Fyodor Matisen

Fyodor Matisen Фёдор Андреевич Матисен
Fyodor Matisen in uniform
Born	(1872-06-01)1 June 1872 Saint Petersburg
Died	19 December 1921(1921-12-19) (aged 49) Irkutsk
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Navy
Years of service	1897–1917
Rank	Commander
Commands held	Russian polar expedition of 1900–02
Awards	Order of St. Vladimir
Other work	Fyodor Matisen

Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen (Russian: Фёдор Андреевич Матисен) (June 1 (O.S. May 20), 1872, Saint Petersburg – December 19, 1921, Irkutsk) was an officer of the Russian Imperial Navy, hydrographer, and explorer.

Matisen explored and mapped wide areas of the coast of the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea in the Russian Arctic. He was a friend of Alexander Kolchak and a member of the Russian Geographical Society and the Russian Academy of Sciences. After having been senior officer and second-in-command, Matisen became the captain of Polar ship Zarya during the last part of the Russian polar expedition of 1900–02 led by Baron Eduard Toll.

Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in 1897. Barely two years later he took part in the 1899 Russian expedition to Svalbard.

Owing to the experience in polar exploration he acquired in Svalbard Matisen was chosen for Toll's Polar expedition on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was named assistant to commander of Polar ship Zarya Nikolai Kolomeitsev. Matisen's friend Alexander Kolchak accompanied the expedition as third naval officer and hydrographer. All leading officers were from military background.

During the first wintering of Zarya close to Taymyr Island, the disagreements between Toll and Kolomeitsev became unsurmountable. Finally Eduard Toll sent Kolomeitsev away on a long sledge trip overland with the mission of organizing coal depots for the ship. When the former captain was gone Matisen was appointed by Toll as Zarya's commander.