Fabian von Bellingshausen
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen)
6 min read
A Russian naval officer and explorer of Baltic German origin, he commanded the first Russian Antarctic expedition (1819-1821). He was one of the first navigators to sight the Antarctic continent, on 28 January 1820.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in 1778 on the island of Ösel (Saaremaa, in present-day Estonia), a Baltic German subject of the Russian Empire
- Commands the Russian Antarctic expedition from 1819 to 1821 aboard the ships Vostok and Mirny
- Sights the Antarctic continent on 28 January 1820, among the first navigators in history
- Discovers Peter I Island and Alexander I Land in 1821
- Becomes an admiral of the Russian Imperial Navy and dies at Kronstadt in 1852
Works & Achievements
A voyage that completely circumnavigated Antarctica and explored the Southern Ocean, one of the greatest feats of polar navigation.
One of the very first sightings of Antarctica, placing Russia among the discoverers of the sixth continent.
The first land ever sighted beyond the Antarctic Circle.
A large island named in honour of Tsar Alexander I, long thought to be part of the continent.
Mapping of several Pacific islands, including Vostok Island, named after Russian heroes.
An illustrated work describing the voyage, the ice and the islands, which became a major source for historians.
Anecdotes
For his expedition to the south, Bellingshausen commanded two aptly named ships: the Vostok (“the East”) and the Mirny (“the Peaceful”). The Mirny was led by a young officer, Mikhail Lazarev, who would later become one of the great Russian admirals. The two ships almost never parted during the two years of the voyage.
On 28 January 1820, the Russian ships drew near an immense wall of ice stretching as far as the eye could see: it was the edge of the Antarctic continent, which no one had ever seen before. Landing was impossible: the pack ice formed an insurmountable cliff. Bellingshausen cautiously noted in his journal that he had reached “a field of ice covered with small hummocks.”
Between the two Antarctic summers, rather than staying in the cold, the expedition headed north toward the tropics and put in at Sydney, Australia. During this passage through the Pacific, Bellingshausen explored the Tuamotu archipelago and charted several islands still unknown to Europeans, one of which today bears the name of his ship: Vostok Island.
In January 1821, the expedition discovered an isolated land in the heart of the ice and named it Peter I Island, in honor of the tsar who founded the Russian navy. It was the first land ever sighted beyond the Antarctic Circle. Here again, the ice prevented any landing.
In February 1821, near the South Shetland Islands, the Russians crossed paths with a tiny American sailing ship, the Hero, commanded by the young seal hunter Nathaniel Palmer. The two captains politely exchanged information about these dangerous waters: a rare moment of encounter between explorers at the end of the world.
Primary Sources
We pressed on southward through fields of ice covered with small hummocks, where no ship had ever penetrated before.
On 16 January (Old Style) we reached a latitude of 69°21′ South, where we met with unbroken ice stretching from east to west as far as the eye could see.
We encountered ice of extraordinary height; it stretched as far as the eye could see, but the bad weather prevented us from drawing any closer to it.
Key Places
Island in the Baltic Sea, in present-day Estonia, where Bellingshausen was born into the Baltic German nobility.
Russian naval base near Saint Petersburg where he studied, from which the expedition set sail, and where he died as the town's governor.
Region of the southern ice where he sighted the continent on 28 January 1820; a sea there now bears his name.
First land discovered beyond the Antarctic Circle, named in honour of Peter the Great.
Australian harbour where the expedition put in between the two Antarctic campaigns to resupply.