There is chikhachev street or who gave the name to Kuzbass. Biography Traveler chikhachev petr alexandrovich brief historical background
August 16 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev (1808–1890), an outstanding diplomat, geographer and geologist.
Petr Chikhachev is a paradox. We have nearly two hundred of his works, but we know almost nothing about his life. Rather, about his real life. What we know is essentially a myth, consciously created by Chikhachev, naively accepted by his family and replicated by biographers. In this legend, Chikhachev is a sybarite who is in the diplomatic service solely because of his fascination with the exoticism of Constantinople and Asia Minor. He is a free man, unencumbered by obligations, with sufficient means to study the sciences of his choice and travel at his own pleasure. What is just a fiction here, and what the cherished dreams of our hero - we do not know. We only know that, in fact, Chikhachev was not at all who he claimed to be.
Endless learning
Chikhachev had a good pedigree. His father, Alexander Petrovich, had the rank of colonel and served as commandant of the Gatchina Palace, the summer residence of the mother of Alexander I (1777–1825). Mother - Anna Fedorovna, a columnar noblewoman, was born Bestuzheva-Ryumina, a cousin of the famous Decembrist. Both of them were close to the court. Thanks to the efforts of the mother, little Peter and his brother Platon received a good education at home: they were taught by professors from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. When Peter was fifteen, the emperor, by his personal decree, sent him to a very prestigious, semi-closed educational institution - the diplomatic school at the College of Foreign Affairs. I must say that this was not at all "blat": little Peter had a clear talent for foreign languages. And so he would have been a guard officer - no more. In 1829, Peter finished his studies, fluent in five languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. He was promoted to collegiate registrars (the lowest, 14th rank of the Table of Ranks). At the same time, he also received the secret army rank of the cornet (the lowest officer rank). At that time, there was no such thing in any other civilian educational institution (a little later, military ranks began to give mining engineers, but openly). This testifies to the special nature of the training and future activities of graduates of the diplomatic school.
It is on the basis of this "feature" that the entire subsequent biography of Pyotr Chikhachev becomes clear. From 1829 to 1833, he first worked as a translator at the office of the College of Foreign Affairs, and then was transferred to the Asian Department. But all this time Peter was not so much engaged in his direct duties as he continued his studies. According to him, he did it "yielding to his desire" to comprehend science.
For ten months Chikhachev studied law at St. Petersburg University, for about two years he studied at the Freiberg Mining Academy (Bergakademie Freiberg), from where he was expelled for a duel, for a year in Munich he listened to the chemist Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), in Berlin the geographer Alexander Humboldt (Alexander Humboldt, 1769-1859), and also attended lectures at the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris and the Collège de France. Fundamental. The Chikhachevs were rich, and Peter, indeed, could afford to freely choose educational institutions on the basis of the rights of “his own student”.
However, do not forget that all this time he was in the civil service and even moved up the career ladder. It is quite obvious that additional education was encouraged by his superiors, as, indeed, his travels to the Middle East and North Africa, made at the same time. In essence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, given the young employee's craving for natural sciences and travel, quite deliberately prepared him for the activity of an agent, disguised as a traveler-researcher collecting necessary information in the countries of the East.
Friend of the khedive
From 1834 to 1836, Chikhachev served as the second assistant to the secretary of the Russian embassy in Constantinople. At that time he was already an officer of the 9th class - a titular adviser, in a military way, a captain. At this time, he again travels a lot: Asia Minor, North Africa, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France. According to the official version, during this period Chikhachev "studied the history and ethnography of the peoples inhabiting Asia Minor, improved his knowledge of the modern Greek language, and also studied Turkish and Spanish."
But it was only an appearance. The key to the secret life of Petr Chikhachev is kept in a private collection in Italy. This is his portrait by Karl Bryullov (1799-1852). On the canvas, Chikhachev's free pose is quite consistent with the luxury of the oriental costume in which he is dressed. As Chikhachev's younger brother Platon recalled, in this suit Peter "usually traveled with various official assignments in Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and other countries of North Africa." Plato also knew that the costume was presented to his brother by Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas "ud ibn Agha, 1769-1849), the Khedive (governor) of Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire. Plato said that when Peter and Khediva, the latter “was pleasantly surprised that he could explain himself to the Russian envoy without an interpreter.” They allegedly talked for a long time. biographers: the very fact of Pyotr Chikhachev's meeting with Muhammad Ali contradicts the elementary norms of diplomatic protocol - the ruler of Egypt accepts a minor employee from the embassy in Constantinople! This means that the meeting could only be purely unofficial, in other words, secret. And it happened at the right time. the date is 1835. That is, the meeting took place in the interval between the two Turkish-Egyptian wars (1831-1833 and 1839-1840). During the first Turkish-Egyptian war, the army of Muhammad Ali defeated the Turks, who had no choice but to ask for military assistance from Russia. Sultan Mahmud II (Mahmud II, 1785-1839) said then: "If a person is drowning and sees a snake in front of him, he will even grab onto it, just not to drown." On February 20, 1833, a Russian assault force landed on the Bosphorus. Russia was ready to fight for the interests of those with whom it itself fought only two years ago. But England and France, not wanting to strengthen the Russian positions in the Middle East, sent their military squadrons and forced Muhammad Ali to sign a peace before his troops could enter into combat contact with the Russian expeditionary corps. Under the peace treaty, Egypt remained a part of Turkey, but received wide autonomy and the lands of Syria, Palestine and Lebanon in addition. At the same time, everyone understood that Muhammad Ali would not calm down, and the second Turkish-Egyptian war was not far off.
In the labyrinth of these geopolitical entanglements, 27-year-old Pyotr Chikhachev was drawn, which testifies to the trust in his abilities and skills. We do not know how the mission of our hero to the Khedive of Egypt influenced Russian-Egyptian relations, but in the second war between Istanbul and Cairo, Russia was again on the side of the Sultan. Nevertheless, Chikhachev returned to his homeland with an excellent characterization and in the rank of collegiate assessor, corresponding to a major.
