Ushakov, Georgiy Alekseyevich (1901–1963)

Ushakov, Georgiy Alekseyevich (1901–1963) – Soviet geographer and traveler, explorer of the Eastern Arctic, PhD of Geography, and a merited polar explorer of the USSR. In 1912 U. entered Unterberger Commercial School in Khabarovsk. There he met V.K. Arsenyev, a renowned explorer of the Russian Far East, in whose expedition to Ussuri taiga U. took part. In 1921 U. entered the Geography Department of Vladivostok University completing five academic semesters before being drafted to the military service. During 1926–1929 U. was Russia’s first representative on the administration and colonization of Wrangel and Gerald islands in the Arctic Ocean (appointed by an authority of the Far Eastern Territory Executive Committee). U. completed a systematic survey of the island producing a detailed map of it. U. founded the island’s first community where Chukchis, Eskimos, and Russians lived. During 1930–1932 U. led an expedition to Severnaya Zemlya that included geologist N.N. Urvantsev, radio...