TWO UNUSUAL EXPEDITIONS OF THE INSTITUTE OF OCEANOLOGY RESEARCH VESSEL "DMITRY MENDELEEV" (6TH AND 18TH CRUISES)

Abstract

50 years ago, in 1971, an expedition of RV “Dmitry Mendeleev” (her 6th cruise) departed to the islands of Oceania. The voyage was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first trip to island New Guinea by Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay, a famous russian explorer, antropologyst, and ethnographers, and, simultaneously, with the 125th anniversary of his birth. Scientists 19 scientific institutions of the USSR, specializing in biological, geological and ethnographic research took part in the 6th cruise of R/V “Dmitry Mendeleev”, and the continuing expedition to the same area during her 18th cruise. Besides the ship crew and the scientific team, there were cameramen from Soviet state cinematography corporation Goskino, members of the Union of Artists of the USSR and other cultural and artistic figures were aboard the ship during both voyages. Nowadays, in 2021, in honor of the 175th anniversary of the birth of N.N. Miklukho-Maclay, a new exhibition named "Oceania distant and close" was opened in the Museum of the World Ocean in city of Kaliningrad. Among other artifacts, it includes photographs from the 18th cruise of the R/V “Dmitry Mendeleev” and paintings dedicated to Miklukho-Maclay's expeditions.