Imaginary emigration
And suddenly, all of a sudden, in 1838, Chikhachev - in his words, "yielding to his vocation" - leaves the service and plunges into science. Again universities, courses, lectures, etc. Soon he left Russia altogether and moved to Florence. Now he is an emigrant, publishing his scientific works exclusively in Western journals. In Europe, no one was surprised at this: how an enlightened person can live in Nicholas Russia has always been a mystery for Europe. Let us recall at least Astolphe de Custine (Astolphe de Custine, 1790-1857). However, it is hard to believe that such a valuable employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, familiar with the secrets of state importance, in the era of Nicholas I (1796-1855) could be released from service and just let go abroad. As will be seen from what follows, Chikhachev's contacts with the Foreign Ministry continued in secret. Therefore, the period from 1839 to 1856 in the life of Pyotr Chikhachev can be called “imaginary emigration”.
From 1839 to 1841, Chikhachev devoted himself to the geology of the Apennine Mountains. During this time, he published many works that brought him fame. At the end of 1841, the Corps of Mining Engineers of Russia invited him to study Altai and Western Sayan. Comparison of the external and actual aspects of the event sheds some light on the actual status of Chikhachev.
From the outside, everything looked as if a Russian naturalist, well-known in the West, who lived outside of Russia, had been invited to study a number of mountainous regions of southern Siberia. Indeed, after completing the journey, Chikhachev returned to Paris with a large collection of minerals and data for making a map of the places he had visited. In 1845, his fundamental work dedicated to the Altai and Sayans was published in Paris (it has not yet been fully translated into Russian).
But there is also other information. Arriving in Russia, Chikhachev was appointed an official for special assignments at the Ministry of Finance, to which the Corps of Mining Engineers was subordinate, with the rank of 7th class court adviser (lieutenant colonel). He was entrusted with a special task, for the implementation of which 4 thousand silver rubles were allocated from the treasury (about $ 200,000 for modern money).
Why was this masquerade started? What prevented the assignment of the expedition, for example, to Grigory Gelmersen (1803–1885), who had already studied Eastern Altai in 1838? The explanation can be found in the geopolitical situation. In 1840, the Anglo-Chinese "First Opium War" began. China was defeated and was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Nanking in 1842, according to which England received Hong Kong. With the weakening of China, the prospect of resolving the controversial Russian-Chinese border issues in favor of Russia appeared. This necessitated a comprehensive study of the most inaccessible part of the strip adjacent to the Russian-Chinese border in the regions of Eastern Altai and Western Sayan. An expedition specially equipped by the Russian government, and even entering the territory of China, could arouse unnecessary suspicions. The trip of a Western European naturalist of Russian origin looked more preferable.
The situation required haste, and Chikhachev had to cross and survey the ridges between Katun and Yenisei in just four months (two there and two back). The scientist first examined the deposits of Altai and Salair. He was the first to map the region, which stimulated interest in its geology. Then Chikhachev visited the lesser-known zones of mineral resources: the gold placers of the Kuznetsk Alatau and Kalba and the coal-bearing Kuznetsk depression. Over the course of the season, he was able to collect material to describe an area the size of France. Chikhachev was the first whose map of the Kuznetsk coal basin was published and became available to everyone (local geologists knew its contours). By the way, he gave this name to the deposit. But the main merit of Chikhachev in the study of the Kuznetsk Basin is that he proved that the territory of Kuzbass was at times a dry sea bay, which means that along its shores - in shallow water and in coastal swamps - plant remains accumulated, which later turned into coal layers that have preserved their prints, as well as petrified tree trunks. Chikhachev's assumption about the presence in Kuzbass of extended seams with large reserves of coal stimulated further geological research in this area, which confirmed the correctness of our hero's point of view.
But at the time, Russia was unable to fully capitalize on the defeat of the Middle Empire. But after the “second opium war” (1856-1860), St. Petersburg signed the Beijing Treaty (1860) with China, according to which the disputed lands on the South Altai section of the Russian-Chinese border went to Russia. Probably, the results of Chikhachev's expedition were not in vain.
Eight-volume "Asia Minor"
It cannot be said that Chikhachev's activities have never aroused suspicion among competent foreign services. At least we know that in 1846 our traveler tried to penetrate the mountainous part of Algeria, but was not let through by the colonial administration. “The French governor-general of Algeria,” wrote Chikhachev, “refused to allow me to visit these places, claiming that it was very suspicious and mysterious the appearance of a Russian, who also wears oriental clothes and spoke to Arabs easily in their language. He stubbornly considered me a dangerous agent of Russian diplomacy. " And he did the right thing.
In the period from 1847 to 1863, Chikhachev carried out eight expeditions to Asia Minor. The result of these travels was the fundamental research "Asie Mineure" ("Asia Minor") in eight volumes - a comprehensive geographic description of Turkey, including the regions of Kurdistan and Western Armenia, unsurpassed in its completeness. The Turkish authorities turned out to be less vigilant: Chikhachev's émigré "legend" allowed him to work more or less freely on the territory of Russia's strategic enemy. The nature of Pyotr Chikhachev's activities, apparently, has not changed. This is evidenced by two of his articles published in the "Military Journal" (1850) and the almanac "Caucasus" (1853), devoted to the analysis of the Turkish armed forces. As follows from the commentary of the editor of "Military Journal", the article was written on the basis of materials collected by Chikhachev during his travels, but for some reason they were not included in "Asie Mineure". It remains only to be surprised at the unjustified risk of Chikhachev, who openly published materials of this nature on the eve of the Crimean War (1853-1856). But the Turks again did not notice anything. Can it be argued that Chikhachev did not send other information to the Russian departments? The question remains open, but, most likely, it is for these Turkish expeditions that Chikhachev receives a major general (a real privy councilor).
