Grigory Shelekhov

Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov (Григорий Иванович Шелехов in Russian) (1747, Rylsk, Belgorod Governorate – July 20, 1795 (July 31, 1795 N.S.)) was a Russian seafarer and merchant born in Rylsk.

Shelekhov organized commercial trips of the merchant ships to the Kuril Islands and the Aleutian Islands starting from 1775. In 1783–1786, he led an expedition to the shores of what is now known as Alaska, during which they founded the first permanent Russian settlements in North America. Shelekhov's voyage was done under the auspices of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, the other owner of which was Ivan Larionovich Golikov. This company was the basis for the Russian-American Company, which was founded 1799.

In 1784, Shelekhov arrived in Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island with two ships, the Three Hierarchs, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom and the St. Simon. The indigenous Koniaga, an Alutiiq nation of Alaska Natives, defended themselves from the Russian party. Shelekhov and his forces massacred hundreds, including women and children, and took hostages to threaten the safety of the other Alaska Natives. Having established his authority on Kodiak Island, Shelekhov founded the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska on the island's Three Saints Bay. (Unalaska had been established long before, but it was never considered the permanent base for Russians until Shelekhov’s time).

In 1790, Shelekhov, having returned to Russia, hired Alexandr Baranov to manage his fur enterprise in Russian America.

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