Semyon Dezhnyov

Semyon Dezhnyov

Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnyov (Russian: Семён Ива́нович Дежнёв; ; commonly spelled Dezhnev in English-language sources; c. 1605 – 1673) was a Russian explorer of Siberia and the first European to sail through the Bering Strait, 80 years before Bering did. In 1648 he sailed from the Kolyma River on the Arctic Ocean to the Anadyr River on the Pacific. His exploit was forgotten for almost a hundred years and Vitus Bering is usually given credit for discovering the strait that bears his name.