caucasian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society" in appendix. to IV volume "Materials for the geography of Asian Turkey. Journal of travel in Asia Minor." P. Chikhachev. With approx. Kinperta. Transl. with him. N. Helmersen. The cartographic and topographic material delivered by Chikhachev, which, by the way, was also used by I. I. Stebnitsky when drawing up a large map of Asian Turkey (on a scale of 20 versts per inch) is all the more valuable because P. A. knew the Turkish language perfectly, and therefore wrote down the names correctly populated areas and tracts. A supplement to the work “Asie Mineure” is a description of the Bosphorus and Constantinople (“Le Bosphore et Constantinopole” par P. Tchihatchef, Paris, 1864; second edition 1866). Ch. also carried out archaeological surveys in Asia Minor, and their results were reported in Russian in the article “Ancient Monuments in Asia Minor” (Proceedings of the Eastern Branch of the Russian Archaeological Society, vol. II). Ch. popularized his works on Asia Minor in the essay “Une page sur l” Orient. Asie Mineure. Géographie physique, climate, vegetation, espèces d "animaux, constitution géologique, considération politique". P.A.Ch., as a former diplomat, loved to address political issues related to the country he was studying, and devoted a number of political articles and brochures to them (see below).

Having married in 1869 the granddaughter of Lord Dalghausie, the former viceroy of Anglo-India, Ch. completely settled abroad, living mostly in Florence, and did not undertake further travels; Only in 1878 did he and his wife visit interior Algeria and Tunisia. This interesting journey was described by him in letters to the economist Michel Cheval and published separately as a book. "Espagne, Algérie et Tunise" par P. de-Tchihatchef, Paris, 1880

Ch. devoted the last time of his life exclusively to literary work and death interrupted his great work: “Les déserts du Globe”, individual parts of which had already appeared in print. He died on October 1, 1890. According to P. A. Ch.’s will, he left capital of 100,000 francs to the Paris Academy of Sciences. for awards to travelers in Asia, excluding British India, Siberia proper, Asia Minor and Syria, as countries that have already been quite well explored. Having become well known abroad, Ch., due to the fact that he exclusively wrote in foreign languages, which he mastered perfectly, is known in Russia only to a relatively small circle of specialists, and this, one of the outstanding geographers, scientist and writer, who, according to the reviews of foreigners themselves, had a masterful, artistic and lively presentation, turned out to be half-forgotten in his homeland.

In addition to the above works, Chikhachev owns: "La paix de Paris. Est-elle une paix solide? Par un ancien diplomate", Bruxelles. 1856; "Lettres sur la Turquie", Bruxelles. 1859; "Italie et Turquie", Paris et Bruxelles. 1859; "Paix de Zurich", Paris et Bruxelles. 1859; "Nouvelle phase de la question d"Orient". Paris. 1860. "La Turquie-Mirés". Paris et Marseille. 1861; "Le Royaume d"Italie, étudié sur les lieux mêmes", Paris, 1862. ; "Le traite de Berlin", Paris. 1879 "Etudes de géographie et d"histoire naturelle". Florence. 1890. Moreover, Ch. wrote in the "Revue de deux Mondes" and "Revue Britannique", among other things, about oil in the United States and Russia; there also included essays: the Sahara, Gobi, Tibet, the Aral-Caspian Lowland and the Merv oasis, which were supposed to form a large essay: “Les déserts du Globe.” A list of his scientific articles published in scientific periodicals can be found in the “Catalogue of scientific papers ". Compiled by the Royal Society. London.

