First Russian Antarctic Expedition

Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen Фаддей Фаддеевич Беллинсгаузен Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen
Admiral Faddey Faddeyevich Bellingshausen. Lithograph by U. Schzeibach (У. Шзейбах), circa 1835.
Born	20 September [O.S. 9 September] 1778 Lahhentagge manor, Ösel Island, Salme Parish, Saare County, Estonia, Russian Empire)
Died	25 January 1852(1852-01-25) (aged 73) Kronstadt, Russian Empire
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Navy
Years of service	1795–1852
Rank	Vice Admiral
Battles/wars	Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)
Awards	Order of Saint George, Order of Saint Vladimir

Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (20 September [O.S. 9 September] 1778 – 25 January [O.S. 13 January] 1852; Russian: Фаддей Фаддеевич Беллинсгаузен, Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen), a Russian officer of Baltic German descent in the Imperial Russian Navy, cartographer and explorer, ultimately rose to the rank of Admiral. He participated in the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe and subsequently became a leader of another circumnavigation expedition, which discovered the continent of Antarctica.

Bellingshausen started his service in the Baltic Fleet, and after distinguishing himself joined the First Russian circumnavigation of the Earth in 1803-1806, serving on the merchant ship Nadezhda under the captaincy of Adam Johann von Krusenstern. After the journey he published a collection of maps of the newly explored areas and islands of the Pacific Ocean. Subsequently, he commanded several ships of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets.

As a prominent cartographer, Bellingshausen was appointed by Saint Vladimir on 17th May 1818 to command the Russian circumnavigation of the globe in 1819-1821, intended to explore the Southern Ocean and to find land in the proximity of the South Pole. The expedition was prepared by Mikhail Lazarev, who was made Bellingshausen's second-in-command and the captain of the sloop Mirny, while Bellingshausen himself commanded the sloop Vostok. During this expedition Bellingshausen and Lazarev became the first explorers to see the land of Antarctica on 28 January 1820 (New Style). They managed to twice circumnavigate the continent and never lost each other from view. Thus they disproved Captain Cook's assertion that it was impossible to find land in the southern ice-fields. The expedition discovered and named Peter I Island, Zavodovski, Leskov and Visokoi Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula and Alexander Island (Alexander Coast), and made other discoveries in the tropical waters of the Pacific.