He was published as a journalist and writer in various newspapers and magazines, capital and local.

Laureate of the "Journalist of Kuzbass" prize (1989). Laureate of the Kuzbass Prize (2000). Tourist Oscar (2000). Medals “For a special contribution to the development of Kuzbass”, “60 years of the Kemerovo region”. Nominee for the "Journalism as an Act" award.

Books:

"Who will feed us?" Kemerovo, 1990.

"Posolon" Kemerovo, 2002.

"Village Diary" Kemerovo, 2006.

"Traveling with Friends" Kemerovo, 2006.

Member of the Writers' Union of Russia.

Lives in Kemerovo).

2005 marked the 160th anniversary of the publication of Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev's major work "Journey to Eastern Altai". Chikhachev gave the name to our land: Kuznetsk coal basin. Otherwise Kuzbass.

Today our Kemerovo region has this, perhaps, a more popular name. Chikhachev is the person who was the first to determine the natural geological and geographical boundaries of the Kuznetsk coal basin. He is by right the first baptist of Kuzbass.

Today - excerpts from "Travel to Eastern Altai" by Pyotr Aleksandrovich CHIKHACHEV. Translated from French (in the nineteenth century it was the generally recognized language of geological and geographical science) by V.V. Tsibulsky and published in 1974.

How and by whom Siberia was settled

The composition of the "colonists" of Western Siberia includes, firstly, people who have gone through a number of "cleansing" gradations established for a number of categories of exiled (this will be discussed below), secondly, people without a specific title and profession, and, finally, in the third , serfs, whose owners asked for their expulsion.

The death penalty, which is not used in Russia, has been partially replaced by exile. Places and settlements intended for incurring this punishment are strictly provided for by law, more precisely, Article 1057 (Code of Laws, 1842), which gives the following list of them: Siberia and part of the Caucasian region, factories and salt works in the Urals, owned by the government, and also numerous enterprises in other parts of the empire; battalions assigned to service in fortresses, guarding provinces and port work. Although these areas are provided for those who have been sentenced to exile by the court, the nature of the crime predetermines two very different categories of exiled.

One of them consists of criminals sentenced to hard labor for criminal offenses. The second category includes persons exiled for less serious misconduct. This second category is subdivided by Article 1272 into the following five categories:

Exiles, punished with lashes and condemned in the future to work in factories and factories; they are called temporary factory workers;

The so-called artisan workers, with a strong constitution and knowledge of the craft;

Persons weaker and less suited to heavy work; they are used as domestic workers;

Persons whose age, health and past occupations make it possible to define them as workers in agriculture and economics; this category essentially forms that part of the exiled who, according to custom and law, are called “settlers” or colonists, therefore, in what follows we will call them “exiled colonists”;

Finally, people are sick, flabby, that is, those who, due to their age or state of health, are not capable of any kind of work.

If persons belonging to the first category have distinguished themselves by exemplary behavior during the year, they receive the right to move to the next category. The second category has seven sections according to the nature of the craft or profession. Each section is headed by a master. Persons included in this category must remain in it for six years, then they move to the third category, i.e. come into the service of people who make appropriate petitions to local authorities. The term of work in this category is eight years. After this period expires, persons who have not been noticed in violation of the rules established for them are included in the category of “exiled colonists”. If the representatives of this category are unable to organize an independent economy, then they are distributed to the houses of the "state peasants", where they remain until they form a separate village.

In the first three years of exile, the colonists are exempt from all taxes; in the next seven years, they pay half the taxes levied on the "state peasants." After the expiration of these two terms, that is, after ten years, they are equated in rights with the peasants mentioned above.

How the gold miners of the Tomsk province lived in 1842

They spare nothing for the sake of a good table and European comfort. They want to reward themselves with them for life in these distant desert lands. They crave those luxuries they bring from the other side of the world and pay exorbitant prices for them. So, during my trip to the gold mines of the wealthy merchants Ryazanov, Popov, Astakhov and others in the Tomsk province, I more than once had to observe the amazingly luxurious European life among the mountains and steppes of distant cold Siberia. How many times, sitting at a table filled with dishes brought from all four corners of the world, I could not help but be amazed at the incredible contrasts. Here is an Altaian in a felt hat serving on a plate of Japanese porcelain oranges brought to the banks of the Yenisei from Messina or Marseilles through Petersburg and Moscow. After a hearty meal, you are offered delicacies from all over the world, and even the wines of Malaga, Rhine and Bordeaux are not forgotten. You are enjoying the aromatic nectar of Arabia and fine Havana cigars. The gifts of the blessed south are absorbed by guests wrapped in fluffy furs that protect from the cold of an August evening.

On the one hand, the small synergy of the rich gold miners of this region can find a sufficient justification for itself, given the position of those who give themselves dear joys. But, on the other hand, looking closely at the state of affairs on the spot, one cannot fail to notice that the speed with which huge fortunes are created in this region greatly harms its fruitful use. The magical transition from a state of average wealth to the splendor of wealth always leads to a pernicious frenzy, especially since the acquisition of such wealth does not depend on hard work or serious mental work. It follows that most of the gold miners belong to the lower classes of society, devoid of commercial experience, and often of any education. They rarely invest their sudden riches in any promising venture, so that the accumulation of enormous capital is of little benefit to commerce and industry, or at least less than one might expect. For the same reasons, the benefits that should have naturally flowed out to the workers in the mines in general are diminishing. Instead of spreading the benefits of colossal wealth to the workers, providing them with lucrative jobs, the gold miners create only local industry, which does not at all guarantee a future for those who are employed in it.

Market economy in Siberia 150 years ago

The town of Tisul stands on the very border of the large gold-bearing region of Western Siberia.

Before entering it and getting acquainted with its interesting regions, I consider it appropriate to remind the reader of the extraordinary leap forward in the development of gold mining in Siberia. Probably, no other industry in Europe could provide an example of such a rapid development that in 14 years the growth of industrial production increased 200 times, as happened in the gold mines of Siberia: in 1830 the total amount of mined gold was about 95 kilograms, and in currently it is over 18 thousand kilograms.

The possibilities for expanding development become even more likely if we take into account the extraordinary speed of expansion of the boundaries of the gold-bearing area, as if they do not want to know other limits than the eternal ice of the Arctic. Participation in this industry, the scope of which is currently impossible to determine, is available to anyone who wishes to do it. With the exception of two regions (Kolyvan and Nerchinsk), rich in gold ore and owned by the state, the boundless expanses of Siberia are open to all peoples.

