Bering

Captain-Commander Vitus Bering (1681–1741) was born in Denmark, but rightly entered the history of Russia as a great traveler and discoverer of new lands. Entering Russian service in his youth, he was a faithful assistant to Peter the Great for many years in the creation of the navy. Shortly before his death, the emperor entrusted him with an important task – the exploration of the eastern borders of Russia and the search for the strait separating it from America. Bering dedicated the rest of his life to fulfilling Peter's will, first commanding an expedition to Kamchatka and then the Great Northern Expedition, whose detachments explored the lands from the Ob to the Amur. Despite the lack of people and supplies, harsh natural conditions, and obstacles from local authorities, the commander managed to accomplish most of the tasks before him. The price of this was his life – he died of scurvy on a deserted island that later received his name, as did the strait he discovered between Asia and America. Many books have been written about Bering's voyages, but his biography is still full of gaps. In her book, writer Olga Pogodina uses a wide range of sources to recreate the deeds of the commander against the broad historical background of his era.