Stebnitsky I.I., “Petr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev” (obituary), “News of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society”, vol. XXVII, 1891, pp. 1-10; "P. Chikhachev" (obituary), "Journal of the Ministry of Public Education", 1890, No. 12; “A few words about two Russian travelers the Chikhachevs,” “Domestic Notes,” 1843, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 91-93; "Russian Travelers", "Art Sheet", 1859, No. 11; “Mr. Chikhachev’s journey to the eastern slopes of Altai and to the Sayan Mountains”, “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1843, 37, No. 1, pp. 1-6; The same, "Manufacture and Mining News", 1842, No. 52, pp. 408-413; "Chikhachev in Asia Minor", "Geographical News", 1848; “Review of the works of Chikhachev, S. R. Murchison and Vic. D’Arshiac” see “Moskovskie Vedomosti”, 1869, No. 181; for the book “Une page sur l” Orient” see “Russian Bulletin”, 1868 g., t. 78, no. 12, pp. 697-702; "St. Petersburg Gazette", 1869, No. 3; “A few words about Chikhachev’s book about Asia Minor” by Baron Kwiat-Grotius, St. Petersburg, 1870; " Encyclopedic Dictionary"Ephron, vol. 76; "New Time", 1890, No. 5249; N. B. Belozerskaya, P. A. Chikhachev, "Bulletin of Europe", 1893, XI; "Dictionary" by Starchevsky, vol. XII.

(Polovtsov)

Chikhachev, Petr Alexandrovich

(1808-1890) - geographer, traveler and geologist, known for his studies of Altai and Asia Minor. Having received his home education in Tsarskoe Selo, under the guidance of lyceum professors, Ch. graduated from it abroad, listening to lectures by Nauman, Breithaupt, Liebig, L. von Buch, G. Rose and other famous geologists and mineralogists of that time, and then worked in Paris at Elie de Beaumont. Without preparing for a scientific career and not being a professional scientist, Ch., having good financial resources and brilliant scientific training, could completely surrender to the attraction that was early discovered in him for scientific travel and research, which gave very important results. scientific results, thanks to the observation of their author and the excellent thorough processing of the scientific material collected during the trip, to which Ch. had the opportunity to attract outstanding specialists in various fields of knowledge. Having received abroad science education, printing all his scientific works in French or German languages and having spent most of his life abroad (mainly in Paris), Ch. cannot be considered a Russian scientist, but Russian science owes him a very important work on the geology and geography of Altai, which has not lost its significance to this day, although more than half a century has passed since his appearance.

Ch.'s independent scientific activity began in 1841, when he published a geological description of the Monte Gargano mountain in southern Italy and the outskirts of the city of Nice. In 1842 he published a geological description of the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Naples and in the same year he undertook a long trip to Altai. Already in 1845, he published a voluminous work about Altai, entitled: “Voyage scientifique dans l"Altaï Oriental et les parties adjointes de la frontière de Chine" and presenting a report on the trip and the results of the development of the collected material, in which Elie de Beaumont took part , Verneuil, Geppert, which gave the work special value. Having completed this enormous work, Ch. soon began a comprehensive study of Asia Minor, to which he devoted the next 20 years of his life. Having received the position of attaché of the Russian embassy in Constantinople after the Altai trip, he took advantage of the 2-year staying there to study the Turkish language, and then, leaving his service, he undertook a series of trips throughout Asia Minor during 1847-63, during which he made versatile scientific observations and collected rich collections: geological, botanical, zoological, paleontological and archaeological. The results of the trip were published by Ch. in a huge 8-volume work "Asie Mineur", published from 1853 to 1869. This work, covering the geography, geology, climatology, zoology, botany and paleontology of Asia Minor, represents a classic work performed by Ch. with the collaboration of numerous specialists in various branches of natural science. After completing this work, Ch. did not undertake large trips, having already reached the limits of old age, but did not stop his scientific studies. Back in 1878, at the age of 71, he visited inland Algeria and Tunisia and in 1880 published a description of his trip under the title: “Espagne, Algérie et Tunisie.” In 1890, a collection of his popular scientific articles of various contents was published in Paris, under the title: “Etudes de Géographie et d"Histoire naturelle". These articles represent excerpts from the large scientific work conceived by Ch. "On the deserts of the globe", which he did not have time to finish, dying of pneumonia in 1890. In addition to geographical and natural history works, Ch. published a number of political articles on the eastern question. In order to encourage travelers in Asia, Ch. left, according to his will, a capital of 100 thousand francs to the Paris Academy of Sciences The biography of Ch., compiled by Stebnitsky, and a list of his scientific works are placed in the XXVII volume. "Izvestia of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society".