In order to avoid confrontations between entrepreneurs, special rules and legislation were developed in the field of the gold sand mining industry. The mining department (department) is instructed to legalize and regulate the entrance to the property, as well as to determine the boundaries of the area for which, in response to a formal request from the state, a concession was obtained. The term of the concession is 12 years. Each person is given possession of a plot measuring 5 versts in length and 100 fathoms (about 250 meters) in width.

It is strictly forbidden by law to have several sections if the distance between them is less than five kilometers. One auditor was appointed to control concessions in Western Siberia and two in Eastern Siberia; In addition to the apparatus subordinate to the Mining Department, the Governor-General of Siberia appoints an official of the civilian department to each district, who is charged with the responsibility of regulating relations between entrepreneurs and workers. To ensure the effectiveness of control, an Ezhandarme officer or secret police agent is dispatched to St. Petersburg with a special mission to study the state of affairs on the spot and report it to the central authorities.

As a result of all the above measures, and most importantly, thanks to the spirit of the people themselves, complete calm reigns in all these places, although many circumstances could serve as a pretext for the most serious riots. One cannot help but admire and be surprised to see how groups of 1,500-2,000 people gathered in one place (almost all of those sentenced by law) extract masses of treasures every day and faithfully transfer them into the hands of one inspector. After all, he has no other means to prevent them from doing otherwise, except for an agreement and moral influence. There is no military force here. And when a pile of gold accumulates in a dilapidated hut, it is put in boxes, which are installed on carts and calmly taken to Barnaul.

With equal amazement, one can see how a golden cargo, often of great value, is transported over a distance of several thousand kilometers in short passages. He is accompanied by two ragged peasants and one or two Cossacks, quietly smoking pipes. Often the Cossacks do not even find it necessary to take with them such an extra load as weapons. In addition, they make no secret of what they are carrying, as if the matter concerns the transportation of something completely insignificant.

When carts of gold pass peacefully through a village or stop in it so that people can rest or change horses, this convoy arouses much less interest and curiosity than if it was laden with food or wines.

Tomsk-Kuznetsk, or Tomsk ironworks near Kuznetsk

Tomsk is located in a picturesque area. It is surrounded by mountains, completely overgrown with dense forests, through which whitish masses of limestone flash here and there. From the hills rising from all sides, there is a beautiful view of the Kara-Tom River, flowing beautifully among the emerald green of the valley. The change in the level of the terrain became especially noticeable due to the severe cold snap. A violent wind drove a mass of clouds ready to burst into snow. However, at this time (August 25 according to the old style, September 5 - according to the new) snow is not uncommon here. Heavy snowfalls occur not only in September. We recalled the cases when in the middle of September a sled track was already installed ...

The threatening signs of winter approaching made me use every free minute even more energetically and forced me to abandon many interesting studies that would require a lot of time and a lot of calmness. So, I could devote only three days to exploring the wonderful area where the Tomsk factories are located ...

The mineral that is mined, smelted and processed at the enterprises of Tomsk is iron hydrate. It is commonly used for the production of iron casting and steel. The annual output of pig iron reaches 50 thousand poods; of these, 22 thousand poods of pure iron are produced. As in all Altai factories, only charcoal is used in metallurgical processes. Iron decarbonation is carried out in reflective blast furnaces. Blast furnaces are usually built here of very large dimensions, but the blowing is carried out using cylindrical bellows, driven by water. Steam engines are not yet used at any Altai plant, because the use of exclusively charcoal in all metallurgical operations makes it possible to be content with very simple and low-power blower installations. The use of coal would complicate the work, especially since the coal of the Kuznetsk Basin by its nature is close to anthracite and would require a significant amount of oxygen, the supply of which could be carried out only with the help of more powerful machines. Due to the abundance and low cost of forest in all these regions, charcoal will be more profitable to use for a very long time than coke. A very large reservoir is equipped to supply water to the factories. An ingeniously designed dam retains the Tom-Chumysh water and forms a large pond. At some distance, all the water flows through a huge wooden pipeline.

A truly remarkable phenomenon that is observed in almost all factories and developments in Altai and which may surprise any foreigner is the variety of duties, one might even say, the universality of each worker. As a matter of fact, there is no division into specialties of machinists, miners, carpenters, blacksmiths, metallurgists, etc. All machines and tools are made by hand, who will use them when working; these same hands mined ore from the bowels of the earth, which will be melted in factories, and these same hands will further process metal and make various parts. At the same time, dexterity, skill and completely incomprehensible sharpness are striking, with which a variety of operations are performed ...

The way back to St. Petersburg

This time again, the entire vast space that I had to cross was covered with a blanket of snow. This greatly contributed to the monotony and boredom of my two long travels, during which Altai presented itself to me as a well-deserved reward for all the troubles and hardships of the journey, and at the same time became the subject of my regrets. After weighing all kinds of hardships and dangers, I was grateful to my star.

Geologist Vasily I. Yavorsky

It turns out, either in 1875, or in 1876. Both years are indicated in the encyclopedia.

Yavorsky lived for almost a hundred years, ending his life in the spring of 1974. And I have worked so much during this time - enough for two centuries. And for a whole geological party.

All in the same encyclopedia there are four lines about him. Like a geologist and paleontologist. Labor on "paleontology of stromaporoids" (it was difficult for me to understand what it is, and it will be even more difficult to explain, so take it on faith - the five-volume book about stromaporoids is the essence of a classic of science). Still works on the geology of coal deposits, mainly Kuzbass, where Yavorsky spent 43 field seasons.

In the book "Researchers of Kuzbass" there is a photograph where Yavorsky was shot by a white-bearded old man against the background of rocks and a river. The river, judging by the inscription in faded ink on the back, is a good friend of Belsou's that makes noise from the Celestial Teeth. And the elder himself looks sternly, his back is straight, and it is clear that he is standing firmly on his feet.

He began his life as an 18-year-old coal loader at the Dombrovsky coal mines. Let us recall literature - the rule for the then Russian technical intelligentsia was to be like in the "lower ranks" for several years. The builder of the Transsib, Garin-Mikhailovsky, first left as a fireman and a machinist on a steam locomotive, and then he began to build a branch to the east and write books. Future geologist Yavorsky pulled his work strap underground. And all his weekly miner's earnings (45 kopecks per shift) went to bread with herring and potatoes and tea with sugar.

