Mikhail Stadukhin

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Mikhail Vasilyevich Stadukhin (?—1665) was a Yakut Cossack foreman, Polar seafarer and pioneer.

Stadukhin was a merchant. Around 1633 he appeared on Lena with his brothers Taras and Gerasim and son Yakov. In 1643 he sailed out on a koch from the mouth of Indigirka to the East Siberian Sea, turned east and following along the coast discovered the mouth of Kolyma. Along with Semyon Dezhnev and Dmitriy Zyryan he is credited as the pathfinder of Kolyma. After entering the river he founded the Nizhnekolymsk Burg. Stadukhin also gathered the information on hunting grounds to the east of Kolyma and in the autumn of 1645 returned to Lena. In 1651 Stadukhin discovered the rivers Penzhin and Gizhig. In 1663 he became the first to deliver the data on Kamchatka River to Moscow. For discoveries in Siberia Stadukhin was promoted to Cossack ataman.

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