Yevgeny Burachyok

Who was Yevgeny Burachyok?

Yevgeny Stepanovich Burachyok was a Russian seaman and the second head of the garrison of the military post of Vladivostok in 1861–1863, who significantly contributed to the post's early development.

Yevgeny Burachyok was born in St. Petersburg in the family of the shipbilder Stepan Burachyok. At the age of six he entered the Sea Cadet Corps. At this early age Yevgeny was fluent in Russian and German; in later years he also mastered English and Chinese.

On August 11, 1851 Yevgeny became a midshipman of the Sea Cadet Corps and served on the ships of the Baltic Fleet. In 1853, he was promoted to the rank of the warrant officer and in 1856—to the rank of an ensign. In 1859, he was assigned to the clipper Razboynik.

Aboard Razboynik, however, Burachyok discovered that he is strongly susceptible to sea-sickness. In 1860, during Razboynik's voyage from Kronstadt to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, his sickness progressed to the point where it endangered his life. On June 22, 1861, he was forced to disembark in Vladivostok in order to return to Saint Petersburg by land.