Then the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg. He studied for a long time - as much as seven years. But I learned a lot. Because his teacher was Leonid Ivanovich Lutugin. The one who brought along a whole group of young researchers - Pavel Ilyich Butov, Alexander Alexandrovich Gapeev, Avenir Avenirovich Snyatkov, Semyon Vasilyevich Kumpan. And, of course, Yavorsky.

I will quote the official petition of Yavorsky to the imperial name: “Desiring to enter the service of Your Imperial Majesty in the Mining Department, with enrollment in the Main Mining Administration and secondment to the Director of the Geological Committee, I ask all the more sincerely: so that this request would be commanded to accept the above-named to determine the department ... "- I specifically quote to emphasize the role of a geologist for Russia at the beginning of the century, who was hired individually and by special decision of the head of state.

True, the cause, which the Geological Committee was aiming at, was state and nationwide important. In essence, the foundation was laid for the development of Russia for hundreds of years ahead. This was the completion of a geological survey of the entire Altai Okrug, "with the aim of combining and checking all previous observations" - so it was said in a secret note accompanying the research project.

And they, these observations, began with the Gorely Mountain discovered by Mikhail Volkov near the Verkhotomsky prison. Many, many years later, in the middle of the last century, the great traveler and geologist Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chikhachev visited our area, defining the boundaries of the Kuznetsk coal basin and giving it its present, world-famous industrial name. Chikhachev's work was continued by Shchurovsky, Krasnopolsky, Derzhavin, Sokolovsky, Brusnitsyn, Venyukov and many others.

Finally, in 1894, the main stage of the study of Kuzbass began, which coincided with the biography of Yavorsky. And became the main content of his life. Let us recall the grandiose project of the Soviet era - the Ural-Kuznetsk Combine. Yavorsky was one of its founders - he is responsible for the exploration of the coal base of the combine.

Each stage of Yavorsky's research work was done carefully and conscientiously and was always marked by success. For his work "Kuznetsk coal basin" he was awarded the Przhevalsky Prize. This was in 1927. Eight years later, in 1935, he was awarded the scientific degree of Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences gonoris causa, that is, without defending a thesis.

After the war, in 1946, he received the Stalin Prize - this is how the state appreciated his work, which underlines the fact - and in this difficult time, geology remained, as it was under the emperor, the most important strategic concern of the "fathers of the nation." (By the way, the diploma of the Stalinist laureate is now kept in the storerooms of the regional museum of local lore, in the Yavorsky fund - a modest red folder with portraits of proletarian leaders squeezed out of brass, inside a sheet of coated paper with a red facsimile of Stalin and an indistinct signature of someone who died in Summer as a manager). The Stalin Prize is a consequence of the deep study by the group of the Yavorsky Prokopyevsko-Kiselevsky coal region, which has become the main supplier of coke for the Kuznetsk metallurgical plant, that is, for defense. They remember that it was Yavorsky who laid the Koksovaya and Chertinskaya mines - he took it and pointed his finger at the kilometer map: here, they say, beat the trunks. He also outlined the contours of the future Krasny Brod coal mine.

By the way, a lot of things connected Yavorsky with Prokopyevsk. They became close friends with Pavel Mikhailovich Yelkin. A former miner, Yelkin served as a coachman on a geological expedition, drove the chief himself on dashing horses. And Yavorsky, I recall, went in an underground team himself, and they became, as it were, relatives. Later, Yavorsky appointed his grandson Pavel Mikhailovich - the Prokopyevsky teacher Mikhail Georgievich Yelkin, a well-known local historian, who excavated all the surrounding mounds with ancient burials and actually created the city museum - as his heir. Through Yelkin and through the Kemerovo museum woman, Oda Nikolaevna, the Baron's archive and Yavorsky's library came to us in Kuzbass and today they are kept in a special museum fund.

After the Stalin Prize, there was the Order of Lenin - the geologist was awarded for a detailed study of the Southern Kuzbass, for the Tomusinsky region, where he once discovered high-quality coking coals and where the cities of Mezhdurechensk and Myski grew today. The Raspadskaya or Lenin mines, open-pit mines operating here, any of them, it would be more correct to call the name of Yavorsky.

Later, being already seventy years old and moving away from field research (and he walked on foot or along the river, by line and by rafting literally the entire Kuzbass, all its mountain terraces and rivers - from Barzas to Tersi, from Kiya to Mrassu and from Ini to Belsu), Yavorsky took up "pure science" - the generalization of his paleontological research, for which - already 80 years old he was awarded the Karpinsky Prize. And already at a very old age, 95 years old, Yavorsky was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Apparently, this is the oldest Hero in the history of the Soviet Union.

Until the last days, Vasily Ivanovich Yavorsky maintained a freshness of mind and soundness of actions. Literally on the eve of his death, he sent the museum lady Oda Baronskaya postcards with congratulations on the holidays and requests to send newly published books on Kuzbass local history. Even for death, the old geologist prepared with sense and diligence. At the Mining Institute, where until the last days he was listed in the Department of Mineralogy, Yavorsky had an office and a closet, and in the closet there was a large stone of black Labrador - the stern professor himself prepared it for his future grave and from time to time wiped it from dust. This ritual took place with gloomy jokes, and all this, coupled with a living classic of Russian geology, was the pride of the institute and an inexhaustible storehouse of student wit.

They buried Yavorsky at the Volkovo cemetery in Leningrad. His grave is next to the grave of the Teacher - Lutugin. Black Labrador came in handy too. In conclusion, a few quotes. “The works of Yavorsky turned the Kuznetsk Basin into a region of world importance” - Oda Nikolaevna Baronskaya. "The Kuznetsk Trough Yavorsky considers a unique formation of the Altai-Sayan folded region, which inherited the plan of the Cambrian geosyncline, which spread over a vast territory" - a group of authors of the academic biography of Yavorsky. "V. I. Yavorskiy with his inherent tirelessness ... in parallel with research in Kuzbass, he continued to work in the Donetsk basin, studied the Kansk-Achinsk and Minusinsk basins. He also advised exploration work in the Partizansky and Razdolnensky basins, on Ishim, in the area of ​​present-day Tselinograd "- from the obituary in the journal" Soviet Geology ".

About Yavorsky, colleagues said that there is no corner in Kuzbass where his foot would not go. This is the person to whom we owe our present - the bowels from which we draw our wealth. And at the expense of which we will live for a long time.