In 1854, our hero tries himself in publicism. He writes a work on Anglo-French politics in the Eastern question and the underlying causes of the Crimean War. In 1856, his brochure "Is the Paris Peace?" Was published, which contained sharp criticism of the regime of Nicholas I. Because of it or not, from that moment on, Chikhachev's contacts with Russian state structures almost completely ceased. There is information that Chikhachev even changed his Russian citizenship to Italian, but no direct confirmation of this has yet been found (Chikhachev's archive has not been fully analyzed).
In the following decades, Chikhachev continued to process and publish data on Asia Minor, conducted scientific research in North Africa and other regions. One after another, volumes of "Asie Mineure" and other works of the scientist were published, evoking a lively response in Western Europe. But they were not only not translated into Russian, but also hardly mentioned in the Russian press. However, in 1876 the period of silence was abruptly interrupted: Chikhachev was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and a journal of his travels in Asia Minor in 1858 was published in Tiflis. The reason for the new interest in Chikhachev is indirectly indicated by the geopolitical situation of that time. In 1876, Russian-Turkish relations worsened, and conflicts between the Ports and the Balkan countries began. All this resulted in a new Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1978. The battles were fought, among other things, on the territory of Western Armenia, through which Chikhachev traveled a lot. There are reasons to see a definite connection between the listed events.
Chikhachev went on his last expedition in 1877. His route ran through North Africa and Spain. We have no data on his further cooperation with the Russian government. Over the remaining twelve years of his life, this indefatigable researcher will write several more books, among which one will be devoted to the oil reserves of Russia. Chikhachev was the first who believed that the abundance of black gold could provide Russia with a comfortable existence for many years. Pyotr Chikhachev died on October 1, 1890 in Florence.
Speaking about Peter Chikhachev, one cannot but recall the legendary Colonel Thomas Lawrence (Thomas Edward Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, 1888–1935), an archaeologist by training, who changed this profession to an intelligence activity aimed at strengthening British influence in the Near and partly in the Middle East. "Lawrence of Arabia" is one of England's national heroes: books and films have been made about him. Pyotr Chikhachev, on the contrary, from a young age was aimed at participating in unofficial foreign policy, received special training, gained experience in this and showed outstanding abilities, but in spite of everything, he strove to conduct scientific research and freely express his thoughts.
This year is a jubilee not only for Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev, but also for Vladimir Vasilyevich Tsybulsky (1908–1992), who devoted his life to researching the biography of the hero of our article. Tsybulsky did a great job, but his monopoly led to the spread of his controversial conclusions. In this row there are silences or cursory hints about the nature of Chikhachev's service in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Emigration of Chikhachev, according to Tsybulsky, was political: allegedly "Chikhachev harshly criticized the rotten regime of Nicholas Russia, and also exposed the colonial policy of the largest capitalist countries." In general, there is still a lot of work: most of Chikhachev's books and articles have not been translated into Russian, and his archives have not been completely disassembled. An equally urgent task is to popularize the name of Pyotr Aleksandrovich: well known in the scientific world, he deserves to be known to the general reader.
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CHIKHACHEV PETR ALEXANDROVICH
Chikhachev (Peter Alexandrovich, 1808 - 1890) was a traveler-geographer and geologist, known for his studies of Altai and Asia Minor. Having received his education at home in Tsarskoe Selo, under the guidance of lyceum professors, Chikhachev graduated from it abroad, listening to lectures by Naumann, 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. Not preparing for a scientific career and not being a professional scientist, Chikhachev, having good money and brilliant scientific training, could completely surrender to the attraction to scientific travel and research, which was early revealed in him, which gave very important scientific results, thanks to the observation of their author and excellent careful processing scientific material collected during his travels, to which Chikhachev had the opportunity to attract outstanding specialists in various fields of knowledge. Having received a scientific education abroad, publishing all his scientific works in French or German and spending most of his life abroad (mainly in Paris), Chikhachev cannot be considered a Russian scientist, but Russian science owes him a very important work in geology and geography. Altai, which has not lost its significance to the present time, although more than half a century has passed since its appearance. Chikhachev's independent scientific activity began in 1841, when he published a geological description of the Monte Gargano mountain in southern Italy and the environs 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 journey to Altai. Already in 1845 he published a voluminous work about Altai, entitled: "Voyage scientifique dans l" Altai Oriental et les parties adjiointes de la frontiere de Chine "and presenting a report on the journey and the results of the development of the collected material, in which Elie de Beaumont took part After completing this enormous work, Chikhachev soon embarked on a comprehensive study of Asia Minor, to which he devoted the next 20 years of his life. there to study the Turkish language, and then, after leaving the service, undertook a number of travels in Asia Minor during 1847 - 1863, during which he made diverse scientific observations and collected rich collections: geological, botanical, zoological, paleontological and archaeological. The results of the trip were published by Chikhachev in a huge 8-volume work: "Asie Mineur", published from 1853 to 1869. This work, embracing geography, geology, climatology, zoology, botany and paleontology of Asia Minor, is a classic work performed by Chikhachev with the cooperation of numerous specialists in various branches of natural science. After the end of this work, Chikhachev did not undertake long journeys, having already reached the limits of old age, but did not stop scientific studies. Back in 1878, at the age of 71, he visited Inner Algeria and Tunisia and in 1880 published a description of his trip under the title: "Espagne, Algerie et Tunisie". In 1890, a collection of his popular scientific articles of various content was published in Paris, under the title: "Etudes de Geographie et d" Histoire naturelle. managed to finish, having died of pneumonia in 1890. In addition to geographical and natural-historical works, Chikhachev published a number of political articles on the Eastern question. Chikhachev, compiled by Stebnitsky, and a list of his scholarly works are included in volume XXVII of Izvestia of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.
