Zelenoy, Semyon Ilyich

Semyon was born into a noble family on July 8 (20) ^[1] 1812 in the Pskov province.

In 1822 he entered the Marine Corps . Having received the rank of midshipman in 1828 , he was transferred to the officer classes and on December 31, 1831 graduated from them with the rank of fleet lieutenant .

“The Director of the Marine Corps , I.F. Kruzenshtern ,” wrote Zelena, “... requested me to be appointed to Dorpat, where Struve’s advice and lessons learned the secrets of astronomy and gave me the opportunity to study it, to follow every new discovery, a new improvement in theoretical and practical parts of this science, and therefore to see and judge what is currently needed for a naval officer ... ” Zelena graduated from the astronomical education in Yuriev , under the guidance of the famous V. Ya. Struve .

In 1833 , as a skilled observer, he took part in the works of the chronometric expedition under the command of F.F. Schubert to determine the longitudes of the most important places along the coast and on the islands of the Baltic Sea .

In 1835, after completing an internship with V. Ya. Struve in Derpt Zelenaya, he returned to the IWC, where he began to teach astronomy at sea.

For two years ( 1837 - 1839 ), with the rank of fleet lieutenant , he read astronomy at St. Petersburg University in its application to geodesy . Later, he was the director of the hydrographic department and the chairman of the Main Naval Court.

In 1838, S. I. Zelena composed "Conversations with children about astronomy and the sky." The book was a great success, and its author was awarded for the excellent and sensible presentation of the highest award - a diamond ring.

In 1842, the Academy of Sciences awarded the textbook S. Zeleny “Astronomical means of navigation” Demidov Prize ^[2] .
V. Ya. Struve wrote about this textbook as follows: “... this work is not just a compilation of the best works on this part of other nations, but an original work, located and executed according to a prudent thought-out plan ... Where the Author acted more independently, in observational astronomy , he is a thorough connoisseur of the theory of astronomical instruments, their structure, ... and a sailor who knows how to use them at sea from experience ... ” In the same year, Zelena was promoted to lieutenant commander .

In 1844, S. Zelena published the remarkable for that time “Lectures of popular astronomy, read publicly ...” (2nd ed. St. Petersburg. 1850).

Full member of the Russian Geographical Society since September 19 ( October 1 ), 1845 ^[3] . In 1848 he was appointed a member of the Maritime Scientific Committee, and in 1849 , promoted to captain of the 2nd rank and left the service in the Naval Department.

In 1850 - 1855 - Director of the Lazarevsky Institute of Oriental Languages ​​in Moscow. At this post, Zelenaya discovered "exceptional pedagogical and administrative abilities and in less than five years put him to an exceptional height, both from the side of the external order and internal organization." For all this he was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree, made for distinction as colonel (1853), and for scientific works he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree as "the most worthy of those worthy in mind, heart and education."

In 1855, shortly after the start of the Sevastopol campaign, at the personal request of the fleet commander Vel. Prince Konstantin Nikolaevich, was returned to the fleet "as one of the most excellent sailors mistakenly dismissed by the previous authorities," with the renaming of captains of the 1st rank and appointment as vice director of the Hydrographic Department of the Ministry of the Sea ^[4] .

In 1857 he was promoted to major general , and in 1859 Zelenaya was renamed Rear Admiral.

In 1859, with the rank of Rear Admiral, he was appointed Director of the Hydrographic Department of the Ministry of the Sea, where under his leadership a number of major hydrographic work was done and maps of the Baltic and Caspian Seas, Lake Ladoga and the Eastern Ocean were compiled.

Since 1861 - Chairman of the Marine Scientific Committee, combined and headed the main leadership of the scientific and educational units in the Navy. With his support and personal labors, for the first time, our fleet began to be serviced with nautical instruments of Russian work, not only not inferior to foreign ones, but also surpassing them with thoroughness and accuracy.

In 1866 he was promoted to vice admiral and elected chairman of the scientific department of the Marine Technical Committee.

On December 7, 1873, Zelena was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences. Specialization: Astronomer, Maritime Specialist.

Since 1874 - a member of the Main Maritime Court, in 1877 he was promoted to admiral of the fleet.

In 1881 - 1891 - Chairman of the Main Naval Court. Since 1891, retired.

The last years of his life S. Zelena was an honorary member of the Nikolaev Maritime Academy and the Marine Technical Committee, the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (IRGO), a full member of the astronomical society. His useful works were marked by many high awards of the fatherland: orders of St. Alexander Nevsky with diamonds, St. Vladimir 1st degree, White Eagle, St. Anna 1st degree, St. Stanislav 1st degree ^[5] .

S.I. Zelena died on May 28 (June 9), 1892 "in the mind of a fulfilled duty to God and the Motherland." He was buried in the Smolensk Orthodox cemetery.

His name is called the cape on about. Rykachev in the Kara Sea near the shore of Khariton Laptev in 1900.

Brothers: Alexander the Admiral, Ivan (1811-1877) and Nikander (1829-1888) were major generals of the fleet, and Neil was a captain of the 2nd rank.

Children: Alexander (1839) - major general; Constantine (1843) served in the navy; Ilya (1851) was a member of the Taganrog District Court.

1. “A method for determining the longitude of a place by observing the passage of stars and the moon through the meridian” (St. Petersburg, 1838 );
2. “Lectures of Algebraic and Transcendental Analysis” (1838), compiled by him together with S. O. Burachok on the lectures of Professor Ostrogradsky;
3. "Conversations on the benefits and necessity of astronomy" (St. Petersburg, 1840 );
4. “Conversations with children about astronomy and the sky” (2nd ed. St. Petersburg, 1840 );
5. "Arithmetic for the naval cadet corps" (St. Petersburg, 1852 );
6. “Rectilinear and spherical trigonometry” (2nd ed. St. Petersburg, 1855 );
7. “Astronomical means of ship navigation” (St. Petersburg, 1861 );
8. "Lectures of popular astronomy" (read in the Naval Cadet Corps, 2nd edition of St. Petersburg, 1866 ).

• List of Heads of the Hydrographic Service of Russia

• The General Maritime List, part X, pp. 188–193.
• Grigoriev, St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg. 1870, pp. 186-187.
• Languages, "Review of the Life and Works of Russian Writers and Writers", vol. XII, pp. 86–87.
• "Historical Bulletin" 1892, Prince. 7, pp. 231-232.
• "New Time" 1892, No. 5836, 5837.
• "News" of 1892 from May 29.
• Moscow Gazette, 1892, No. 149.
• Bibliographic Notes, 1892, No. 9, pp. 651–652.
• "Government Gazette" 1892, No. 115.
• Petersburg Necropolis.
• Zelenoy Semyon Ilyich // Russian Biographical Dictionary: V 25 t./A. A. Polovtsov. - M., 1896-1918. - T. "Zhabokritsky - Zyalovsky." - C. 342.
• Russian admirals. Biographical Dictionary. 2004

• Admiral of the Russian Navy Semen Ilyich Zelenaya (1810-1892) - pioneer in the popularization of astronomy
• Zelenoy, Semyon Ilyich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.