The Most Famous

Explorers from Russia

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest Russians Explorers. The pantheon dataset contains 498 Explorers, 34 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the 6th most number of Explorers behind Portugal and France.

Top 10 Russian Explorers

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russians Explorers of all time. This list of famous Russians Explorers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russians Explorers.

  1. #1
    Photo of Nikolay Przhevalsky

    Nikolay Przhevalsky

    1839 - 1888

    HPI 70.6852 langs
    Nikolay Przhevalsky was a Russian explorer who traveled to Mongolia and Tibet in the late 1800s. He is most famous for discovering the...Read moreShow less

    Nikolay Przhevalsky was a Russian explorer who traveled to Mongolia and Tibet in the late 1800s. He is most famous for discovering the Tibetan wild ass, which he named the "Tibetan wild ass" or "Equus hemionus onager."

  2. #2
    Photo of Ferdinand von Wrangel

    Ferdinand von Wrangel

    1797 - 1870

    HPI 70.4148 langs
    Ferdinand von Wrangel was a Prussian officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars. He was most famous for being the commander of the Russian...Read moreShow less

    Ferdinand von Wrangel was a Prussian officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars. He was most famous for being the commander of the Russian troops in the Crimean War.

  3. #3
    Photo of Mikhail Lazarev

    Mikhail Lazarev

    1788 - 1851

    HPI 65.9341 langs

    19th-century Russian fleet commander and explorer

  4. #5
    Photo of Semyon Dezhnev

    Semyon Dezhnev

    1605 - 1673

    HPI 65.2540 langs
    Semyon Dezhnev is most famous for being the first European to sail from the White Sea to the Bering Strait, sailing from the White Sea to...Read moreShow less

    Semyon Dezhnev is most famous for being the first European to sail from the White Sea to the Bering Strait, sailing from the White Sea to the Bering Strait in 1648.

  5. #6
    Photo of Vladimir Arsenyev

    Vladimir Arsenyev

    1872 - 1930

    HPI 65.0735 langs

    Russian and Soviet explorer, ethnographer and writer

  6. #7
    Photo of Alexander Andreyevich Baranov

    Alexander Andreyevich Baranov

    1746 - 1819

    HPI 63.1226 langs

    trader and manager of trading posts in Russian America (1746-1819)

  7. #8
    Photo of Nikolai Rezanov

    Nikolai Rezanov

    1764 - 1807

    HPI 63.1127 langs

    Russian noble and explorer (1764-1807)

  8. #10
    Photo of Vladimir Atlasov

    Vladimir Atlasov

    1661 - 1711

    HPI 61.5525 langs

    Russian who first explored the Kamchatka Peninsula

People by Birth Decade

Browse notable Russians Explorers grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.

Overlapping Lives

Which Explorers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 23 most globally memorable Explorers since 1700.

العربية中文NederlandsEnglishFrançaisDeutschMagyarItaliano日本語PolskiPortuguêsРусскийEspañol