Ferdinand von Wrangel

Wrangel was born in Pskov, into the Baltic German nobility of the Wrangel family and was a distant nephew of Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich von Wrangel. He graduated from the Naval Cadets College in 1815. He participated in Vasily Golovnin's world cruise on the ship Kamchatka in 1817–1819 and belonged to the cohort of Baltic-German navigators who were instrumental in Imperial Russia's maritime explorations. == Career ==

Kolymskaya expedition He was appointed in 1820 to command the Kolymskaya expedition to explore the Russian polar seas. Sailing from St. Petersburg, he arrived at Nizhnekolymsk on 2 November 1820, and early in 1821 journeyed to Cape Shelagskiy on sledges drawn by dogs. He sailed afterward up Kolyma River, advancing about 125 miles into the interior, through territory inhabited by the Yakuts. On 10 March 1822, he resumed his journey northward, and traveled 46 days on the ice, reaching 72° 2' north latitude. He left Nizhnekolymsk on 1 November 1823, and returned to St. Petersburg on 15 August 1824. Prior to his departure for Russia's American colonies, he was married to Elisabeth Theodora Natalie Karoline de Rossillon, daughter of Baron Wilhelm de Rossillon. He traveled to his post early in 1829, by way of Siberia and Kamchatka. After thoroughly reforming the administration, he introduced the cultivation of the potato, opened and regulated the working of several mines, and urged upon the home government the organization of a fur company. He promoted investment, and sent out missionaries. He began a survey of the country, opened roads, built bridges and government buildings. He made geographical and ethnographical observations, which he embodied in a memoir to the navy department. Recalled in 1834, he returned by way of Mexico and the United States, where he visited several cities. In 1854 he re-entered active service and was made chief director of the hydrographical department of the navy ==Writings==

An account of the physical observations during his first journey was published in German (Berlin, 1827), and also in German extracts from Wrangel's journals, Reise längs der Nordküste von Sibirien und auf dem Eismeere in den Jahren 1820-1824 (2 vols., Berlin, 1839), which was translated into English as ''Wrangell's Expedition to the Polar Sea (2 vols., London, 1840). The complete report of the expedition appeared as "Puteshestvie po severnym beregam Sibiri, po Ledovitomu Moryu, sovershennoe v 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823 i 1824 godakh" (2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1841), and was translated into French with notes by Prince Galitzin, under the title Voyage sur les côtes septentrionales de la Sibérie et de la mer glaciale (2 vols., 1841). From the French version of the complete report an English one was made under the title A Journey on the Northern Coast of Siberia and the Icy Sea'' (2 vols., London, 1841). Wrangel also published: • Ocherk puti iz Sitki v Sankt-Peterburg (Report of Travel from Sitka to St. Petersburg) (1836) • French translation: Journal de voyage de Sitka à Saint Pétersbourg (Paris, 1836) • English translation prepared from the French: Journal of a Voyage from Sitka to St. Petersburg (London, 1837) • ''Nachrichten über die Russischen Besitzungen an der Nordwestküste America's'' (2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1839) • French translation: ''Renseignements statistiques et ethnographiques sur les possessions Russes de la côte Nord-Ouest de l'Amérique'' (Paris, 1839) • English translation: Statistical and Ethnographical Notices on the Russian Possessions in North America (London, 1841) ==Ancestry and legacy==

Wrangel's descendants Peter-Friedrich Krienitz and Hermann von Wrangell, from Germany visited Ferdinand von Wrangel's last home and grave in Roela first in 1990. After the Estonian Restoration of Independence in 1991, they together created the Fondation von Wrangell on his behalf - a society to assist Estonian and Latvian schools in 1992. They also began to assist Estonian legal professionals to transition to the European legal system by creating Forum Academicum in Roela. Ferdinand von Wrangel's 200th birthday (29th Dec. 1996 in the old calendar and 1997 January 10 by the new calendar), was celebrated with scientific conferences, a pipe organ concert and exhibitions in the University of Tartu, the Estonian Maritime Museum and in Saint Petersburg. A series of notebooks „FvW in itinere“ was released by the Fondation von Wrangelli in Estonian, Russian and German to introduce his scientific legacy. Over the next 10 years his birthday was celebrated in Tartu with scientific presentations, coffee and kringel. ==Namesakes==

• Wrangel Island, the arctic island north of Chukotka, named by Thomas Long after him. Wrangel had noticed swarms of birds flying north, and, questioning the native population, he determined that there must be an undiscovered island in the Arctic Ocean. He searched for it on the Kolymskaya expedition, but failed to find it. • Wrangell Island, an island in the Alexander Archipelago, off the coast of Alaska • Wrangell, Alaska, a city on Wrangell Island and one of the oldest non-native settlements in Alaska • Fort Wrangel, a US Army base at Wrangell, originally Fort Stikine when under British control • Wrangell Airport, an airport near Wrangell, Alaska • Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area a census area containing Wrangell Island. • Wrangell Narrows, a winding channel in the Alexander Archipelago • Cape Wrangell of Attu Island, the westernmost point of Alaska (and the United States) • Mount Wrangell, a volcano in Alaska • Wrangell Volcanic Field, named after Mount Wrangell • Wrangell Mountains, named after Mount Wrangell • USS Wrangell (AE-12), named after Mount Wrangell • Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, named after Wrangell mountains • Wrangellia, a geologic terrane of Southeast Alaska ==See also==