Builder Viktor Sokolovsky

The dispute about what the years that have passed since October 1917 have been for Russia and the Soviet Union has not yet ended. Apparently, we will not finish it as long as we look at our - not so long ago - past exclusively through the party-ideological sight, dividing years and historical characters into "clean" and "unclean".

From the point of view of radical "reformism" 70 years of Soviet power is a wasted time and, therefore, only in the 90s did they finally realize that we are "Siberian Eldorado". That is, according to this version, the collapse of the Russian state, which began in October 1917, ended somewhere in October 1993. However, in the thirties, economists and politicians clearly saw the industrial power of the future Kuzbass, and already in the sixties the Soviet Union (together with Kuzbass and, to a large extent, subject to its development), which realized the plans of industrial prosperity, became a "superpower". By the way, do the initiators of the current reforms see as far as those who reformed the country in the thirties?

However, we do not intend to participate in a protracted dispute, which did not clarify anything, but only hid the truth. Our goal is not controversy. Nor is it idealizing, embellishing or rewriting facts. Our goal is to remind you of the undeservedly forgotten and provide the reader with food for historical reflection. Today is our reminder of Viktor Sokolovskiy. The materials were found and provided for publication by the resident of Kemerovo V.F. CHERTKOV.

A little over 65 years ago, the staff of the Kemerovo State District Power Plant telegraphed the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks: “On January 31, at seven o'clock, the Kemerovo State Power Plant named after Zapsibkraikom VKP (b) gave the first current of the first turbine generator with a capacity of 24,000 kilowatts. The Kemerovo Power Plant commissioned one of the main energy links of the Ural-Kuzbass Combine, which joined the ranks of the giants of this unparalleled combine in the world. "

The telegram was signed by the head of the construction Sokolovsky, the secretary of the party collective Karaev and the chairman of the building committee Ivanov.

A few weeks later, on April 7, a decree of the Kemerovo City Council Presidium was issued: “To oblige Comrade Dudnik to take off all the seals on the lighting points within three days and give the order to the head. the city power grid not to obstruct the connection of new lighting, as well as to increase the lighting of city streets. "

Our regional center was transformed in the blink of an eye. The "culprit" of this is Viktor Sokolovsky. Who is he?

Moscow journalist E. Krieger wrote about Sokolovsky in his essay ("Week", No. 28, 1971) "The Heirs": his noble red beard, you would not believe that in the past he was an illiterate Russian soldier who taught the alphabet in the trenches of the First World War.

We will add that in 1931 this "nobleman" was only 35 years old. He was born into a large family of a tobacco factory worker in Kharkov. Need did not give the opportunity to study at school - in 1905, for participating in strikes, his father was fired from the factory and a ten-year-old boy had to help his family, earning money for a living.

He really mastered the alphabet self-taught. Only earlier, before the call to the "imperialist". And already in 1910 he became an apprentice of an electrician, and then an electrician of the Kharkov electrical engineering office.

By the way, let us recall Zoshchenko's joke: “He is very intelligent. He is an electrician, "- perhaps, there is a lot of truth in it - a man who in 1910 was" on good terms "with electricity could not be perceived by mere mortals. My friend, an electrical engineer with more than forty years of experience at the Novokemerovskaya CHPP, V.S. Trofimov, jokes in Zoshchenko's way: “Since school, I wanted to work at a power plant in order to see with my own eyes where this“ unclean force ”- electric current - came from and where it came from? "

The "intelligent fitter" volunteered for the Red Army. In 1919 he was a member of the Bolshevik Party. In the same 1919, he was appointed military-food commissar of the People's Commissariat for Food and at the same time the head of an operational group to combat banditry in one of the districts of the Kharkov province. In the early 1920s, Sokolovsky was sent to the Karelian Republic as the head of the foreign trade department under the Council of People's Commissars. On special assignments, he travels to Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark. In 1926-1927 he worked as a trade representative of the USSR in Western China.

And now a new responsible state post - the construction of the largest power plant in Kuzbass. Looking ahead, I will say that he did not manage the Kemerovo State District Power Plant for long - in 1935 he was sent to a new construction site. And so on until 1954, when Sokolovsky retired from the post of deputy manager of the All-Union trust Soyuztyazhekskavatsiya.

"Filippych," the workers called Sokolovsky in their own way. A former soldier, poisoned by German gases, and then authorized by the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry Sergo Ordzhonikidze, he was indefatigably efficient. The scope of his interests, the scale of his thinking and the vastness of knowledge were amazing. All the years of his life in Kemerovo for Sokolovsky were saturated to the limit. Working hours knew no boundaries. Every day was scheduled literally by the minute. The archive contains five airplane tickets in his name, dated only September 1931. He worked at night - pored over diagrams and drawings, delving into the problems of an unfamiliar industry - coke chemistry, or calculating a project for the transportation and processing of apatites from Murmansk by the Northern Sea route for their processing in Kemerovo. He knew how and loved to share his knowledge. The hall of the Kemerovo Palace of Labor was always overcrowded when Filippich spoke there with a lecture or report. He wrote popular brochures and books that sold like hot cakes. And after a sleepless night, in the morning, specialists and workers saw before them a calm, authoritative, imperious, but also benevolent commander of production.

Sokolovsky, I repeat once again, worked - he was building a power plant for our city, which made the regional city of Kemerovo from the district Shcheglovsk.

What was the construction in the thirtieth year? A quote from a permit issued by the People's Commissariat for Tyazhmash to Sokolovsky: "In connection with the approval of the preliminary design of the Kemerovo GRES by the Energocenter on April 28 of this year, you are allowed to start work in accordance with the approved project."

Draft project. This means that there is no clear financing, no supplies, no specialists, no drawings. In addition, the first option for choosing a site for the construction site, determined by the Leningrad branch of Energostroy, turned out to be unsuitable. Sokolovsky sends alarming messages to Moscow, St. Petersburg, writes memoranda to the city district committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Soviet of Working People's Deputies. At the end of July, the Bureau of the Kuznetsk District Committee and the Bureau of the Scheglovsky City District Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) approved the proposal of the commission organized by Sokolovsky to select a new site for the construction of the CHP.

Construction began on September 2, 1930. On this day, the first work order was issued. At that time, there were only two civil engineers, two foremen and 41 workers on the site. And by January 1, 1931, the construction site numbered over a thousand people.

