Vladimir A. Obruchev

Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (; – June 19, 1956) was a Russian and Soviet geologist who specialized in the study of Siberia and Central Asia. He was also one of the first Russian science fiction authors.

Scientific research Vladimir Obruchev graduated from the Petersburg Mining Institute in 1886. His early work involved the study of gold-mining, which led him to come up with a theory explaining the origin of gold deposits in Siberia. He also gave advice on construction of the Central Asian and Trans-Siberian Railways and consulted Sven Hedin on his projected journey to Siberia. While working for the railway, Obruchev explored the Karakum Desert, the shores of the Amu Darya River, and the old riverbeds of the Uzbois. He also worked as a geologist on Lake Baikal, on the Lena River, and in gold fields near the Vitim.

In 1929, Obruchev was elected to the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.

During 1954, he completed an extensive geographical study of Nan Shan Mountains in China based on his own and previous expeditions to the region and spent his last years working up a geological study of the mountains.

During the Soviet period, Obruchev attempted to emulate Edwardian models of boys' adventure stories in his novels Golddiggers in the Desert (1928) and In the Wilds of Central Asia (1951).

Official positions Professor of the Tomsk Engineering Institute (1919–1921), Professor of the Tavrida University in Simferopol (1918–1919), Professor of the Moscow Mining Academy (1921–1929); Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1929); Chairman of the Committee on Permafrost Studies (since 1930); Director of the Institute of Permafrost Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (since 1939); Secretary of the Department of Geological and Geographical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1942–1946); Honorary president of the Soviet Geographical Society (since 1948)

Awards and honors The Przhevalsky Prize, 1894 Order of Saint Vladimir IV degree, 1895 Two Chikhachyov Prizes from the French Academy of Sciences (1898 and 1925) The Constantine Medal of the Russian Geographical Society (1900) Lenin Prize for the book Geologie von Sibirien (in German), 1926 The first ever Karpinsky Gold Medal (1947) The Stalin Prizes (1941, 1950) Orders of Lenin (1943, 1948, 1953) Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and numerous medals. Hero of Socialist Labour (1945)

Obruchev namesakes Vladimir A. Obruchev, USSR Post stamp issued in 1963 at the occasion of his 100th birthday Obruchevite, a mineral. in Tuva A mountain in the upper reaches of the Vitim River An oasis in Antarctica Obruchev Hills, a group of rounded hills in Antarctica Obruchev (crater) on the Moon Mount Obruchev, a mountain in Antarctica The was established by the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union in 1938 to honor best works in the field of Siberian geology. Vladimir Obruchev – oil and gas research vessel: built at Kirov shipyard, Khabarovsk; will operate in Caspian Sea.

Family Vladimir Vladimirovich Obruchev, geological economist Sergei Obruchev, a geologist, discovered the Chersky Range in Siberia. Dmitry Obruchev, a paleontologist, was a leading authority on early vertebrates.