'Gerasim Grigoryevich Izmailov' (Russian: Герасим Григорьевич Измайлов, ''circa'' 1745 - ''after'' 1795) was a
Russian navigator involved in the
Russian colonization of the Americas and in the establishment of the colonies of
Russian America in
Alaska. He was responsible for the first detailed maps of the
Aleutian Islands.
A native of
Yakutsk, Izmailov attended a navigation school in
Okhotsk with
Dmitry Bocharov, who became his lifelong business companion. In
1771 both were caught up in the
Benevsky mutiny on Bol'sheretsky island in
Kamchatka. Izmailov attempted to break away from the mutineers but, after being flogged, was marooned on the isle of
Simushir, one of the uninhabited
Kuril Islands. For a year he subsisted on "scallops, grass, and roots" before being rescued by
yasak gatherers. He was tried in
Irkutsk on charges of mutiny, but was eventually cleared in 1774.
In 1775, Izmailov assumed command of the boat ''St. Paul'' and set to work mapping the shores of the
Aleutian Islands. On October 1778, while visiting
Unalaska, he made the acquiantance of Captain
James Cook who presented him a sword and a
Mercator map in exchange for a letter of introduction to the
Kamchatka authorities. He also handed over to Izmailov a recently drawn map of the western coast of North America, which was to be delivered by the Russians to the
British Admiralty.
In 1783-85 Izmailov and
Grigory Shelikhov made their historic voyage from Okhotsk to
Kodiak Island, where they founded the first Russian settlement in America. In 1789, Izmailov became the first to explore and map the
Kenai Peninsula. Three years later, he took up employment under
Alexander Baranov, helping him withstand a sea attack by the
Tlingit.
Having wintered in Unalaska, Izmailov visited
Saint Paul Island, where he discovered the crew of a Russian ship that had been missing since 1791. He brought them back to Okhotsk in June 1794. He is mentioned for the last time in 1795, when he accompanied to Alaska a group of Orthodox missionaries under
Father Joasaph.
References
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Biographical Dictionary of the Russian Far East and Russian America