In November, on the 8th, the first concrete was poured into the "shoe" of the foundation of the station's main building. And “on December 30, at 11:28 am Siberian time, the concreting of the 134th shoe of the reinforced concrete foundation was completed” - this is a quote from a telegram to Moscow.

The capital did not believe it. Three commissions were sent one after another. We made sure: probably for the first time in the history of reinforced concrete works in Siberia, concreting was carried out at 40 degrees below zero. According to Sokolovsky's idea.

How and how did these people work? "Means of mechanization" were shovels, wheelbarrows, stretchers, "grabarks" - horse carts, adapted for transporting land. Before getting to the surface from the ten-meter depth of the pit, each shovel of soil passed through the hands of five to six people. The frozen ground was beaten off with wedges. Concreting was also carried out using the simplest mechanisms - hand-held concrete mixers, hoists, winches. Often the concrete was delivered to the site by wheelbarrows or stretchers. It happened that in this way the concrete was raised to a height of 50 meters. The brick was delivered to the masonry site in "trestles" behind the back of the "goat" - that was the name of the profession of a brick carrier. And the main and universal mode of transport is the horse. On horses, the soil taken out of the pit was taken out, building materials and equipment were delivered. The owner of the horse was called a “ranger”, and his work was kept in the number of “carts”.

Loading and unloading operations were carried out manually, most often after the main shifts. No exception was made for managers, they worked at the construction site for 16-18 hours daily. At night, long lines of people lined up at the carriages, by the light of torches, passed bricks from hand to hand over distances of hundreds of meters. This "living corridor" was used to transport heavier loads.

How did they live? A quote from the memoirs of an eyewitness: “The living conditions were extremely difficult. They lived in tents, dugouts, hastily put together wooden barracks. They slept on wooden trestle beds, getting a bed was considered a reward for shock work. Often there was nowhere to dry clothes - up to forty people lived in each room, and there was only one stove. "

What kind of people were they? You can guess that yesterday's peasants. Often from the "dispossessed". Probably, they did not particularly sympathize with the Soviet regime? Then why was the craving for knowledge so irrepressible?

Sokolovsky himself recalls: “People were drawn to knowledge and technology with extraordinary strength. Sometimes you come to the barracks in the evening and it’s like bees are buzzing. In one place, the guys, worn out during the day, write a dictation, holding a pencil in their stiff fingers, in another - a young excavator sits and, tightly clasping his head in his hands, tries to understand the division of fractions, and somewhere in the corner by a candle a girl and something he reads in whispers in warehouses. "

It is possible that the reader in the warehouses understood the brochure of the head of the construction site himself. This little book was called "Kemerovo Power Plant". She explained why these people were here, what they were doing for the country.

The first print run of 8,000 copies sold out in a month. And this was at the very beginning of 1931, when the entire population of Shcheglovsk was 48 thousand people. A couple of months later, in April, the Novosibirsk branch of the state publishing house released another 6,000 copies of the second edition.

These little books were taken from the city to the surrounding villages. They were the best agitators in favor of industrialization and, therefore, changes in the life of the whole country. More and more guys and girls who arrived at the construction site responded to them.

Soon Sokolovsky will write a second book. This is the Kemerovo Energy Coke and Chemical Combine. In October 1931, it was published with a circulation of 15 thousand copies. To a certain extent, it was Sokolovsky, his educational and agitational pressure, that solved the problem of the administrative center of Kuzbass in favor of Kemerovo, which was rapidly growing at that time, and not in favor of the traditional “southern capital” - Kuznetsk.

Today we offer the esteemed reader extracts from the brochures. It seems to us that the very breath of time is in them. But not only. They contain the history of the Kuznetsk region, written by its creators themselves. Those who lived their lives, like Sokolovsky, in the labors and worries about sovereign power. About increasing this power.

Ural-Kuznetsk Combine - the basis of the industrialization of the West Siberian Territory

The rapid growth of socialist construction is fundamentally changing the economic geography of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Today, the raw material bases from which we took everything necessary for the economic life of the country, both for consumption within and for export abroad, are already insufficient for us.

The industrialization of the Union requires the creation and use of new resource bases around which new industrial centers of the country could be deployed with the highest economic effect.

The Ural-Kuznetsk Combine should become such a center.

The Central Committee of the party on May 15, 1930 made a decision, which was then confirmed by the 16th party congress, on the creation in the shortest possible time of the country's second coal and metallurgical base - the Ural-Kuznetsk Combine ...

The value of the Kemerovo power plant for the industrialization of Kuzbass and the whole country

From the materials of the master plan for the development of the national economy of the Siberian Territory, it is clear that its industrialization is envisaged on the basis of extensive electrification, which is a necessary condition for the intended use of the various natural resources of the region. The electrification plan is designing a network of powerful district power plants ...

According to this plan, it is planned to electrify the entire Kuzbass with the construction of two powerful district heating and power plants: in the north of Kuzbass - in Kemerovo and in the south - in Kuznetsk.

The first of them, Kemerovskaya, is designed for a capacity of 560,000 kW and should be built in several stages.

Naturally, the question may arise why the construction site of the regional power plant was chosen in Kemerovo, and not in any other point of Kuzbass.

We will try to understand this issue. We have already said what a great importance for industrialization powerful coal deposits - this main type of fuel in industry.

Wherever there is coal, plants and factories appear, and the latter need electrical energy.

Where is coal in Kuzbass? Geologists give us answers to this question ... In terms of the amount of discovered reserves (groups of geological committee A and B), the Kemerovo region occupies the first place, and the Prokopyevsky region is in the largest possible reserves (group C) ...

The question is, why was the first district chosen for the construction of the power plant?

Kemerovo is located on the banks of the large Tom River with ample water and coal mines of the right and left banks, with significant coal reserves discovered in them.

If we take into account the third factor, that the development of industry in Kuzbass is determined by the location of industrial enterprises already operating and under construction, then Kemerovo acquires another significant plus. It houses three coke oven batteries and a chemical benzene coke plant, which, upon completion of the construction of a new, fourth coke oven battery with a capacity of 415 thousand tons and an enrichment plant, will produce energy waste: coke gases, coke breeze and sludge.

Along the way, it can be noted that detailed technical and economic studies by Siberian economic organizations and individual economists carried out at one time said that the construction of a powerful coke oven battery is more profitable precisely in Kemerovo, and not in Kuznetsk, competing with it.

