Polar Navigator Ivan Tolstoukhov

Abstract

The article discusses such a little-known episode of the development of the Arctic as the voyage of Ivan Tolstoukhov and his comrades from Novaya Mangazeya to the mouth of the Pyasina River in order to go around the Taimyr (to pass the most difficult part of the Northern Sea Route). The circumstances of the campaign are poorly investigated and almost nothing is known about the identity of the navigator. Also in historiography, there are different opinions about the path of Tolstoukhov and his comrades (in particular, M. I. Belov believed that they managed to bypass Taimyr by sea). Therefore, in order to establish the route of the explorer and reconstruct his family ties, the article studied a significant body of documentary sources that were not introduced into scientific circulation, stored in the RSNA (St. Petersburg) and RSAA (Moscow). The work establishes that Ivan Tolstoukhov was able to swim to the lower reaches of the Pyasina and, after an unsuccessful attempt to go around Taimyr, died in the Yenisei Bay on the way back. In addition, the article puts forward a hypothesis about the connection of the navigator with the wealthy trading family of the Turukhansk Tolstoukhovs, who originated from the settlement of Veliky Ustyug.