Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel

Ferdinand von Wrangel
Admiral Ferdinand Wrangel
Born	29 December 1796 Pskov, Governorate of Pskov, Russian Empire
Died	25 May 1870(1870-05-25) (aged 73) Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire
Known for	Explorer
Spouse(s)	Elisabeth Teodora Natalia Karolina de Rossillon

Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel (Russian: Фердина́нд Петро́вич Вра́нгель, Ferdinand Petrovich Vrangel; 9 January 1797 [O.S. 29 December 1796] – 6 June [O.S. 25 May] 1870) was a Baltic German explorer and seaman in Russian service, Honorable Member of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, a founder of the Russian Geographic Society. He is best known as chief manager of the Russian-American Company, in fact governor of the Russian settlements in present-day Alaska.

In English texts, Wrangel is sometimes spelled Vrangel, a transliteration from Russian, which more closely represents its pronunciation in German, or Wrangell.

Wrangel was born in Pskov, into the noble Baltic German Wrangel family. He graduated from the Naval Cadets College in 1815. He took part in Vasily Golovnin's world cruise on the ship Kamchatka in 1817–1819.

He was appointed in 1820 to command the Kolymskaya expedition to explore the Russian polar seas. Sailing from St. Petersburg, he arrived at Nizhnekolymsk on 2 November 1820, and early in 1821 journeyed to Cape Shelagskiy on sledges drawn by dogs. He sailed afterward up Kolyma River, advancing about 125 miles into the interior, through territory inhabited by the Yakuts. On 10 March 1822, he resumed his journey northward, and traveled 46 days on the ice, reaching 72° 2' north latitude. He left Nizhnekolymsk on 1 November 1823, and returned to St. Petersburg on 15 August 1824.