Vladimir A. Obruchev
Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (October 10 1863 – June 19, 1956) was a Russian and Soviet geologist who specialized in the study of Siberia and Central Asia. He was also one of the first Russian science fiction authors.
Also recorded as Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev · V. A. Obruchev
Vladimir A. Obruchev

Здобнов Дмитрий Спиридонович (1850-1914) · Горный институтъ - студенты 1886 года. Фотографии Д. Здобного. Санкт-Петербург. · Public domain
- Name
- Vladimir Obruchev
- Born
- 10 October 1863
- Birthplace
- Rzhev, Tver Governorate, Russian Empire
- Died
- 19 June 1956
- Place of death
- Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
- Occupation
- Geologist, novelist
- Birth Name
- Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev
- Nationality
- Russian Empire, Russian Republic and Don Republic.
- Fields
- geology, geography, paleontology and geomorphology.
- Education
- Saint Petersburg Mining Institute.
- Teachers
- Ivan Vasil'evich Mushketov.
- Known for
- Plutonia.
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Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (October 10 1863 – June 19, 1956) was a Russian and Soviet geologist who specialized in the study of Siberia and Central Asia. He was also one of the first Russian science fiction authors.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q359568
In this article
Biography
Biography
Obruchev studied at Saint Petersburg Mining Institute. Training under Ivan Vasil'evich Mushketov is recorded. Mikhail Usov, Yevgeny Zakharov and Yefrem Kuznetsov are recorded as having studied under Vladimir A. Obruchev. The recorded working language is Russian. The field of work recorded is geology, geography and paleontology. Places of work recorded in the authority are Soviet Union. Works named in the authority record are Plutonia. Distinctions recorded are State Stalin Prize, 1st degree, Order of Lenin, Hero of Socialist Labour and Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Vladimir Obruchev • Born — 10 October 1863 • Birthplace — Rzhev, Tver Governorate, Russian Empire • Died — 19 June 1956 • Place of death — Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union • Occupation — Geologist, novelist • Genre — Science fiction • Notable Works — Plutonia (novel), Sannikov's Land, In the Wilds of Central Asia • Birth Name — Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev
Scientific research
Scientific research
Vladimir Obruchev graduated from the Petersburg Mining Institute in 1886. His early work involved the study of gold-mining, which led him to come up with a theory explaining the origin of gold deposits in Siberia. He also gave advice on construction of the Central Asian and Trans-Siberian Railways and consulted Sven Hedin on his projected journey to Siberia. While working for the railway, Obruchev explored the Karakum Desert, the shores of the Amu Darya River, and the old riverbeds of the Uzbois. He also worked as a geologist on Lake Baikal, on the Lena River, and in gold fields near the Vitim. Between 1892 and 1894, Obruchev "was a member of the Grigory Potanin's expedition into... Mongolia, [and] to the mountains of Nan Shan and Northern China." He also explored the Transbaikal area, Dzungaria, and Altai. Largely as a result of his participation in this expedition he became interested in loess and made considerable contributions to the study of loess deposits. In 1929, Obruchev was elected to the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. Having spent half a century in exploring Siberia and Inner Asia, Obruchev summarized his findings with a three-volume monograph, The Geology of Siberia (1935–1938), followed by The History of Geological Exploration of Siberia. Many of his works deal with the origins of loess in Central Asia and Siberia, ice formation and permafrost in Siberia, problems of Siberian tectonics, and Siberian goldfields. He also authored many popular scientific works, such as Formation of Mountains and Ore Deposits (1932), Fundamentals of Geology (1944), Field Geology (1927), Ore Deposits (1928–1929), and others. All together, Obruchev authored over a thousand scientific works, among which are a most extensive geological study of Siberia and a five-volume history of the geological exploration of Siberia, which have been awarded the Lenin Prize as well as the prizes and medals of several scientific societies. He was the director of the Geological Institute (1930-1933) and the Permafrost Institute (1939-1956) of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. During 1954, he completed an extensive geographical study of Nan Shan Mountains in China based on his own and previous expeditions to the region and spent his last years working up a geological study of the mountains.