Brief biographical encyclopedia. 2012
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Peter Alexandrovich, Russian geographer and geologist. Honorary member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1876). Honorary Member of the Russian ... - CHIKHACHEV, PETR ALEXANDROVICH
(1808-1890) - traveler-geographer and geologist, known for his studies of Altai and Asia Minor. Having received home education in Tsarskoe Selo, under the guidance of ... - CHIKHACHEV, PETR ALEXANDROVICH in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia:
(1808-1890)? geographer-traveler and geologist, known for his studies of Altai and Asia Minor. Having received home education in Tsarskoe Selo, under the guidance of ... - PETER in the Bible Dictionary:
, Apostle - Simon, the son (descendant) of Jonah (John 1:42), a fisherman from Bethsaida (John 1:44), who lived with his wife and mother-in-law in Capernaum (Mat. 8:14). ... - CHIKHACHEV
Chikhachev - messenger and governor of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. Terrible was sent during the war with the Swedes to Sweden with ... - ALEKSANDROVICH in the Literary Encyclopedia:
Andrei is a Belarusian poet. R. in Minsk, on Perespa, in the family of a shoemaker. Living conditions were very difficult ... - PETER in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
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1) St. martyr, suffered for the confession of faith in Lampsak, in the Decievo persecution, in 250; commemoration of May 18; 2) St. ... - PETER in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
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(? - 1326), Metropolitan of All Russia (from 1308). He supported the Moscow princes in their struggle for the great reign of Vladimir. In 1324 ... - CHIKHACHEV
CHIKHACHEV Peter Al-dr. (1808-90), geographer and geologist, Poch. h. Petersburg. AN (1876). B.ch. spent his life in France. Based on the materials of their ... - PETER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
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PETER LOMBARD (Petrus Lombardus) (c. 1100-60), Christ. theologian and philosopher, rep. scholasticism, bishop of Paris (from 1159). Studied with P. Abelard ... - PETER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
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PETER DAMIANI (Petrus Damiani) (about 1007-1072), church. activist, theologian, cardinal (from 1057); formulated the position of philosophy as a servant of theology. ... - PETER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
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PETER (in the world Pyotr Simeonovich Mogila) (1596-1647), Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia from 1632. Archimandrite of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (from 1627). Founded Slavic-Greek-Lat. ... - PETER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
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Peter Aleksandrovich (1808-90), Russian geographer and geologist, honorary member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876). He spent most of his life in France. By … - PETER in the Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
in the New Testament, one of the twelve apostles. The original name is Simon. Called by Jesus Christ to the apostles together with brother Andrew and ... - REDIGER MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH
Open Orthodox encyclopedia "DREVO". Ridiger Mikhail Alexandrovich (1902 - 1962), archpriest. Father of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia ... - REIN NIKOLAY ALEXANDROVICH in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox encyclopedia "DREVO". Rein Nikolai Alexandrovich (1892 - 1937), martyr. Commemoration of October 8, in the Cathedral ... - ALEXEY ALEXANDROVICH PORFIRIEV in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox encyclopedia "DREVO". Porfiryev Alexey Alexandrovich (1856 - 1918), archpriest, hieromartyr. Commemoration of October 24 and ... - PETER (POLYANSKY) in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
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Open Orthodox encyclopedia "DREVO". Attention, this article is not finished yet and contains only part of the necessary information. Peter (Zverev) (1878 ... - NIKOLAI II ALEXANDROVICH in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
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Chikhachev (Platon Alexandrovich, 1812 - 1892) - Russian traveler and scientist, brother of the previous one. He took part in the wars against Turkey and Poland ... - CHIKHACHEV NIKOLAY MATVEEVICH in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia:
Chikhachev (Nikolai Matveyevich) - Adjutant General, Admiral. Born in 1830, educated in the Naval Cadet Corps; in 1853 - 1859 ... - SERGY ALEXANDROVICH in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia:
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Chikhachev, Petr Alexandrovich
A well-known scientist traveler and geographer, a member of many scientific societies and institutions; was 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 nee Bestuzheva-Ryumin. P. A. received his upbringing at home, but for that time, apparently, very good. His parents, wealthy people, moved to Tsarskoe Selo, and P.A., together with his younger brother Plato, studied under the professors of the local Lyceum. In 1830, P.A. entered the service of the diplomatic corps and was at the Russian mission in Constantinople. His early passion for travel found some satisfaction in traveling on various errands to Asia Minor, Egypt, Syria and Greece. But in 1835, yielding to his attraction to the study of geography and natural science in general, he left the service and devoted himself entirely to scientific pursuits and travels 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 for Liebig, in Berlin he listened to Leopold von Buch and Gustav Rose, and then in Paris he studied at Ecole de mines and in the Collége de France. Here he became a student of Elie-de-Beaumont, who had a great influence on his scientific development. Another close acquaintance he had with the paleontologist A. de Verneuil and the Marquis d "Arsiac, as well as with the famous S. R. Murchison. PA began his scientific career in the forties. His first published article was:" Geognostiche Schilderung des monte Gargano in den Jahren 1839 und 1840 "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 on the geological structure of Nice, and a year later the first separately published work appeared: "Coup d" oeil sur la constitution géologique des provinces meridionalles du Royaume de Naples ", Berlin, 1842. For this essay (analyzed in detail in "Leonhard" s N. Fahrbuch "for 1842) Ch. Was, at the behest of the king of both Sicilies, elected to a member of the Regian 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 leadership of Fischer, director Botanical Garden, Kupffer, director of the physical observatory, and Brandt's zoologist. In 1842, according to the Imperial command, P.A. made a trip to Altai, to the area until that time very little known. The main purpose of his journey was to discover the springs of Chuya, Chulyshman and Abakan; and also to explore in terms of geological, topographic, botanical and zoological not only the places along which these rivers flow, but also the border waters of China. The description of this journey and the results of his Ch. Set out in an essay that brought him European fame and flattering reviews of 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 historical sketch travel, physical observation, ethnographic and other notes about the traversed path. 