Alexander Nikitich Sedelnikov

Journalist

Alexander Nikitich Sedelnikov was born on August 30, 1876, in the village of Bolshenarim in South Altai. After that, the family moved to Orenburg, first to the Penza province, and then to Omsk. There, Alexander completed primary school, finished the district school, and enrolled in a teachers' seminary. In the autumn of 1900, Alexander Nikitich returned to Omsk and three years later traveled to Lake Zaysan and the Muztau mountains. During the expedition, the scientist collected zoological, botanical, petrographic, geological, and other collections. The collected materials formed the basis for new expeditions in 1905 and 1906. Subsequently, Sedelnikov conducted additional work at Lake Zaysan in 1908 and 1910. The result of the research was the scientist's major work titled "Lake Zaysan," in which Sedelnikov reveals the origin of the lake's name, its location, size, the morphology of the shore and the basin, describes the climate of the Zaysan basin, and studies the temperature regime, color, and transparency of the water in different areas of the lake and at various depths. Chapters dedicated to the flora and fauna around Lake Zaysan and the Zaysan basin, as well as the inhabitants of the Zaysan region, their livestock farming, agriculture, and fishing, are of great importance; there is also a reference about visits to the lake and the various expeditions and travelers who studied it between 1717 and 1910. Alexander Nikitich was one of the active members of the Western Siberian branch of the Russian Geographical Society: he published and introduced dozens of scientific works on the history, geography, botany, zoology, geology, archaeology, and ethnography of Siberia and Kazakhstan into scientific circulation; organized the collection of the Omsk museum; gave many lectures in Omsk and Semey, and spoke about the flora and fauna of southwestern Altai in Ust-Kamenogorsk.