Kozma Fyodorovich Spassky-Avtonomov was born in 1807, in Zakharovka, now Lipetsk Oblast and died in 1890. He was a Russian researcher of the region of Baku, then a city in the Russian Empire, but now in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea. Baku is interesting geologically as it is the lowest lying national capital in the world, some 28 metres below sea level. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, alongside the Bay of Baku.