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 his own observations, the collections of the Mining Institute, as well as the writings of Pallas, Shangin, Gmelin, and others. scientists who visited Altai; but the author 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 on a mission 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 set about studying the Turkish language, preparing for the journey and the natural history study of Asia Minor. The latter was conceived under the influence of A. Humboldt, with whom Ch. Began friendly relations even earlier. Leaving the service, and this time already 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, the Marmara and Mediterranean seas to Erzerum ... Almost every year he undertook travels to different destinations of this country, collecting topographic 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 only by a European minister (only twice he took a painter), a major and considered a classic work under the title: "Asie Mineure, description physique, statistique et archéologique de cette contrée" par P. de Tchihatchef "was published. "description physique" in eight large volumes, of which the first appeared in 1853, and the last in 1869. The first part of "Asie Mineure" contains a description of the shores of Asia Minor, its rivers, lakes and orography of the country. heights of points, barometrically determined for the most part by P.A.Ch. himself and his predecessors, the English travelers Ainsworth and Hamilton. The second appendix of the first volume is the depths of the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles and the Gulf of Smyrna. The second part of AM 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. the fourth part in four volumes - the geology and paleontology of Asia Minor, to which the author, who loved these branches of knowledge more than others, paid more attention to. The first three volumes contain a description of igneous rocks from different parts of Asia Minor, with an indication of their geographical distribution; then a description of the Devonian, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary and other recent formations. Descriptive geology is supplemented by two geological maps of Asia Minor, part of Armenia, as well as the environs of the Bosphorus and Constantinople. Paleontology, processed by French scientists from the collections of Ch., Is the fourth volume. This enormous work, in which many leading scientists, mostly French, took part, will forever remain a worthy monument to the author 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 in Asia Minor, Ch. Traveled a total of approximately 14,000 versts, and his routes, which provided rich cartographic material, actually draw a map of Asia Minor up and down. They are processed, according to the original magazines, by Kipert and published in 1868 in Ergänzungsheft No. 20 Petermann's Geographische Mittheilungen. Some of the routes are published in the journal of the Berlin Geographical Society ("Zeitschrift f. Allg. Erdkunde sechster Lieferung 1859) and in" Izvestia of the Caucasian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society "in app. to IV volume "Materials for the geography of Asian Turkey. Journey through Asia Minor". P. Chikhachev. With approx. Kinpert. Translated. with him. N. Gelmersen. The cartographic and topographic material supplied by Chikhachev, which, incidentally, was also used by I.I. populated places and natural boundaries. The description of the Bosphorus and Constantinople serves as an addition to the work "Asie Mineure" ("Le Bosphore et Constantinopole" par P. Tchihatchef, Paris, 1864; second edition 1866). Ch. Also carried out archaeological research in Asia Minor, and the 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 composition "Une page sur l" Orient. Asie Mineure. Geographie physique, climat, vegetation, espèces d "animaux, constitution géologique, considération politique". P.A.Ch., as a former diplomat, liked 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 to the granddaughter of Lord Dalhausi, the former Viceroy of Anglo-India, Ch. Completely settled abroad, living for the most part in Florence, and did not undertake further travels; only in 1878, together with his wife, visited inland Algeria and Tunisia. This interesting journey is described by him in letters to the economist Michel Chevalue and published separately as a book. "Espagne, Algérie et Tunise" par P. de-Tchihatchef, Paris, 1880
The last time of his life Ch. Devoted exclusively literary work and death interrupted his great work: "Les déserts du Globe", parts of which have already appeared in print. He died on October 1, 1890. According to the will of P.A.Ch., he left a capital of 100,000 francs to the Paris Academy of Sciences. for awards to travelers in Asia, excluding British India, Siberia itself, Asia Minor and Syria, as countries are already quite well researched. Having made himself a resounding fame abroad, Ch. Due to the fact that he exclusively wrote in foreign languages, which he mastered perfectly, in Russia is known only to a small comparatively 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 traité de Berlin", Paris. 1879 "Etudes de géographie et d" histoire naturelle ". Florence. 1890 Moreover, C. wrote in" Revue de deux Mondes "and" Revue Britannique ", among other things, about oil in the United States and Russia; there essays were also placed: Sahara, Gobi, Tibet, the Aral-Caspian lowland and the oasis of Merv, which were supposed to compose a large essay: "Les déserts du Globe." ". Compiled by the Royal Society. London.
Stebnitskiy I. I., "Peter Alexandrovich Chikhachev" (obituary), "Proceedings of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society", v. XXVII, 1891, pp. 1-10; "P. Chikhachev" (obituary), "Journal of the Ministry of Public Education", 1890, no. 12; "A few words about the two Russian travelers Chikhachevs", "Notes of the Fatherland", 1843, v. 26, no. 2, pp. 91-93; "Russian Travelers", "Artistic Leaf", 1859, no. 11; "The journey of Mr. Chikhachev to the eastern deviations of Altai and to the Sayan mountains", "Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1843, 37, no. 1, pp. 1-6; The same, "Manufacturing and Gornozavodskie Izvestia", 1842, No. 52, pp. 408-413; Chikhachev in Asia Minor, Geographic Izvestia, 1848; "Review of works. Chikhachev, S. R. Murchison and Vik. D" Arshiak "see" Moskovskie Vedomosti ", 1869, No. 181; about the book" Une page sur l "Orient" see "Russian Bulletin", 1868 G., t. 78, No. 12, pp. 697-702; "St. Petersburg Vedomosti", 1869, No. 3; "A few words about Chikhachev's book on Asia Minor" by Baron Kviyat-Grotsius, St. Petersburg, 1870; Efron's "Encyclopedic Dictionary", v. 76; "New Time", 1890, No. 5249; N. B. Belozerskaya, P. A. Chikhachev, "Bulletin of Europe", 1893, XI; Starchevsky's "Dictionary", v. XII.
