Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky

Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky – a Russian geographer, botanist, statistician, traveler, and statesman and public figure. Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (until 1906 – Semyonov) was born on January 2, 1827, in the Ryazan Governorate into a noble family. In 1845 he graduated from the School of Guards' Sub-Ensigns, and in 1848 from the natural sciences department of Saint Petersburg University. In 1849 he became a member of the Russian Geographical Society.

 

From 1849 to 1851 Semyonov studied the vegetation of the Oka and Don river basins and defended his master's thesis "The flora of the Don region in its relations to the geographical distribution of plants in European Russia." From 1853 to 1855 he studied geography and geology in European countries. In 1856–1857, on behalf of the Russian Geographical Society, he led an expedition to Central Asia. During the expedition Semyonov mapped the ranges of the Tien Shan, studied Lake Issyk-Kul, discovered the sources of the Syr Darya, described the Tengri-Tag mountain group and its peak Khan Tengri, and reached the glaciers of that area.

 

Aside from his geographical research, Semyonov was actively involved in state and public life. He contributed to the emancipation of the peasants, founded domestic scientific statistics, and in 1897 initiated the first general population census of Russia. In 1882 he became a senator and later a member of the State Council. Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky died on March 11, 1914, in Saint Petersburg and was buried in the Smolensk Cemetery.