So, the presence in Kemerovo of coal mines, water and wastes from the coke-chemical production determines the receipt of cheap electric energy and technological steam for the needs of production, and, consequently, cheap industrial products of the Kemerovo region. This includes not only the existing by-product coke plant, but also the fertilizer plant projected here, the electrolytic zinc and lead plants, as well as the region of Leninsk, Belov, Guryevsk - in the south and the Barzas region, Anzhero-Sudzhensky, Yashkinsky plants and the city of Tomsk - in the north. ...

The projected connection of Kemerovo through Barzas with the Siberian Mainline at the Anzherka station and the planned continuation of this line along the banks of the Tom to Erunakov and Kuznetsk, in the presence of the Kemerovo-Topki branch, creates for Kemerovo the position of a junction railway center, which further reinforces the correctness of the decision to create an energy-chemical and coal and metallurgical center. The Kemerovo regional CHPP will be a source, firstly, of cheap electric energy on local fuel and waste from the plant and, secondly, heat carriers: process steam for the needs of local factories and hot water for the needs of district heating of factories, villages and utilities.

Kemerovo, as you know, is located in the northern part of the Kuznetsk coal basin, on the banks of the Tom River. Its geographical position relative to the main centers of the West Siberian Territory is determined by: 200 kilometers of the air route east of Novosibirsk (250 kilometers by rail), 130 kilometers of the air route south of Tomsk and 205 kilometers of the air route north of Kuznetsk.

This huge triangle will be the arena for the action of the regional power plant in its full development.

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 with 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 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 the leadership of Fischer, director of the Botanical Garden, Kupffer, director of the physical observatory, and the zoologist Brandt. 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 a historical sketch of the journey, physical observations, 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 the fossil plants, - contains the geological observations of the author and his predecessors in Altai; this part is accompanied by a map compiled from his own observations, the collections of the Mining Institute, as well as from the writings of Pallas, Shangin, Gmelin and other scientists who visited Altai; but the author still did not dare to call it geological.In the atlas attached to the essay there are 4 sheets of routes, from Biysk to Krasnoyarsk, a pographer on a business trip 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 by only one European minister (he only took a painter twice), was a major and considered classic work under the title: "Asie Mineure, description physique , statistique et archéologique de cette contrée "par P. de Tchihatchef ". Only the actual" description physique "was published 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 The appendix to this volume are tables of the heights of the points, barometrically determined for the most part by P.A.Ch. himself and his predecessors, the English travelers Ainsworth and Hamilton. 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. Finally, the fourth part in four volumes is the geology and paleontology of Asia Minor, by which the author who loved these branches of knowledge more than others , and paid more attention.The first three volumes contain descriptions of igneous rocks from different parts of Asia Minor, with knowledge 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 printed 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, among other things, was also used by I. I. Stebnitsky, when drawing up a large map of Asian Turkey (on a scale of 20 versts in an inch), is all the more valuable because P. A. knew Turkish perfectly, and therefore correctly wrote down the names of settlements 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 to literary work and his death interrupted his great work: "Les déserts du Globe", some 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 wrote exclusively 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, possessed, according to the reviews themselves foreigners with a masterful, artistic and lively presentation, found himself 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, Ch. 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, which 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 content 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. He received his higher education 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 position 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 the 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.

Chikhachev Pyotr Alexandrovich

Geographer and geologist, honorary member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876). He spent most of his life in France. Based on the materials of his travels, he compiled a geological map of the Apennine Peninsula, gave a geographical and geological description of Altai, Northwestern China (1845), a comprehensive description of Asia Minor (1853-1869).

Peter Alexandrovich Chikhachev was born on August 16 (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, where he headed "city settlement" and carried out "the main look over the palace and its accessories"... Moving to civil service, Alexander Petrovich received the rank of full state councilor.

Chikhachev's mother, Anna Fedorovna, nee Bestuzheva-Ryumina (cousin of the future Decembrist), a woman of high culture, energetic and very knowledgeable in court etiquette, devoted much time to raising her sons (Peter's brother Platon was born in 1812).

In childhood and adolescence, Peter received an extremely thorough and versatile education at home. At the age of twelve, he was fluent in German and French, and then in Tsarskoe Selo he studied Greek and Latin.

Soon the Chikhachev family moved to Tsarskoe Selo, where they bought a house near the lyceum. However, Peter's parents decided to continue home education with the invitation of the Lyceum professorship.

In 1823, Peter became a student at the department of the State Collegium of Foreign Affairs.

His father died on November 18, 1827. The Chikhachev brothers sold the Chikhachevs' estates in the Tambov and Saratov provinces, as well as the house in Tsarskoye Selo, and moved to St. Petersburg. For both brothers, an independent period of life began.

In March 1829, Pyotr Aleksandrovich's internship at the College of Foreign Affairs ended, and in March of the following year he entered the university as a free student. "where he listened for 10 months, with commendable behavior, the science of the law faculty".

Natural sciences fascinated Pyotr Alexandrovich so much that in 1829-1830 he repeatedly traveled to the countries of Western Europe to listen to lectures by leading scientists.

Returning to St. Petersburg to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pyotr Alexandrovich quickly began to move up the career ladder. On April 5, 1830, the actuary Pyotr Chikhachev was "granted an interpreter for the State Collegium of Foreign Affairs" and on April 30 he was sent to the Asian Department. A year later, he was awarded the rank of chamber junker, and in September 1832 - a collegiate assessor.

In the Asian department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chikhachev was primarily concerned with the Eastern question. Wanting to personally get acquainted with the countries of the Near and Middle East, as well as North Africa, he visited Egypt, traveled in Palestine, the Libyan Desert, Sinai and the Syrian Desert, and visited Constantinople.

The capital of the Ottoman Empire so captivated Chikhachev with its oriental flavor, enchanting beauty of the straits and complex international military-political contradictions that he decided to secure a place at the Russian embassy.

In Constantinople, along with his official duties as assistant secretary at the Russian embassy, ​​he studied the history and ethnography of the peoples inhabiting Asia Minor, improved his knowledge of the modern Greek language, and began to study Turkish and Spanish. Here, fate brought him together with the famous translator Mikhail Vronchenko, "an excellent surveyor who studied the geography of Asia Minor at that time and subsequently published valuable books about his travels in this country".

In 1835, while the artist Bryullov was in Constantinople, Chikhachev accompanied him on trips to the most picturesque places of the Bosphorus and the Sea of ​​Marmara. Bryullov painted Chikhachev in an oriental costume, in which the latter usually traveled with various official assignments in Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and other countries of North Africa.

