Ivan Papanin

Who was Ivan Papanin?

Ivan Dmitrievich Papanin was a Russian Polar Explorer, Scientist, Counter Admiral, twice Hero of the Soviet Union awarded nine Orders of Lenin

Ivan was born in Sevastopol into the family of a sailor. In 1914 he was conscripted into the Russian Navy. He took part in the Russian Civil War on the Soviet side, fighting in Ukraine. In 1920 he was sent to the Crimea to organize a guerilla movement against the forces of Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel.

In 1923-1932 he worked for Narkomat of Communications. In 1931 he took part in the expedition of the icebreaker Malygin to Franz Josef Land. In 1932-1933 he was the head of a polar expedition on Tikhaya Bay on Franz Josef Land. In 1934-1935 he was in command of a polar station on Cape Chelyuskin.

In 1937-1938 he was in charge of the famous expedition North Pole-1. Four researchers: Ivan Papanin, Ernst Krenkel, Evgeny Fedorov and Petr Shirshov landed on the drifting ice-floes in an airplane flown by Mikhail Vodopyanov. For 234 days, Papanin's team carried out a wide range of scientific observations in the near-polar zone, until taken back by the two icebreakers "Murman" and "Taimyr". It was the first expedition of its kind in the world. All members of the expedition received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which was extremely rare before World War II.