(Brockhaus)

Chikhachev, Petr Alexandrovich

(1808-1890) - geologist and traveler. Higher education received abroad. All of Ch.'s works are written in foreign languages. In 1842 his first work appeared in French. language on the geology of the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Naples. As a result of work in Altai, "Voyage scientifique dans l"Altai oriental..." was published, P., 1845. Later, Chikhachev took the position of attaché of the Russian embassy in Constantinople, where he studied the Turkish language. In 1847-53, Ch. was engaged in the study of Malaya Asia; the results of the work are contained in the 8-volume capital work “Asie Mineure” (Description physique, statistique et archéologique de cette contrée), Paris, 1853. It describes routes with a total length of more than 15 tons. km and 750 points of measured heights. In 1864, a new work by Ch. was published - “Le Bosphore et Constantinople”, P., 1864.

Chikhachev, Petr Alexandrovich

Rus. geographer-traveler and geologist. He received his education at home. He studied abroad with a number of prominent scientists. For some time he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in Russian. embassy in Constantinople (Istanbul). Most of his life he lived abroad (mainly in Paris), conducting scientific research. As a result of traveling through Italy and South. France (1839-41) compiled geological. map of the Apennine Peninsula. Based on materials from a trip to Altai and North-West. China (1842), the French were involved in processing. scientists Elie de Beaumont, Verneuil and others, gave a geographical map in 1845. and geological description of these areas, in particular the Kuznetsk coal basin. In 1847-63 he undertook a number of expeditions around Asia, which brought him the greatest fame. Collected rich geological, botanical, zoological, paleontological. and archaeological collections, on the basis of which, in collaboration with other scientists, he compiled a detailed description of Asia Minor (1853-69), which has not lost its scientific significance even now. In 1877-1878 he traveled through Spain, Algeria and Tunisia. Member (since 1845) and honorary member. (since 1890) Rus. geographical society, honorary member Petersburg. Academy of Sciences (since 1876) and many other academies and societies. With funds bequeathed to him to Paris. The Academy of Sciences established a prize named after him for the best research on Asia. A ridge in the south-east is named after Ch. Altai.

Petr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev

Chikhachev Petr Aleksandrovich (1808-1890), Russian geographer and geologist, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876). He spent most of his life in France. Based on the materials of his travels, he compiled a geological map of the Apennine Peninsula, gave a geographical and geological description of Altai, Northwestern China (1845), and a comprehensive description of Asia Minor (1853-1869).

Chikhachev Petr Aleksandrovich (16.VIII.1808 - 1(13).X.1890) - Russian scientist - geologist, geographer, traveler. Born in Gatchina (near St. Petersburg), died in Florence (Italy). He received his home education under the guidance of teachers from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, then attended lectures at the Freiberg Mining Academy, studied chemistry, geology, mineralogy and paleontology in Munich, Berlin, and Paris. In 1834-1836 he worked at the Russian embassy in Istanbul. Later he devoted his life to scientific research and travel. Honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1876), many Western European academies, the Philadelphia Academy (USA) and scientific societies. He gained worldwide fame for his numerous scientific works, written as a result of his travels in Italy, Altai, Asia Minor, and North Africa. From 1850 he lived abroad, publishing almost exclusively in Western European (mainly French) languages. Chikhachev was an expert on history political life and the economy of the Ottoman Empire, the policies of Western European powers in the Eastern Question.

V. V. Tsybulsky. Moscow.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 16. ZHANG WEN - TIAN-YASHTUKH. 1976.