In 1834-1836, he visited not only various cities of the vast Ottoman Empire, but also Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and other European states.

Yielding to his vocation, Platon Alexandrovich began to study physical and historical-economic geography. In 1836 he left the service and decided to devote himself entirely to scientific research.

In 1839, Peter Alexandrovich, on the recommendation of Alexander Humboldt, began to study natural resources, and, above all, the geology of the Apennine Peninsula. "Impossible without recreating the historical past,- he wrote, - to understand the appearance of the present, for the distant past and the present are linked by a continuous thread ".

At the end of February 1839, Pyotr Chikhachev 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, already on the Apennine Peninsula.

In a vast area extending northeast and northwest of Rocca Imperiale, Chikhachev during July 1840 studied mainly the alluvial rocks formed here from "gradual destruction under the influence of the flowing waters of the Apennine mountain system".

Chikhachev explored the mountainous region of Castel Sarrazino, which had not been studied by geologists or botanists before. Here he replenished his herbarium with rare plant species.

Chikhachev ascends the peaks of Monte Vulture itself 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, Peter Alexandrovich descended along the Garigliano River valley to the vast volcanic zone of the Neapolitan region. For four months, he studied the surroundings of Naples, especially the Rocca-Monfinet area, the Phlegrain fields, the Vesuvius volcano, the islands of Ischia, Capri, etc.

In August 1840, he completed his journey through the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Naples.

In 1842, Pyotr Aleksandrovich was sent by the headquarters of the corps of mining engineers to Altai and Sayan, which were still little explored at that time. At the head of a large detachment, he set off on a journey.

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. Chikhachev describes in detail the difficult crossing of such a huge caravan, numbering more than 50 horses, many of which were loaded to capacity. These half-wild horses "with wandering eyes, with flared nostrils, with a mane rising on end, shy away from the stormy waves."

The immediate task of the expedition, after crossing the Katun ', was to reach the mouth of the Chuy River, and then along the Chuy Valley to reach its sources. For two weeks, starting on May 21, the caravan barely covered this path. Traveling along the lower reaches of the Chui posed a great danger, since there were no roads here, and mountains in places "crowded" the river so much that passage in the valley itself was impossible. Then I had to climb the mountain slopes with great risk.

On June 2 (14), Chikhachev crossed the Seilyugen mountain range. Some of its peaks were covered with "eternal" snow. Moving along the massif in the direction of the stream, on June 4 (16), the expedition reached the headwaters of the Chui - "... the Buylogom stream turned into a thin stream of water seeping through the marshes and snows bordering the northwestern edge of Burultaig, and finally we saw that the stream completely disappeared under the moist, spongy bark covering the soil. This served as a definite proof of this.- Chikhachev writes, - that we were at the source of Chui ".

The next task of the expedition was to reach and study the sources of the Chulyshman River. To this end, Chikhachev went to Lake Dzhulukul through a rather swampy place stretching between the sources of the Chui and Chulyshman. "When I looked at the surface, trembling with every movement of our horses, the following comparison occurred to me: it seemed that we were moving in a huge bubble filled with compressed water, which, from the slightest pressure, threatens to break through the shell that holds it, and swallow the body that rests on on her. "

Having explored the source of the Chulyshman and rounded the mountains from the south, Chikhachev headed along the valley of the Dzhaldu river to the Bashkaus river. Here he was especially struck by the beauty of the area.

Climbing up the Chulcha River, Chikhachev on July 1 reached the lake of the same name, near which he discovered the source of the Bolshoy Abakan - one of the largest tributaries of the Yenisei. In order to study the source of the Abakan, Chikhachev headed along the western shore of the lake. "I was rewarded in every way- Chikhachev writes, - for all the fatigue and work I endured, when the old Kazakh hunter who accompanied me pointed his finger at the source of Abakan, which is one of the main objects of the difficult task that was entrusted to me ... of the river, the modest cradle of which I had just discovered, I now had to complete my plan - to study its gradual development, advancing for 350 km to its mouth in the Yenisei. "

Behind the source of the river, Chikhachev saw the southwestern part of the Abakan ridge, which "hides Lake Teletskoye from the eyes", and in the north he discovered the sources of the Maly Abakan, separated from the Bolshoi by the short Karlygan ridge. So Chikhachev became the first scientific researcher of the Western Sayan.

Dreaming to trace the course of the Abakan to the Yenisei, 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 (the Yenisei system). He penetrated into the Uryankhai region (Tuva) and carried out his first research. After five days of rest for people and horses and replenishing food supplies, Chikhachev turned north and unexpectedly 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). On the night of July 17, a heavy downpour broke out, which turned into a heavy snowfall. In the morning Chikhachev saw that "the branches of coniferous trees bent under the weight of the snow masses ..."

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 decreasing. Having crossed this mountain range, he reached the Abakan River along the valley of a small river.

So Chikhachev crossed the Western Sayan. He collected not only important geographical materials, but also the first geological data about this entire mountainous country, which none of the naturalists had previously visited.

Chikhachev also left a number of interesting observations. When the expedition reached the Russian homes, the Kirghiz accompanying it were amazed.

"It took some time before my highlanders,- writes Chikhachev, - got used to so many objects, until now completely unfamiliar to them, and understood the way of their use and purpose. For example, they were explained in detail that the houses are the same yurts, but motionless and built of wood. They found, however, that the entrance to these houses was very inconvenient, as they imagined that the windows were for this purpose; they began to crawl through them and tumbled heavily into the rooms ... The stoves seemed to them a completely extraordinary structure. Wanting to inspect them thoroughly, they stuck their heads into the mouth of the furnace and crawled out with their faces smeared with soot and ash, which always caused a fit of cheerful laughter from the audience. "

Based on the materials of his trip, Chikhachev for the first time compiled orographic and geological maps of Altai and Western Sayan and significantly advanced the study of the hydrography of these mountainous countries.

From 1848 to 1863, Peter Chikhachev conducted eight scientific expeditions in Asia Minor, Armenia, Kurdistan, and partly in Eastern Thrace.

As a result of many years of expeditions to these countries, Chikhachev repeatedly crossed the main mountain ranges and ridges, ascended to the tops of the mountains, among which there were such as Erdzhiyas and Bingel, on which no man had set foot before him. He explored and described numerous rivers, lakes, bays, measured the depths of the Marmara and Aegean Seas, as well as the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Chikhachev published interesting materials about water currents 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, which made it possible for the first time to publish a monumental work on the paleontology of Asia Minor. "The whole 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.