(Polovtsov)
Chikhachev, Petr Alexandrovich
(1808-1890) - traveler-geographer and geologist, known for his studies of Altai and Asia Minor. Having received his education at home in Tsarskoe Selo, under the guidance of lyceum professors, C. graduated from it abroad, listening to lectures by Naumann, 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. Not preparing for a scientific career and not being a professional scientist, Ch., Having good money and brilliant scientific training, could completely surrender to the attraction to scientific travel and research that was early revealed in him, which gave very important scientific results, thanks to the observation of their author and excellent thorough processing of scientific material collected during the trip, to which Ch. had the opportunity to attract outstanding specialists in various fields of knowledge. Having received a scientific education abroad, publishing all his scientific works in French or German, 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 in geology and geography of Altai, which has not lost its significance to the present time, although more than half a century has passed since its appearance.
Ch .'s independent scientific activity began in 1841, when he published a geological description of Mount Monte Gargano in southern Italy and the environs 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 journey 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 journey and the results of the development of the collected material, in which Elie de Beaumont took part After completing this enormous work, Ch. Soon began a comprehensive study of Asia Minor, to which he devoted the next 20 years of his life. staying there to study the Turkish language, and then, leaving the service, undertook a number of travels in Asia Minor during 1847-63, during which he made diverse scientific observations and collected rich collections: geological, botanical, zoological, paleontological and archaeological. The results of the trip were published by Ch. In the enormous 8-volume work "Asie Mineur", published with 1853 to 1869 This work, embracing geography, geology, climatology, zoology, botany, and paleontology of Asia Minor, is a classic work performed by Ch. With the collaboration of numerous specialists in various branches of natural science. After the end of this work, Ch. Did not undertake long journeys, having already reached the limits of old age, but did not stop 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. did not manage to finish, having died of pneumonia in 1890. In addition to geographical and natural history works, Ch. published a number of political articles on the Eastern question. The biography of Ch., Compiled by Stebnitsky, and a list of his scientific works are placed in XXVII vol. "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 for the French appeared. 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 ... ", P., 1845 was published. Later, Chikhachev took the post of attaché of the Russian embassy in Constantinople, where he studied Turkish. Asia; the results of the work. Are concluded 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, Ch .'s new work was published - "Le Bosphore et Constantinople", P., 1864.
Chikhachev, Petr Alexandrovich
Rus. travel geographer and geologist. Educated at home. 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 travel to Italy and South. France (1839-41) was geological. map of the Apennine Peninsula. Based on materials from a trip to Altai and S.-Z. China (1842), to the processing of which attracted the French. scientists Elie de Beaumont, Verneuil and others, gave in 1845 geographical. and geological description of these areas, in particular the Kuznetsk coal basin. In 1847-63 he undertook a number of expeditions across M. 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, made a detailed description of Asia Minor (1853-69), which has not lost its scientific significance even now. In 1877-1878 he traveled to Spain, Algeria and Tunisia. Member (since 1845) and honorary member. (since 1890) Rus. geographic about-va, honorary member. Petersburg. Academy of Sciences (since 1876) and many other academies and societies. With the funds he bequeathed to Paris. Academy of Sciences established an award named after him for the best research in Asia. The ridge in the south-east is named after Ch. Altai.
Moscow
Russian travelers and scientists - the Chikhachev brothers
Platon Alexandrovich Chikhachev
(1812, Gatchina - 1892, Versailles) The Chikhachevs surname has been known for a long time and means a lot in the history of Russia. The brothers Peter and Platon Chikhachev once played a special role in this:
- Petr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev is a geographer, geologist and traveler, on whose account there are serious 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, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Mineralogical Society.
The brothers Peter and Platon Chikhachev have written many interesting pages in the history of not only geographical, but also historical, political and philosophical sciences. The study of Europe, Asia, Africa and America is associated with their names. The Chikhachev brothers were born into a noble family of the actual state councilor Alexander Petrovich Chikhachev, who was a colonel of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. After retiring, he was appointed commandant of the palace in Gatchina. Anna Fedorovna Chikhacheva (nee Bestuzhev - Ryumin), the mother of the sons of the Chikhachevs, was a cousin of the Decembrist Bestuzhev. She was a woman of high culture who devoted much time to raising and educating her sons. The outbreak of war with Turkey carried away an ardent 16-year-old boy, and Platon was enlisted as a cadet in the St. Petersburg Army Uhlan 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 made his first great trip across the Americas - from Canada to Tierra del Fuego.
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Torres del Paine, Argentina. This is how Platon Chikhachev discovered it for the Russian people.
And as soon as free time fell out, he was engaged in self-education. A passion for travel, a passion for geography and geology prevailed over the life of an ordinary young officer. At the slightest opportunity, he entered everything that was interesting and useful in his travel diaries. Chikhachev did not write much, but his published works were even less, paying all attention to his diary entries.
During his, one might say, almost semicircular journey, P.A. Chikhachev collected a huge collection of diary entries, but he failed to translate them into 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 then 24 years old, but he had already managed to go through many events in his life and to see many countries. As he himself wrote to 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 - en route through Santa Fe de Bogota in Colombia, but political turmoil in that country prevented the journey. The second such attempt he made in Peru - from Callao and Lima through Cuzco, but again unsuccessfully. The plans included a trip to Europe - through Scotland and England to France and Italy, from where in 1835 (from Palermo) he went to the United States - to Philadelphia. Then he visited Canada (up to 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 Guayakil in Ecuador. From there, on horseback, Chikhachev reached the capital of this country, Quito. The same setback befell him in Peru, and only in Chile he managed to fulfill his plan, crossing the Andes through the Pampas, he reached Buenos Aires.In the course of his journey across the American continent from Canada to Tierra del Fuego, Platon Chikhachev crossed the Andes, on the way giving attention and time for climbing. In particular, he climbed the peaks of the Andes: Pichinchu, Pasco and others.
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Volcano Pichinchu (4787)
On this trip, Chikhachev passed through the Kumbre pass (3965 m). The name of the pass is given by the name of an old small mining village (there used to be a silver mine there). A cogwheel railway was built through this pass many years later, and now a three-kilometer tunnel has been carved under it for the railway line and highways connecting Santiago and Buenos Aires. After finishing his campaign, Chikhachev became the first Russian traveler to cross the Andes.
