Dobel, Pyotr Vasilievich

Born in Ireland, there he received primary education. Together with his parents he emigrated to the United States of America , where he entered the University of Pennsylvania . At the end of the course and after the death of his parents, he joined the army as a volunteer, participated in several campaigns in the western part of Pennsylvania and in other areas against the Indians ^[3] .

Finding a passion for travel, traveled to America, and then as a trader went to other countries. During his stay in Guangzhou (China) he met Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern , who apparently did some pretty significant service, as a reward he received a diamond ring from the emperor ^[4] . This unexpected royal mercy was the motive for the adoption of Dobel soon Russian citizenship ^[3] .

Having learned at the same time that Kamchatka was in great need of food and basic necessities, Dobel equipped two ships and in August 1812 arrived at the Peter and Paul Port . Here, one of the ships was unloaded, and the other continued on to Manila (Philippines). Dobel himself remained in Kamchatka until February. He devoted this time to the study of the peninsula, and then, leaving a commission agent in Petropavlovsk , he went to St. Petersburg . During the trip, he traveled around the Pacific coast, visited the Penzhinsky and Idzhinsky bays and reached Okhotsk . From there he turned inland and through Yakutsk, Irkutsk and other cities of eastern Russia reached the capital ^[3] .

During the trip he kept a diary, excerpts from which were printed in the " Son of the Fatherland " in 1815 and in 1816. The traveler enthusiastically described the natural wealth of Siberia and was especially enthusiastic about Kamchatka, which, in his opinion, had all the information to become a prosperous trading country, an obstacle to which was only a lack of population. Dobel persistently continued this idea also in letters and projects submitted to the Siberian authorities ^[3] .

In St. Petersburg, Dobel obtained the right to trade on very favorable terms, and the government, which at that time favorably looked at the trade of foreigners, gave the local authorities the right to allow trade on the same conditions to all incoming foreign ships. In addition, Dobel presented to the government an extensive plan for the development of industry and trade in the Pacific. The essence of the plan was to start whaling in Siberian waters and establish trade links between Okhotsk and Kamchatka on the one hand and the Philippine Islands on the other, with the aim of supplying this part of Siberia with the necessary supplies. The plan was adopted, and Dobel was instructed to carry it out ^[3] .

In 1818, Dobel was accepted into the Russian service with the rank of court adviser and in the autumn of 1819 ^{[5] he was} appointed Consul General in the Philippines (with the proposal to establish a consulate, Dobel personally addressed Alexander I ^[6] ). However, he faced difficulties in the Philippines, as the Spanish government, whose islands were a colony, refused to recognize him as consul under the pretext that foreign consuls were not allowed in the colonies at all. Nevertheless, as a private person, Dobele was promised possible assistance as a subject of a friendly power. At that time, Dobel had already entered into Russian citizenship and declared capital sufficient to become a merchant of the second guild ^[3] .

At the end of 1818, Dobel returned to Kamchatka. His business there went very badly, he suffered enormous losses, quarreled with his agent and some local officials, but nevertheless did not lose hope. He still counted on the profitable development of the natural resources of the peninsula and intended to begin whaling near its shores. To implement the plan, he, together with the head of the local administration, Pyotr Ivanovich Rikord, entered into an agreement with a sales agent of an American company, on the occasion of being in Kamchatka. However, at this point, the policy regarding foreign traders changed, and the contract was not approved by the highest authorities. The reason for the ban was to protect the interests of the Russian-American company , whose interests could be affected by foreign trade and fishing.

The restrictions introduced not only prohibited foreigners from trading and fishing, but also evicted them from Russian territory, and their ships were not allowed to call into ports throughout Eastern Siberia. Dobel retained his right to reside in Kamchatka and received orders to facilitate the procurement of goods for ships belonging to the treasury or the Russian-American company. This order of Dobel in Kamchatka did not find him, since by that time he had gone to the Philippines ^[3] .

On the way to Manila, the Dobel ship went to Hawaii for repairs. Here, the Russian consul had the opportunity to speak with King Kameamea II , who asked for Russian help in the internal struggle. Dobel sent a message to Petersburg, but there the proposal was rejected ^[5] . Upon arriving in Manila, Dobele was in for a new nuisance: a riot occurred in the city during which his property was looted ^[3] .

Dobel returned to Petropavlovsk in 1821 with a cargo of goods as a Russian citizen, married to a Russian, a merchant of the second guild. When he arrived, the board of the Russian-American company raised the alarm, but Dobel eventually obtained permission to trade. Commercial operations were unprofitable, and almost completely broke, he returned in 1828 to St. Petersburg. Here he found out that his consular salary, which a friend received in his place, was subjected to an inventory and was seized along with the property of the latter ^[3] .

The life troubles of Dobele were not broken, and he continued to travel and engage in trade ^[3] .

He died in 1852 ^{[1] [2]} (according to other sources in 1855 ^[3] ).

Dobel's travels were described by him in several publications. The main ^{[1] [2] [3]} :

• Letters of a traveler in Siberia // Son of the Fatherland. - 1815 and 1816.
• Travels in Kamtschatka and Siberia. - London, 1830.
  • only the second part has been translated into Russian with some additions: Travels and latest observations in China, Manilla and the Indo-Chinese archipelago, the former Russian Consul General in the Philippines, college adviser Peter Dobel / Compiled and translated from English by Highest Permission A. J [ Unkovsky] in two parts. - S.-Pb., 1833.
• Sept années en Chine, Paris ^[7]
  • translation into Russian by E. Golitsyna, S.-Pb., 1833.
• Russia at it is and not as it has been represented. - London, 1833.

• Wife - Dobel Daria Andreevna, a former serf woman bought in Tobolsk ^[4] .

• Makarenko V. About Peter Dobele, his time and his book // Dobele P.V. Travels and latest observations in China, Manila and the Indo-Chinese archipelago. - M .: East House, 2002. - S. 11-20. - 262 p. - ISBN 5-89737-102-4 .