Georgy Sedov

Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (Russian: Гео́ргий Я́ковлевич Седо́в) (5 May [O.S. 23 April] 1877 – 5 March [O.S. 20 February] 1914) was a Russian Arctic explorer.

Born in the village of Krivaya Kosa of Taganrog district (now Novoazovskyi Raion, Donetsk Oblast) in a fisherman's family. In 1898, Sedov finished navigation courses in Rostov-on-Don and acquired the rank of long voyage navigator. In 1901, he took an external degree in Naval College, passed all the exams and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

In 1902—1903, Sedov participated in a hydrographic expedition in the Arctic Ocean. During the Russo-Japanese War he was in charge of a torpedo boat (1905). In 1909, he led the expedition that would later describe the mouth of the Kolyma river. A year later Sedov explored the Krestovaya Bay on Novaya Zemlya.

In 1912, he suggested a sleigh expedition for reaching the North Pole. The Tsarist government refused to finance this project, and the expedition was organized with the help from independent sources. On August 14(27), 1912, Sedov's ship "Svyatoy Muchenik Foka" (Saint Martyr Foka) left Arkhangelsk and had to stay for the winter near Novaya Zemlya because of impassable ice. The expedition reached Franz Josef Land only in August 1913; however, it had to stay for the second winter in the Tikhaya Bay due to lack of coal.

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