Vladimir Wiese

Vladimir Yulyevich Wiese (; 5 March 1886 – 19 February 1954) was a Russian scientist of German descent who devoted his life to the study of the Arctic ice pack. His name is associated with the Scientific Prediction of Ice Conditions theory. Wiese was a member of the Soviet Arctic Institute and an authority on polar oceanography. He was also the founder of the Geographico-hydrological School of Oceanography.

Biography Wiese was born to German immigrants to Saint Petersburg, Julius Friedrich Franz Wiese and Lydia Karoline Amalie Gertrud Blass. He graduated from the Saint Petersburg University and the University of Göttingen. Wiese took part in its preparation, but could not participate due to declining health. He went into his final expedition in 1937, on icebreaker Sadko. Its goal was to sail to Henrietta, Zhokhov and Jeannette Islands, in the De Long group and carry out scientific research. The purpose of the expedition was also to find out how could the Northern Sea Route be used for regular shipping. But the Soviet naval authorities changed the plans and the ice-breaker was sent instead to help ships in distress in the Kara and Laptev Seas. Sadko itself became trapped in fast ice at 75°17'N and 132°28'E near New Siberian Islands. Two other Soviet icebreakers that researched the ice condition in the same area, Sedov and Malygin, also became trapped by sea ice and drifted helplessly. Owing to persistent bad weather conditions, part of the stranded crew members and some of the scientists could only be rescued in April 1938. On 28 August 1938, icebreaker Yermak freed two of the three ships at 83°4'N and 138°22'E. The third ship, Sedov, would remain in the ice to begin an 812-day drift during which the one remaining junior scientist supervised hundreds of astronomical, electromagnetic and depth measurements before they were finally freed between Greenland and Svalbard by the icebreaker Joseph Stalin on 18 January 1940. The crew and scientists were welcomed back in the Soviet Union as heroes.

Personal life Wife - Olga Wiese (nee Balabina) (1902-1983). Vladimir Yulievich had two daughters, Olga and Tatyana. The descendants of Vladimir Yulievich live in Germany, as well as in Estonia, in the city of Narva.

Awards and honors

In 1933 Wiese was elected as a corresponding member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

Scientific works

Morya Sovetskoy Arktiki. (Russian) Moscow-Leningrad 1948 The expedition on board the icebreaking steamer “Malygin” to Zemlya Frantsa Iosifa. 1933 (transl. from Russian) The voyage of the icebreaker “Malygin” to Zemlya Frantsa Iosifa in 1931. Trudy (transl. from Russian) "Die Vorhersage der Eisverhältnisse im Barentsmeer". Arktis I. 1928 (German).