Erik Laxmann
Finnish-Swedish clergyman, explorer and natural scientist
1737 CE to 1796 CE
Erik Gustavovich Laxmann (July 27, 1737 – January 6, 1796) is a Finnish-Swedish clergyman, explorer and natural scientist born in Nyslott in Finland, at that time part of Sweden.
He is remembered today for his taxonomic work on the fauna of Siberia and for his attempts to establish relations between Imperial Russia and Tokugawa Japan.
In 1757, Laxmann starts his studies at the Academy of Åbo and is subsequently ordained a priest in St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia.
In 1764, he is appointed as a preacher in a small parish in Barnaul in central Siberia, whence he undertakes a number of exploratory journeys, reaching Irkutsk, Baikal, Kiakhta and the border to China.
His collection of material on the fauna of Siberia makes him famous in scientific circles and in 1770, he is appointed professor of chemistry and economy at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 1769, Laxmann had been elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
World
Northern Oceania
View →Related Events
Showing 6 events out of 6 total
Russian maritime fur trading in the northern Pacific begins after the exploration voyages of Bering and Chirikov in 1741 and 1742, which have demonstrated that Asia and North America are not connected but that sea voyages are feasible, and that the region is rich in furs.
Private fur traders, mostly promyshlenniki, launch fur trading expeditions from Kamchatka, at first focusing on nearby islands such as ...
...the Commander Islands.
These maritime expeditions, unlike fur trading ventures in Siberia, require more capital than most promyshlenniki can obtain.
Merchants from cities such as Irkutsk, Tobolsk, and others in European Russia, become the principal investors.
An early trader is Emilian Basov, who trades at Bering Island in 1743, collecting a large number of sea otter, fur seal, and blue arctic fox furs.
Basov mounts four expeditions to Bering Island, which is the largest of the Commander Islands, and nearby Medny Island.
He makes a fortune, inspiring many other traders.
A Russian captain in Kamchatka leads Kōdayū's people to Okhotsk.
The Japanese castaways, after staying temporarily in Yakutsk, are introduced by the captain to Erik Laxmann, who assists Kōdayū's and his crew in Irkutsk.
Kōdayū departs for Saint Petersburg in 1791 in the company of Laxman to ask to be returned home.
Through Laxmann, Kodayu is granted an audience with Catherine the Great in Tsarskoye Selo; she permits Kodayu's people to return home in the same year.