The history of the second Russian polar station “Sagastyr” in persons and circumstances

Abstract

Less than half of the total number of polar stations that once encircled the northern coast of Russia are currently operating. Regardless of how justified were the decisions to close them, in due time their creation seemed to be necessary both for the country and for the people, on whose shoulders lay extremely difficult conditions for the fulfillment of the task. The fates of each station are individual, and the restoration of the circumstances of their organization and existence can be compared to the addition of lost fragments to the chronicle of scientific exploration of the most difficult for living part of the Earth’s surface. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct an episode related to Russia’s participation in the program of the First International Polar Year. In addition to the Malye Karmakuly station, which had already operated earlier on Novaya Zemlya, it was urgent to organize the second polar station in the delta of the Lena River, which was named after the Sagastyr Island. The chosen place was one of the most understudied, difficult to access and uninhabitable on the Siberian coast of the Arctic Ocean. Nevertheless, in extremely limited time and under the most difficult conditions the station was organized on the specified date and successfully operated in 1882–1884, a year longer than planned according to the program regulations. A comparison of information from various sources and a brief account of the main characters of this event and of those who directly or indirectly influenced the events allow us to look from the perspective of the present time at the circumstances and historical context in which the polar explorers had to operate in the late 19th century.