Eduard von Toll

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"E. Toll" redirects here. Not to be confused with eToll.

Naturalist
Known forExploring the New Siberian Islands and leading the Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 of the Sannikov Land
Signature

Eduard Gustav Freiherr[1] von Toll (Russian: Эдуа́рд Васи́льевич Толль, romanized: Eduárd Vasíl'evič Toll'; 14 March [O.S. 2 March] 1858 – 1902), better known in Russia as Eduard Vasilyevich Toll and often referred to as Baron von Toll, was a Russian geologist and Arctic explorer. He is most notable for leading the Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 in search of the legendary Sannikov Land, a phantom island purported to lie off Russia's Arctic coast. During the expedition, Toll and a small party of explorers disappeared from Bennett Island, and their fate remains unknown to this day.[2]

Early life

Eduard von Toll was born on 14 March [

Baltic German noble Toll family and was married to Emmeline "Emmy" Magdalene von Wilcken [et]. His family's origin was debated, but genealogists had suggested them to be of Hollandish origin and was originated in Leiden. He was a close relative of the Middendorff family, and one of the Toll's teachers was the academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences Alexander von Middendorff.[3]

Toll graduated from the

Mediterranean and researched the fauna, flora and geology of Algeria and the Balearic Islands
.

Expeditions and surveys

Baron von Toll with his signature in German below him.

In 1885–1886 Toll took part in an expedition to the

Matvei Gedenschtrom
claimed to have seen during their 1808–1810 expedition, but whose existence had never been proved.

Eduard Toll was among the first to report in detail about the abundance of Pleistocene fossils found within

saber-toothed tiger. He also reported having found in a frozen, sandy clay layer and lying on its side, a complete tree of Alnus fruticosa 15 to 20 ft (4.5 to 6 m) in length, including roots, with leaves and cones adhering.[4] Unfortunately, his reports have been frequently either misrepresented or badly garbled by popular accounts of his findings, stating it to be a plum tree of a different size. The academy appreciated the results of this expedition as "a true geographical deed".[5]

In 1893 Toll led an expedition of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences to the northern parts of

Kolyma. During one year and two days the expedition covered 25,000 km, of which 4,200 km were up the rivers, carrying out geodesic surveys en route. Owing to the difficulties of the expedition and his hard work, the Russian Academy of Sciences awarded Eduard v. Toll with the N.M. Przhevalsky Large Silver Medal.[5]

In 1899 Toll took part in a voyage of the

icebreaker Yermak under the command of Stepan Makarov to the shores of Spitsbergen.[5]

Toll's last venture: the Russian Polar Expedition, 1900-1903

In 1900–1902, Eduard Toll headed an expedition of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences to the New Siberian Islands, the

geographical
, and geological research.

Due to severe ice conditions the expedition had to spend two winters in the region of the bleak New Siberian Archipelago. In the end, Eduard von Toll traveled to Bennett Island by sledge and kayak along with three expedition members.

The ship Zarya attempted to reach Bennett Island to evacuate Toll's party but was unable to do so because of severe ice conditions. Apparently, Toll made a decision to go south to the continent; no further traces of the four men have ever been found.

Two search parties set out in the spring of 1903. One of them, under engineer

Aleksandr Kolchak
traveled by whaleboat to Bennett Island. They did not find the lost explorers but they found the diaries and the collections of the Zarya expedition, which shed light on the tragic fate of Baron Eduard von Toll and of his companions.

Legacy

Kuckers Manor where Eduard von Toll lived
Memorial of Toll erected at the former Kuckers Manor of his
Baltic coat of arms book by Carl Arvid von Klingspor in 1882[6]

The name of Eduard von Toll remained on the geographical maps

Tsirkul Island in the Minina Skerries, mountains in Novaya Zemlya, the northernmost cape at Stolbovoy Island, the strait and a plateau at Kotelny Island and the central ice cap at Bennett Island
.

In certain fields, like paleontology, zoology and botany many specimens of fauna and flora are named after Baron Eduard von Toll, like for example the

foraminiferan
named Dendrophyra tolli (Awerinzew, 1911).

Baron Toll was an expert in Siberian palaeontology. The following statement of Russian Academician V. A. Obruchev is well-known: "In all our guides on physical geography you can encounter the name of Eduard v. Toll as the founder of the doctrine of fossilized ice formation' – the doctrine which became a classic one".

The Arctic icebreaking LNG tanker MV Eduard Toll is named after him.[7]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
  2. ^ "Exploration Mysteries: Eduard Von Toll » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  3. ISBN 978-5-02-035739-6
    , Ч.1, С. 231
  4. ^ von Toll, Baron E., 1895, Wissenschaftliche Resultate der Von der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften sur Erforschung des Janalandes und der Neusibirischen Inseln in den Jahren 1885 und 1886 Ausgesandten expedition. [Scientific Results of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of the Investigation of Janaland and the New Siberian Islands from the Expeditions Launched in 1885 and 1886] Abtheilung III: Die fossilen Eislager und ihre Beziehungen su den Mammuthleichen. Memoires de L'Academie imperials des Sciences de St. Petersbouro, VII Serie, Tome XLII, No. 13, Commissionnaires de I'Academie Imperiale des sciences, St. Peterabourg, Russia.
  5. ^ a b c "The Treasure of Eduard Toll - Eduard von Toll". www.shparo.com. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  6. ISBN 978-0-543-98710-5
    . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Vessel details for: EDUARD TOLL (LNG Tanker) - IMO 9750696, MMSI 311000548, Call Sign C6CR2 Registered in Bahamas | AIS Marine Traffic". MarineTraffic.com. Retrieved 5 January 2019.

Sources

External links

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