In Buenos Aires, he suggested that it is quite possible to get into Central Asia 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 Tsar, Chikhachev could not carry it out, since he met strong opposition from Count Nesselrode, who was famous for constantly hindering any movement of Russians in Asia. With great difficulty, Chikhachev managed to achieve only a secondment to the detachment that was leaving for 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 was just thinking about the activities for the study of 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. Kankrina, where he recommends 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, a trip to Central Asia. He needs your protection, and he deserves it ... His desire for knowledge is not an empty appearance. He is an excellent young man, in whose face a lot can die if he is not supported at home. " We have heard that Humboldt made a similar recommendation to Tsar Nicholas I. But in vain. Chikhachev “was not supported at home,” as the sagacious Humboldt foresaw. As Chikhachev's contemporaries later argued, Nicholas I disliked 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 together with many other outstanding scientists of that era - academician P.I. Köppen, G.P. Gelmersen, V. Ya. Struve, Rear Admiral F.P. Wrangel, V.F. Odoevsky, V.A. Perovsky and others. The Charter of the Society was approved in August 1845 and indicated that the purpose of the RGS would be "the organization and direction of research and research in the geography of Russia", "the collection and dissemination of geographical information in Russia", as well as the verification and refutation of "unfounded information" in order to warn " spreading false notions about Russia ”. In the very near future, in the Geographical Society, he made a survey of the studies of the peaks (as the upper reaches of the rivers were called at that time) of the Syr-Darya and Amu-Darya. This did not save the day - he was in 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 from him the 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, for family reasons and a health disorder, 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, made ascents in order to acquire new knowledge in new regions of the Earth. So, in the Pyrenees, he made an interesting ascent to the highest mountain of the Pyrenees - Aneto peak (Annette, Neto, and in Spanish - Aneto). This third highest mountain in Spain is also known by the French name Pic de N & 233thou. This mountain is considered a masterpiece of the Pyrenees and soon became a constant subject of a mandatory climb to its summit. Naturalist writer Louis Ramon de Carbonniere (1755-1827) described Aneto as a jumble 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 hat).” The interest of researchers and climbers in Aneto woke up even at the beginning of the 18th century, but until the middle of the 19th century, attempts to climb the mountain ended tragically (the daredevils died in the cracks of the glacier), which is why Aneto began to be accompanied by ill fame.
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Aneto Peak. (3404). Pyrenees. Spain. Province of Huesca.
The active Russian officer Chikhachev surprised the local residents a lot when he began to collect information about this peak and receive the necessary consultations, wishing to climb Aneto peak. Local residents strongly discouraged Chikhachev from attempting to climb this mountain. The peak was notorious among local shepherds and hunters. Dangerous peaks of the Iberian ridge, where Anetu peak is located for a long time, obviously did not cause much tenderness among the locals, who gave this mountain range the name Maladetta (Spanish - "damned"). But in reality, this peak was not the most difficult to climb. In July 1842, on the first attempt, he submitted to a group of climbers led by Russian officer Platon Chikhachev. On the ascent, he was accompanied 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 Sur. They undertook the assault on the summit from the "Renklus refuge" - 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 cairn and left a bottle with a note containing the names of all members of the expedition.
To mark this unusual event, the Toulouse Academy published the barometric measurements of the Maladette peak reported by Chikhachev and awarded his work with its silver medal. He was the first traveler to reach the highest point of the mountain and barometrically determine its height at 3414 meters. After this ascent, one of his French acquaintances (de Joinville) expressed doubts about the accuracy of the determination of the height of this peak made by Chikhachev, and perhaps the very fact of the ascent. Chikhachev on a bet repeated this ascent with de Joinville himself. At the top, they, of course, found Chikhachev's business card. And the second measurement of the peak height gave the same result as the first one. 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, their sympathy for the Decembrists. This attitude was especially pronounced to the idea expressed by the Chikhachevs about conducting an expedition to Central Asia to explore 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 later wrote: “… it met insurmountable obstacles from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Society did not manage to equip an expedition to Central Asia in the initial period of its activity. As a result of armchair intrigues, the talented and courageous, besides perfectly scientifically prepared Platon Aleksandrovich Chikhachev, who could have become the pioneer of Russian geographical science in the study of Central Asia, had to give up his cherished dream and, having left for a long time abroad, "delete himself" , so to speak, out of order of the Russian researchers 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. Tireless traveler Platon Chikhachev, being a connoisseur of mountain trails, passes and climbing a number of peaks Western Europe, Africa and America, later turned his perseverance, his experience and erudition to the preparation of expeditions to Central Asia, which was a "blank spot" on the maps of those times. Alas, it was not his fault that these plans did not achieve their goal, and he left behind only an interesting overview of geographic data on Central Asia.
After his marriage to E.F. Offenberg in 1856, Platon Alexandrovich Chikhachev moved abroad almost forever. He devoted himself there to caring for the family. Until 1874 he lived mainly in Paris, in the years 1874-1880. - in Wiesbaden, Germany, and last years spent in Cannes, in the south of France. During this time, he wrote several interesting articles about "California and the Ussuriysk Territory" and about the "Canadian Pacific Railroad" (1890-1891). In them, he combined the analysis of the physical, geographical and economic conditions of the countries of Asia and America.
The life of Platono Aleksandrovich Chikhachev abroad was very secluded, alien to any broad public relations and honors that corresponded to a scientist of his rank. He tried to give his children the same good education that he received himself: his son Fyodor Platonovich became a famous scientist-mineralogist. Petr Alexandrovich Chikhachev- elder brother of Platon Chikhachev - 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 Altai ridges, 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-Western 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 open-pit mines in Kubassa.
For his interesting and brilliantly written article about the Pamirs, Peter Chikhachev collected a lot of little-known information, starting with the descriptions of the Buddhist monk-traveler of the 7th century Giun-Tsang and the diaries of Marco Polo in the 13th century, and ending with the reports of the English agents of Moorcroft, Wood and others. To the text of his work, which included both physical and geographical information, as well as data on communication routes, passes, etc., Chikhachev also attached the "Hypothetical map of the Pamirs and the peaks of the Syrdarya and Amu Darya" (Hypothetical map).
On Chikhachev's map, the river system of both mentioned rivers (as well as the Tarima river in the east), the position of the Mustag, or Than-Shan ranges (as the name of the Tien Shan was written at that time), and the Himalayas, which the author combined with the Karakorum, was already quite correctly represented ... But the mountain systems of the Pamirs - they were depicted only in the form of one meridional ridge, called the Bolorsky ridge - there was so little information about them. He connected three mountain nodes on this map, the first of which was located northwest of Kashmir (Srinagar), where the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush converge. The second node was located in the upper reaches of the Amu Darya, where Khun-Lun-Shan (Kuen-Lun) adjoins the Bolor from the east, and the third is not far from Margelan, where, as Chikhachev thought, Than-Shan branches off to the east, as Chikhachev thought.
The main works on geography and geology left by Peter Alexandrovich belong 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. V.V. Tsybulsky's books "Likhachevs". Photo from Internet publications, photogallerys.ru/en , Ocenil.RU, Kristur, Usoz.UA, http://dlyakota.ru/21198-ugled, Images / yandex. RU)
Peter Alexandrovich 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 Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, in 1804 was appointed director of the city of Gatchina with the rank of actual state councilor.
Chikhachev's mother, Anna Fedorovna, nee Bestuzheva-Ryumina (cousin of the future Decembrist), a woman of high culture, devoted much time to raising her sons (Peter's brother Platon 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 an interpreter for 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 was primarily concerned with the Eastern question. He visited Egypt, traveled to Palestine, the Libyan Desert, Sinai and the Syrian Desert, and visited Constantinople.
Soon Chikhachev got a job 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, began to study Turkish and Spanish.
In 1835, during the stay of the artist Bryullov in Constantinople, Chikhachev accompanied him on trips. Bryullov portrayed him in an 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 at the largest island in 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 di Calabria, on the Apennine Peninsula.
In an area extending northeast and northwest of 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 by geologists or botanists before. Here Chikhachev replenished his herbarium rare species plants.
Chikhachev ascends the peaks of Monte Vulture and a number of adjacent mountains, explores the 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 Neapolitan region. For four months, he studied the surroundings of Naples, the Rocca-Monfinet area, the Phlegrain fields, the Vesuvius volcano, the islands of Ischia, Capri, and others.
In August 1840, he completed his journey through the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Naples.
In 1842 Chikhachev was sent to Altai and Sayany, which were still little explored at that time.
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 source. The next task was to study the sources of the Chulyshman River. Chikhachev went to Lake Dzhulukul through a swampy place between the sources of the Chuya and Chulyshman.
Then, having rounded the mountains from the south, Chikhachev headed along the Dzhaldu river valley to the Bashkaus river.
Climbing 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 the Abakan, Chikhachev headed along the western shore of the lake. Behind the source of the river Chikhachev saw the southwestern part of the Abakan ridge, and in the north he discovered the sources of the Maly Abakan, separated from the Bolshoi by the short Karlygan ridge. Chikhachev became the first scientific researcher of the Western Sayan.
Chikhachev passed from the headwaters of the Chulcha River to the east through a hilly and swampy area with many lakes and reached the Alash River (Yenisei system). He penetrated into the Uryankhai region (Tuva) and explored it. Then Chikhachev turned to the north and discovered the mountain lake Kara-Khol, "hidden in the masses of huge mountains." Continuing to the north, he came to the headwaters of the Ona (tributary of the Abakan). Chikhachev descended into the valley of the current to the north-east of the Kantegir (left tributary of the Yenisei). From the pass, he saw "a whole ocean of mountains with slightly rounded contours, covered with forest" and gradually declining. Having crossed this mountain range, he reached the Abakan River. So Chikhachev crossed the Western Sayan. He collected important geographic materials and the first geological data about this mountainous country. Based on the materials of his trip, Chikhachev compiled for the first time 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 Erdzhiyas and Bingel - on which no man had set foot before him. He researched and published interesting material on the currents of water 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 amount of organic fossils given in my Paleontology of Asia Minor," he wrote, "contains at least 575 species, of which 57 are completely new." A number of paleontological fossils, as well as minerals, first discovered and described by Chikhachev, have been named after him. In Chikhachev's herbarium, there were up to 3500 plant species of Asia Minor.
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 went on a steamer to the shores of North Africa.
He traveled for seven months in Algeria, after which on May 25, 1878 he sailed by steamer to Tunisia. After a 10-day acquaintance with the city of Tunisia, Chikhachev began to explore its surroundings. First of all, he went to the Zaghuan region, located 40 kilometers south of Tunisia. There is a magnificent aqueduct built 18 centuries ago by Emperor Andrian in order to bring water to Carthage from sources gushing from the Zaghuan massif, located 130 kilometers from the city.
After completing the tour of the Zaghuan mountain range, Chikhachev went to the ruins of the ancient city of Utica, located halfway from Tunisia to Bizerte.
On June 4, Chikhachev visited the healing springs of Hammam-El-Ener, flowing from the Jebel-Bou-Kournein mountain range. The next day, the scientist began to explore the area where the ancient city of Carthage once stood.
On June 9, 1878, after almost a year's stay in North Africa, Chikhachev set off by steamer from Tunisia to Naples, and from there to Florence.
Chikhachev is a pioneer in field research in the geology and botany of North Africa. He has the priority in identifying many plant species in North Africa, including the mountains of Dzhur-Dzhur, Aures, Zaghuan. 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. Buried in Allori Cemetery. On the tombstone of gray granite for the 150th anniversary of his birth, a white marble slab was placed with the inscription: "The Motherland honors you, dear Peter Alexandrovich."
One of the Altai ridges, where Chikhachev conducted research, is named after him.