On November 27, a postcard with a commemorative stamp dedicated to the 150th Birth Anniversary of Polar explorer Alexander Kolchak was put into postal circulation in the Geographical Projects of Russia series

Alexander Kolchak (1874-1920) was a Russian state figure, a politician and a military leader, an oceanographer, a polar explorer (1900-1903), a naval commander (1915-1917), who went down in history as the leader of the White Movement during the Russian Civil War. He held the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia (November 18, 1918 - February 7, 1920) and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army (November 1918 - January 4, 1920); he was a participant of the Russo-Japanese War and World War I; a Holder of St. George, an admiral (1918).

Kolchak was born on November 4 (16), 1874, in the village of Alexandrovskoye of Petersburg Uyezd. Having graduated from the Naval Cadet School, he was promoted to warrant officer and went to serve on warships in the Baltic Sea and later on in the Pacific Ocean. In 1900, A. Kolchak was detached to the Academy of Sciences, and he became a member of the Russian polar expedition of Baron E. von Toll. Three years later, he headed a search for the baron who did not return from Bennett Island. Following the expedition results, A. Kolchak published a number of scientific papers, was elected a Full Member of the Russian Geographical Society and was awarded a Gold Konstantinov Medal for “an outstanding geographical feat associated with endeavors and danger”.

While working in the Naval General Staff and the Naval Academy, A. Kolchak was engaged in reorganization of the Navy and studied the possibilities of the Northern Sea Route. In 1909-1910, he made a passage on the Vaygach icebreaker from the Baltic Sea through the Indian Ocean to Vladivostok, and then towards Cape Dezhnev. This became his last expedition to the Arctic seas.

The main illustration shows a portrait of A. Kolchak against the background of icebreaker Vaygach and the RGS logo; the commemorative stamp features images that symbolically represent geographical projects.

In addition to the issue of the postcard with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka produced special cancels for Moscow and St. Petersburg.


Design Artists: S. Kapranov and I. Ulyanovsky.
Quantity: 4.5 thousand postcards.

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