Having studied the botanical treasures of Asia Minor, Chikhachev noted their extraordinary species diversity, which was a natural consequence of the extremely diverse relief, climatic and soil conditions.

In Chikhachev's herbarium, there were up to 3500 plant species of Asia Minor. To represent the real meaning of this figure, it is enough to note that it is larger than the one that at the time of Linnaeus represented the number of known plants around the globe, and accounted for two-thirds of the total number of species in all of Europe known at that time.

On September 25, 1877, Chikhachev set off from Paris on a new journey in order 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.

On November 17, 1877, Chikhachev landed at the Mediterranean port of Oran, and on December 1 he arrived at the vast port city of Algeria. He traveled for seven months in Algeria, after which on May 25, 1878 he sailed by steamer to Tunisia.

Arriving in Tunisia, Chikhachev was afraid that he would not be allowed to conduct any research of the area, and possibly even be arrested, as had already happened several times in previous travels to the countries of the East. This fear was justified by the fact that during this period there was a Russian-Turkish war.

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.

"Almost complete disappearance of Carthage from the face of the Earth,- he wrote, - is a unique phenomenon, for none of the cities glorified in antiquity, such as Nineveh, Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, disappeared as completely as Carthage ... " Archaeological evidence says almost nothing about the Phoenician, Greek and Roman eras that made this ancient city so famous.

Chikhachev gives a detailed description of the history of ancient cities - Jerusalem, Rome and especially Carthage. Moreover, this description is based partly on the manuscripts of ancient authors and therefore is of great scientific value.

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 returned to Florence a few days later.

Chikhachev is the founder of field research by Russian scientists, mainly in the geology and botany of this part of Africa. He belongs to the priority in geological research and in the identification of many plant species in a number of areas of North Africa, including the mountain ranges of Dzhur-Dzhur, Aures, Zaghuan. He was the first to describe North Africa in a popular form, showing both man and nature in their most diverse manifestations.

Peter Alexandrovich Chikhachev died in Florence on October 13, 1890, at the age of 82. He was 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 Pyotr Alexandrovich."

His younger brother, Platon Alexandrovich, died at Versailles two years later, in 1892, and is buried in Nice.

One of the Altai ridges, where Petr Aleksandrovich once conducted his research, is called the Chikhachev ridge. About twenty of his works have been translated and published in Russian.

From the book Encyclopedic Dictionary (P) author Brockhaus F.A.

Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky Peter Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (Peter Alexandrovich) - count, field marshal (1725-96). His teacher, when he lived with his father in Little Russia, was a local teacher Timofey Mikhailovich Senyutovich, who took the course first in the Chernihiv "collegium", and the author From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (RU) of the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (RE) of the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (TO) of the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (CHI) of the author TSB

From the book of 100 great Russian emigrants the author Vyacheslav Bondarenko

Peter Chikhachev (1808-1890) Peter Alexandrovich Chikhachev was born in Gatchina on August 28, 1808 in the family of the “first person” of the city - the “director” of Gatchina and the palace administration, retired Colonel Alexander Petrovich Chikhachev and his wife Anna Fedorovna, nee Bestuzheva-Ryumina.

From the book of 100 Great Travelers [with pictures] author Muromov Igor

Peter Alexandrovich Chikhachev (1808-1890) Geographer and geologist, honorary member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876). He spent most of his life in France. Based on the materials of his travels, he compiled a geological map of the Apennine Peninsula, gave a geographical and geological description of Altai,

From the book Big Dictionary of Quotes and Expressions the author Dushenko Konstantin Vasilievich

VALUEV, Peter Alexandrovich (1815-1890), Count, in 1861-1868 Minister of the Interior, 1872-1879 Minister of State Property, in 1879-1881 Chairman of the Committee of Ministers 11

Chikhachev Petr Alexandrovich

H Ikhachev (Peter Alexandrovich, 1808 - 1890) - a traveler 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 collaboration 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.

Other interesting biographies.

Peter A. Chikhachev

Chikhachev Petr Aleksandrovich (1808-1890), Russian geographer and geologist, honorary member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1876). He spent most of his life in France. Based on the materials of his travels, he compiled a geological map of the Apennine Peninsula, gave a geographical and geological description of Altai, Northwestern China (1845), a comprehensive description of Asia Minor (1853-1869).

Chikhachev Petr Alexandrovich (16.VIII.1808 - 1 (13) .X.1890) - Russian scientist - geologist, geographer, traveler. Born in Gatchina (near St. Petersburg), died in Florence (Italy). He was educated at home under the guidance of teachers at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, then attended lectures at the Freiberg Mining Academy, studied chemistry, geology, mineralogy and paleontology in Munich, Berlin, Paris. In 1834-1836 he worked at the Russian embassy in Istanbul. Later he devoted his life to scientific research and travel. Honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1876), many Western European academies, the Academy of Philadelphia (USA) and scientific societies. He gained world fame for his numerous scientific works written as a result of travels in Italy, Altai, Asia Minor, North Africa. From 1850 he lived abroad, published almost exclusively in Western European (mainly French) languages. Chikhachev was an expert on the history of the political life and economy of the Ottoman Empire, the policy of the Western European powers in the Eastern question.

V. V. Tsybulsky. Moscow.

Soviet Historical Encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 16. ZHAN WEN - TYAN-YASHTUKH. 1976.

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.

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 with rare plant species.

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 Monfine area, the Phlegrain fields, the Vesuvius volcano, the Ischia islands, 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 upper reaches 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.

Reprinted from the site http://100top.ru/encyclopedia/

Compositions:

Letters about Turkey, M., 1960; Great powers and the Eastern question, (collection of articles of Chikhachev; compiled by V.V. Tsybulsky), M., 1970; Travel to Eastern Altai, M., 1974; Spain, Algeria and Tunisia, M., 1975.

Literature:

N. Belozerskaya, P. A. Chikhachev, "Bulletin of Europe", 1893, November; Tsybulsky V. V., P. A. Chikhachev, "Izv. AN SSSR", geographic series, 1952, No. 3; his e, PA Chikhachev - an outstanding explorer of Altai, Kemerovo, 1959; his e, PA Chikhachev - researcher, traveler, M., 1961; Danzig B.M., Rus. travelers to Bl. East, M., 1965, p. 148-59.