Ferdinand von Wrangel

Wrangel was born in Pskov,[2] into the noble Baltic German Wrangel family and was a distant nephew of Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich von Wrangel. He graduated from the Naval Cadets College in 1815. He participated in Vasily Golovnin's world cruise on the ship Kamchatka in 1817–1819 and belonged to the cohort of Baltic-German navigators who were instrumental in Imperial Russia's maritime explorations.[3]

An account of the physical observations during his first journey was published in German (Berlin, 1827), and also in German extracts from Wrangel's journals, Reise längs der Nordküste von Sibirien und auf dem Eismeere in den Jahren 1820-1824 (2 vols., Berlin, 1839), which was translated into English as Wrangell's Expedition to the Polar Sea (2 vols., London, 1840). The complete report of the expedition appeared as "Puteshestvie po severnym beregam Sibiri, po Ledovitomu Moryu, sovershennoe v 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823 i 1824 godakh" (2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1841), and was translated into French with notes by Prince Galitzin, under the title Voyage sur les côtes septentrionales de la Sibérie et de la mer glaciale (2 vols., 1841). From the French version of the complete report an English one was made under the title A Journey on the Northern Coast of Siberia and the Icy Sea (2 vols., London, 1841).[2] The book influenced Charles Darwin's thinking on animal navigation, leading him to propose that humans and animals possess an innate ability for dead reckoning. Darwin wrote:[7]

With regard to the question of the means by which animals find their way home from a long distance, a striking account, in relation to man, will be found in the English translation of the Expedition to North Siberia, by Von Wrangell. He there describes the wonderful manner in which the natives kept a true course towards a particular spot, whilst passing for a long distance through hummocky ice, with incessant changes of direction, and with no guide in the heavens or on the frozen sea. He states (but I quote only from memory of many years standing) that he, an experienced surveyor, and using a compass, failed to do that which these savages easily effected. Yet no one will suppose that they possessed any special sense which is quite absent in us. We must bear in mind that neither a compass, nor the north star, nor any other such sign, suffices to guide a man to a particular spot through an intricate country, or through hummocky ice, when many deviations from a straight course are inevitable, unless the deviations are allowed for, or a sort of "dead reckoning" is kept.[7]

Wrangel also published:[2]

• Ocherk puti iz Sitki v Sankt-Peterburg (Report of Travel from Sitka to St. Petersburg) (1836)
  • French translation: Journal de voyage de Sitka à Saint Pétersbourg (Paris, 1836)
  • English translation prepared from the French: Journal of a Voyage from Sitka to St. Petersburg (London, 1837)
• Nachrichten über die Russischen Besitzungen an der Nordwestküste America's (2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1839)
  • French translation: Renseignements statistiques et ethnographiques sur les possessions Russes de la côte Nord-Ouest de l'Amérique (Paris, 1839)
  • English translation: Statistical and Ethnographical Notices on the Russian Possessions in North America (London, 1841)

Wrangel's descendants Peter-Friedrich Krienitz ja Hermann von Wrangell, from Germany, did visit first time Ferdinand von Wrangel last home in Roela and grave first time in 1990. After the Estonian Restoration of Independence in 1991, they together created the Fondation von Wrangell on his behalf - a society to assist Estonian and Latvian schools in 1992. They also began to assist Estonian legal professionals to transition to the European legal system by creating Forum Academicum in Roela.

29th Dec. 1996 with old calendar and 1997 January by new calendar, Ferdinand von Wrangel's 200th birthday was celebrated with scientific conferences, a pipe organ concert and exhibitions in the University of Tartu, the Estonian Maritime Museum and in Saint Petersburg. A series of notebooks „FvW in itinere“ was released by the Fondation von Wrangelli in Estonian, Russian and German to introduce his scientific legacy. Over the next 10 years his birthday was celebrated in Tartu with scientific presentations, coffee and kringel.[6]

Pro Scola opened opportunity for Lääne-Virumaa language teachers to learn more about Germany and also gave large input extending Rakvere Reaalgümnaasium library with English and German books. Pro Scola ceased its activities in 2005 with final seminaries in Rakvere, Tartu and in Latvia.[8]

Coat of Arms of Ferdinand von Wrangel

• Wrangel Island, the arctic island north of Chukotka, named by Thomas Long after him. Wrangel had noticed swarms of birds flying north, and, questioning the native population, he determined that there must be an undiscovered island in the Arctic Ocean. He searched for it on the Kolymskaya expedition, but failed to find it.
• Wrangell Island, an island in the Alexander Archipelago, off the coast of Alaska
  • Wrangell, Alaska, a city on Wrangell Island and one of the oldest non-native settlements in Alaska
    • Fort Wrangel, a US Army base at Wrangell, originally Fort Stikine when under British control
  • Wrangell Airport, an airport near Wrangell, Alaska
  • Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area a census area containing Wrangell Island.
• Wrangell Narrows, a winding channel in the Alexander Archipelago
• Cape Wrangell of Attu Island, the westernmost point of Alaska (and the United States)
• Mount Wrangell, a volcano in Alaska
  • Wrangell Volcanic Field, named after Mount Wrangell
  • Wrangell Mountains, named after Mount Wrangell
  • USS Wrangell (AE-12), named after Mount Wrangell
  • Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, named after Wrangell mountains
• Wrangellia, a geologic terrane of Southeast Alaska

• List of Baltic German explorers

• Overview of Roela (in German: Ruil) (the landed estate of the Wrangels) in Estonian Manors Portal
• Wrangell's 1839 Comparative Word-List of Alaskan languages Archived 19 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine