The honor of the Antarctic Continent discovery belongs to the Russian Antarctic expedition of 1819−1821 on the
Vostok and
Mirnyi sloops commanded by Faddei Bellingshausen (1778−1852) and Mikhail Lazarev (1788−1851). On July 16, 1819, the expedition went to sea. The Antarctic coast was actually discovered on January 28, 1820.
The purpose of the expedition was discoveries "in the closest vicinity possible to the Antarctic pole". The mariners were instructed to explore South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The expedition participants stayed 751 days upon the sea and covered more than 92,000 km.
They discovered 29 islands and 1 coral reef. F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev made descriptions of islands and maps, they built ethnographic, botanical and zoological collections. Close to the ice continent, unique scientific observations were conducted over sea currents and sea disturbance, over distribution of ice and icebergs.
The results of the round-the-world expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev became those of greatest significance in the history of the global geographical explorations.
The stamps of the postal block provide the portraits of F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev; the margins of the block show a group of sailors against the Antarctic scenery.
In addition to the emission of the postal block, JSC
Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Penza, Vladimir and Sevastopol, and published an illustrated envelope.
Design Artist: I. Ulyanovsky
Face value: 50 rubles per each stamp
Block size: 124×70 mm; size of stamps in the block 30×42 mm.
Quantity: 27 thousand blocks.
« back