Vasily Golovnin (1776–1831) was a Russian navigator, a memoirist, and a Vice Admiral. He was a Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
He was the author of a code of maritime signals. He completed two circumnavigations: aboard the Diana sloop in 1807–1809 and aboard the Kamchatka sloop in 1817–1819. He and his crew were kept under British detention in Cape Town. He conducted geographical and ethnographic observations. In 1811, V. Golovnin compiled a detailed inventory and mapped Shantar and Kuril Islands; while making an inventory of Kunashir Island, he, along with four sailors and two officers, was taken prisoner by the Japanese. He described his stay in Japan and his circumnavigations in his writings.
In 1821, he was appointed assistant director of the Naval Corps, and from 1823, he was a quartermaster general of the fleet. He trained a host of navigators, including F. Litke and F. Wrangel. V. Golovnin’ name was assigned to the strait between the Kuril Islands, a mountain, and a cape on Novaya Zemlya, among other features.
The main illustration provides a portrait of V. Golovnin, the Kamchatka sloop on which he sailed in 1817–1819, and the RGO logo; the commemorative stamp features images symbolically reflecting geographical projects.
Logo provides by the RGS
| Denomination |
Paper |
Printing method |
Format of the postal card |
Edition |
| Letter “B” |
Chalk surfaced |
Offset |
105 × 148 mm |
4.0 thousand postcards |