Freigang, Andrey Vasilievich

Andrei Vasilievich Freigang ( , - , ) - Vice Admiral.

Andrei Vasilievich Freigang
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Date of death
Place of death
Affiliation	Russian empire
Type of army	Fleet
Rank
Awards and prizes

Born in Tropau, where his father , Ph.D., University of Gottingen , was in the Russian public service in the diplomatic part. Having received an excellent home education, speaking nine languages, he spent two years (1826 and 1827) at the University of Leipzig . In 1828, upon the arrival of his father in Russia, he entered as a non-commissioned officer in L.-G. Jaeger regiment , and then to the school of guards sub-ensigns and cavalry junkers . The desire to participate in circumnavigation of the world forced him, however, to change his line of service: in the fall of 1830 he transferred to the guard crew and the next year went sailing for two years on the military transport "America".

Returning to Russia, Freigang until 1840 participated almost every summer in sea campaigns on different ships and, by the way, rode the Meteor schooner from Arkhangelsk across the White Sea and the North Ocean to the North Cape . In 1841, Freigang was appointed adjutant to the duty general of the main naval headquarters, Admiral Kolzakov ; then, for several years, was sailing under the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich . In 1848, he was seconded to the Marine Scientific Committee and took an active part in the publication of the Notes of the Hydrographic Department and the Marine Collection , founded in the same year.

In the Sevastopol campaign , in 1854, commanding the battery and the Abov detachment of gunboats, he participated (August 10) in the case with the English courts, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Anna 2 tbsp. with swords. Then, for five years (1855-1860) he was an assistant editor of the Marine Collection, and until 1874 he continued to be one of his active employees. In this journal, in addition to a significant number of bibliographic notes, Freigang published a number of translations and independent articles; in addition, he wrote in Moskovskiye Vedomosti , Golos, Russian Antiquity , and others. Some of his works were published in separate publications, for example, A Look at Venice from the Sea (1851), and Foreigners Who Served in Russian the Navy ”(1863).

In private and public activities, Freigang had a remarkable ability to sacrifice and arouse the sacrifice of others. In the midst of the Crimean War , having learned about the lottery arranged in favor of the families of killed and wounded soldiers, Freigang, according to his colleague F. F. Veselago , collected and brought to the lottery managers everything that was found in his house, gold and silver items, with the only exception of the baptismal crosses and wedding rings. The disasters and sufferings of the Slavs always aroused active sympathy in him, and in 1867 he was one of the first founding members of the Slavic charity . He also took a prominent part in the affairs of the Society for the Promotion of Russian Merchant Shipping, and, by the way, donated to the library, both this society and the yacht club and the nautical classes that were organized then, a significant amount of “very rare and useful books.” He owed him his institution in 1872, " Society for the Salvation of the Waters ." The initial subscription, arranged by Freigang among his friends, gave 15 rubles; in 1901, the company had a capital of more than a million rubles.

In 1874, Freigang suffered a grave and prolonged illness that forced him to ask for resignation; January 7, 1874 he was dismissed from service with the production of the rank of vice admiral. He spent the last years of his life in Gatchina, where he died in the 71st year.