Nikolay Urvantsev

Nikolay Urvantsev

Nikolay Nikolayevich Urvantsev (Russian: Николай Николаевич Урванцев; 29 January 1893 – 20 February 1985) was a Soviet geologist and explorer. He was born in the town of Lukoyanov of Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, Russian Empire to the family of a merchant. He graduated from the Tomsk Engineering Institute in 1918.

Urvantsev was among the discoverers of the Norilsk coal basin and Norilsk copper-nickel ore region in 1919-1922 and was among the founders of Norilsk town.