Nikolay Przhevalsky - Biography

Biography

Przhevalsky was born in Smolensk into a noble Polish family (the original, Polish name is Przewalski), and studied there and at the military academy in St. Petersburg. In 1864, he became a geography teacher at the military school in Warsaw.

In 1867, Przhevalsky successfully petitioned the Russian Geographical Society to be dispatched to Irkutsk in central Siberia. His intention was to explore the basin of the Ussuri River, a major tributary of the Amur on the Russian-Chinese frontier. This was his first expedition of importance. It lasted two years, after which Przhevalsky published a diary of the expedition under the title, Travels in the Ussuri Region, 1867-69.

In the following years he made four journeys to Central Asia:

• 1870–1873 from Kyakhta he crossed the Gobi desert to Peking (now Beijing), then exploring the upper Yangtze (Chang Jiang), and in 1872 crossed into Tibet. He surveyed over 7,000 sq mi (18,000 km2), collected and brought back with him 5,000 plants, 1,000 birds, and 3,000 insect species, as well as 70 reptiles and the skins of 130 different mammals. Przehevalsky was awarded the Constatine Medal by the Imperial Geographical Society, promoted to lieutenant-general, appointed to the Tsar's General Staff, and received the Order of St. Vladimir, fourth Class. During his expedition, the Dungan revolt (1862–1877) was raging in China. The journey provided the General Staff with important intelligence on a Muslim uprising in the kingdom of Yakub Beg in western China, and his lecture to the Russian Imperial Geographical Society was received with "thunderous applause" from an overflow audience. The Russian newspaper Golos called the journey "one of the most daring of our time".
• 1876–1877 traveling through Eastern Turkestan through the Tian Shan range, he visited what he believed to be Lake Lop Nor, which had reportedly not been visited by any European since Marco Polo. The expedition consisted of ten men, twenty-four camels, four horses, three tonnes of baggage and a budget of 25,000 roubles, but the expedition was beset by disease and poor quality camels. In September 1877, the caravan was refurbished with better camels and horses, 72,000 rounds of ammunition and large quantities of brandy, tea and Turkish Delight, and set out for Lhasa, but did not reach its goal.
• 1879–1880 via Hami and through the Qaidam Basin to Lake Koko Nor (Qinghai Hu). The expedition then crossed the Tian Shan mountains into Tibet proceeding to within 260 km (160 mi) of Lhasa before being turned back by Tibetan officials;
• 1883–1885 from Kyakhta across the Gobi to Alashan and the eastern Tian Shan mountains, turning back at the Yangzi River. The expedition then returned to Koko Nor, and moved westwards to Khotan (Hetian, Xinjiang) and Lake Issyk Kul.

The results of these expanded journeys opened a new era for the study of Central Asian geography as well as studies of the fauna and flora of this immense region that were relatively unknown to his Western contemporaries. Among other things, he reported on the wild population of Bactrian Camels as well as the Przewalski's Horse and Przewalski's Gazelle, named after him in many European languages. Przhevalsky's writings include five major books written in Russian and two English translations: Mongolia, the Tangut Country (1875) and From Kulja, Across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).

Przhevalsky died of typhus not long before the beginning of his fifth journey, at Karakol on the shore of Issyk-Kul in present day Kyrgyzstan. He contracted typhoid from the Chu River that was acknowledged as being infected with the disease The Tsar immediately changed the name of the town to Przhevalsk. There are monuments to him, and a museum about his life and work, there and another monument in St. Petersburg.

Less than a year after his premature death, Mikhail Pevtsov succeeded Przhevalsky at the head of his expedition into the depths of Central Asia. Przhevalsky's work was also continued by his young disciple Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov.

There is another place named after Przhevalsky: he had lived in a small village called Sloboda, Smolensk Oblast, Russia from 1881 to 1887 (except the period of his travels) and he apparently really loved the place. The village was renamed after him in 1964, and now it is called Przhevalskoye. There is a memorial complex there that includes the old and new houses of Nikolai Przhevalsky, his bust, pond, garden, birch alleys, and khatka (a lodge, watch-house). This is the only museum of the famous traveler in Russia.

Przhevalsky is commemorated by the plant genus Przewalskia (Solanaceae) Maxim. His name is eponymic with more than 80 plant species as well.