Works of fiction
Works of fiction
In his native country Obruchev is best known as the author of two perennially popular science fiction novels, Plutonia (Плутония, 1915) and Sannikov Land (Земля Санникова, 1924). Both of these stories, imitating the pattern of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, depict in vivid detail the discovery of an isolated world of prehistoric animals in hitherto unexplored large islands north of Alaska or Siberia. In Plutonia, dinosaurs and other Jurassic species are found in a fictional underground area north of Alaska. The descriptive passages are made more credible by Obruchev's extensive knowledge of paleontology. "Sannikov Land" is named for a phantom island of the Arctic Ocean, reported historically by Yakov Sannikov in 1811. Paul J. McAuley praised the novel in a 1999 column, saying "It's true that the characters are indistinguishably wooden mouthpieces for the author's opinions, and the plot is pure pulp, but all this is redeemed by the novel's rigorous scientific sensibility." During the Soviet period, Obruchev attempted to emulate Edwardian models of boys' adventure stories in his novels Golddiggers in the Desert (1928) and In the Wilds of Central Asia (1951).
Official positions
Official positions
• Professor of the Tomsk Engineering Institute (1919–1921), • Professor of the Tavrida University in Simferopol (1918–1919), • Professor of the Moscow Mining Academy (1921–1929); • Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1929); • Chairman of the Committee on Permafrost Studies (since 1930); • Director of the Institute of Permafrost Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (since 1939); • Secretary of the Department of Geological and Geographical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1942–1946); • Honorary president of the Soviet Geographical Society (since 1948)
Obruchev namesakes
Obruchev namesakes
• Illustration — Vladimir A. Obruchev, USSR Post stamp issued in 1963 at the occasion of his 100th birthday • Obruchevite, a mineral. • Academician Obruchev's Range in Tuva • A mountain in the upper reaches of the Vitim River • An oasis in Antarctica • Obruchev Hills, a group of rounded hills in Antarctica • Obruchev (crater) on the Moon • Mount Obruchev, a mountain in Antarctica • The Obruchev Prize was established by the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union in 1938 to honor best works in the field of Siberian geology. • Vladimir Obruchev – oil and gas research vessel: built at Kirov shipyard, Khabarovsk; will operate in Caspian Sea.
Family
Family
• Vladimir Vladimirovich Obruchev, geological economist • Sergei Obruchev, a geologist, discovered the Chersky Range in Siberia. • Dmitry Obruchev, a paleontologist, was a leading authority on early vertebrates.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev and V. His recorded language was Russian.
Career and activity
Career and activity
Obruchev worked in geology, geography, paleontology, geomorphology and bibliography. He was employed by Saint Petersburg State University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University, Academy of Sciences of the USSR and Tomsk Polytechnic University. He belonged to Russian Academy of Sciences, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He worked at Soviet Union.
Identity
Identity
Obruchev is recorded as geologist, explorer, paleontologist, geographer and writer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1863–1956
The full dated record · 4 entries
1863
Vladimir A. Obruchev born at Rzhev.
1915
Plutonia is dated 1915.
1924
Sannikov Land is dated 1924.
1956
Vladimir A. Obruchev died at Zvenigorod.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Rzhev.
Birth place
Zvenigorod.
Death place
Recognition and collections
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Obruchev received State Stalin Prize, 1st degree, Order of Lenin, Hero of Socialist Labour, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" and Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
authority file
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q359568: Vladimir A. Obruchev
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
Awards and honors
• The Przhevalsky Prize, 1894 • Order of Saint Vladimir IV degree, 1895 • Two Chikhachyov Prizes from the French Academy of Sciences (1898 and 1925) • The Constantine Medal of the Russian Geographical Society (1900) • Lenin Prize for the book Geologie von Sibirien (in German), 1926 • The first ever Karpinsky Gold Medal (1947) • The Stalin Prizes (1941, 1950) • Orders of Lenin (1943, 1948, 1953) • Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and numerous medals. • Hero of Socialist Labour (1945)
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
АCADEMICIAN VLADIMIR OBRUCHEV – THE FIRST DIRECTOR OF THE GEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE SOVIET UNION, VM- Novitates, 2023Crossref registry
Verifiedauthority file
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q359568: Vladimir A. ObruchevWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Obruchev studied at Saint Petersburg Mining Institute. He trained under Ivan Vasil'evich Mushketov. Each of those relationships is stated by the authority record rather than inferred from style.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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