Ivan Kupreyanov
Ivan Antonovich Kupreyanov (
Sea Cadet Corps
while being only 10, in 1809.
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Kupreyanov served on the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29).[1]
Kupreyanov and his wife, Yuliya Ivanovna, began a school for native girls in Sitka. It was closed at the end of his administration but was reopened later. He built the famous residence, library and museum in
Alexandr Baranov, Kupreyanov's predecessor by eighteen years. The residence was the site of the ceremony in which control of Russian America was transferred from Russia to the United States in 1867. Although the residence fell down in 1897, the hill where it was located is still called Castle Hill. Kupreyanov greeted the British captain Edward Belcher in 1837, who was commanding surveying expedition of two ships, HMS Sulphur and HMS Starling. Belcher recorded that "his civilities were overpowering."[2] Departing from New Archangel on 30 September 1840 with his family, Kupreyanov continued his career in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was promoted to vice admiral in October 1852.[1]
Legacy
Alaska Panhandle) was named after him, and indirectly the city of Kupreanof, Alaska
, which is on that island.
References
- ^ a b c d Pierce, Richard A. Russian America: A Biographical Dictionary. Kingston, Canada: The Limestone Press. 1990, pp. 227-229.
- ^ Blecher, Edward. Narrative of a Voyage round the World performed in H.M.S. Sulphur, 1836-1842. Vol. 1. London: Henry Colburn. 1843, p. 94.
