Lassinius (Lassenius) Petr (Peter) (About 1700–1735)

Lassinius (Lassenius) Petr (Peter) (about 1700–1735) – a Navy officer, lieutenant, researcher of the Eastern Arctic, member of the Great Northern Expedition, and explorer of the delta of the Lena and Laptev Seas. He was born in Sweden. In 1725, L. was hired for the Russian military service with the rank of lieutenant. L. was a member of the First Kamchatka Expedition of Vitus Bering. In 1733, L. was promoted to lieutenant of the major rank and appointed as head of the Lena–Kamchatka (East Siberian and east Lena) detachment of the Great Northern (Second Kamchatka) Expedition and commander of the boat “Irkutsk” and sent to study the Arctic Ocean east of the Lena. In July 1735, on the boat “Irkutsk” with a team of 52 people, L. went from Yakutsk down the river. In August, through the eastern arm of its delta, he reached the sea with the task to move along the coast to the east and pass through the strait into the Pacific Ocean. He was soon stopped by heavy ice and went into the bay of...