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On September 9 at 14:30, IGUMO and MKIK will host a presentation of a book by Viktor Yashchenko called ‘Their Names on the Maps’, winner of competitive grant projects of the Russian Geographical Society. IGUMO and MKIK lecturers Kira Mrik and Ismail Kozhemov together with MKIK students took part in the preparation of its publication.
We’re all used to using maps in our gadgets and we can’t really imagine how people used to cope without these apps. But have you ever thought about what is behind this convenient option? Who made these maps and when? Did you know that 900 people died in mapping our country only in the second half of the 20th century? Some of them drowned, others were killed by bears, and still others froze to death…
Viktor Yashchenko himself spent 10 years in geodetic expeditions in taiga and often found himself on the brink of life and death: in the fallen helicopter or in the frosty forest when he was too exhausted to start a fire. And the regular work of geodesists and surveyors is a complete feat itself. They go through impassible taiga with equipment weighing 35 kg in addition to tents, sleeping bags, and food. Weather changing from cold to hot, annoying gnat and mosquitoes make it harder to do the work that is already difficult enough.
Back then, Viktor Yashchenko already started keeping diaries and recording all the most interesting things. It was forbidden to speak of tragic incidents inthe Soviet Union. Viktor Yashchenkounderstood that sooner or later there would be times to bring the truth to the people and pay tribute to the memory of the fallen colleagues. He started gathering information. Then he was promoted: he became head of enterprises in the Caucasus and in the Urals and then even the Minister, Chairperson of the Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. He continues to gather information about the work of his colleagues. Several books containing documentary stories have already been published. A year ago, the Russian Geographical Society awarded him with a grant for the publication of the book ‘Their Names on the Maps’. In the book, the author traced the selfless work of our compatriots from the opening of new lands in the beginning of the 16th century to the making of a detailed map. And while the exploits of the discoverers are perpetuated by their names on the maps, very little is known about geodesists and surveyors. The book fills this gap by paying tribute to the heroic work of those who created the detailed maps.
Each episode of the book could form the basis of an action film. Sometimes you can’t believe in the reality of the events described, but they’re all completely documentary. Those are stories about how a man was left alone in the taiga because of a tragic coincidence and survived the whole winter there, how a surveyor almost died of a cold but a family of hermits in the deep taiga helped her recover, how a geodesic party ended up art the epicentre of a forest fire but managed to swim across the river and escape, and how a bear cub killed several members of the geodesic party...
At the meeting, you will be able to get details of these stories, ask questions to the author and your tutors involved in the creation of the book, see a fragment of the documentary film by Ismail Kozhemov about Viktor Yashenko, and even receive the book as a gift.
Tatyana Vorozhtsova, journalist
Translated by Polina Ledovskaya
07.09.2021
