Russian naval officer, arctic explorer, and government administrator. He commanded a Russian naval expedition (1820-24) that explored the Arctic. He led another Russian expedition around the world (1825-27) and was governor of Russian America (1829-35), director of the Russian-American company (1840-49), and minister of the navy (1855-57). He was highly critical of the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867. Several islands are named for him. His diaries of his arctic expedition have been translated into German and English.