Alexander Konrad
Encyclopedia
Alexander Eduardovich Konrad (1890 in St. Petersburg - 1940 in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...

) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n sailor. Along with Valerian Albanov
Valerian Albanov
Valerian Ivanovich Albanov was a Russian navigator, best known for being one of only two survivors of the ill-fated Brusilov expedition of 1912.-Biography:...

, he was one of the only two survivors, and the only surviving sailor of the ill-fated Brusilov expedition
Georgy Brusilov
Georgy Lvovich Brusilov or Hryhoriy Brusylov was a Ukrainian Russian naval officer of the Imperial Russian Navy and an Arctic explorer...

.

Biography

There are no data about Alexander Konrad's birth and childhood.

Alexander Konrad was a member of the crew on the Svyataya Anna
Svyataya Anna
The ship Svyataya Anna , named after Saint Anne, was the Philomel-class gunvessel HMS Newport launched in England in 1867. She was sold in 1881 and renamed Pandora II. She was purchased again in about 1890 and renamed Blencathra, taking part in expeditions to the north coast of Russia...

, the ship of Georgy Brusilov's 1912 Arctic expedition.
The expedition was ill-planned by Captain Brusilov, and the Saint Anna became locked in the polar ice
Sea ice
Sea ice is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about -1.8 °C ....

 of the Kara Sea
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....

 in October 1912. Supplies were abundant, so officers and crew prepared themselves for wintering, hoping to be freed in the following year's thaw.

However, during 1913 the sea remained completely frozen. By early 1914 the ship had drifted with the ice NW of Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...

 and did not seem likely to be freed that year either. Albanov, believing that their position was hopeless, requested permission from Captain Brusilov to be relieved from his duties as second-in-command in order to leave the ship with some crewmen and attempt to return to civilization on foot.

Konrad wrote a diary, which is not as extensive as Albanov's story of the ordeal In the Land of White Death, but which gives some interesting clues as to the terrible fate of the other
sailors that went along with him following Albanov. Having abandoned the St Anna and headed on skis, sledges and kayaks towards Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...

, twelve sailors perished shortly after arriving there, when a sudden storm separated the kayaks.

Konrad and Albanov were rescued by the Saint Foka
Georgy Sedov
Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov was a Russian Arctic explorer.Born in the village of Krivaya Kosa of Taganrog district in a fisherman's family. In 1898, Sedov finished navigation courses in Rostov-on-Don and acquired the rank of long voyage navigator...

, while they were busy preparing a hut for the winter at Cape Flora in Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...

.

After the First World War Konrad continued to work as a sailor. In the 1930s he worked as an engineer and mechanic on the Baltic steamship line.
In 1939, when he was in his mid-fifties, Alexander Konrad finally completed the Northeast Passage, which had been the original goal of the St Anna. Konrad died of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....

 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1940.

After Konrad's death, his relatives donated his 1912-14 diary to the Arctic and Antarctic Museum of St. Petersburg.
His diary has been published as an appendix in recent editions of Valerian Albanov's book. Unlike Albanov, Konrad is more descriptive about things like food and polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...

 hunting.

In a brief memoir, polar explorer V.I. Akkuratov described Konrad as "stern and reserved". He encouraged Konrad to write a longer account about his experiences in the Arctic, but to no avail. He recalled his icy odyssey with reluctance and inner anguish, says Akkuratov. Konrad spoke sparingly, but warmly of his officer Albanov
Valerian Albanov
Valerian Ivanovich Albanov was a Russian navigator, best known for being one of only two survivors of the ill-fated Brusilov expedition of 1912.-Biography:...

, yet he refused to tell me anything about Brusilov
Georgy Brusilov
Georgy Lvovich Brusilov or Hryhoriy Brusylov was a Ukrainian Russian naval officer of the Imperial Russian Navy and an Arctic explorer...

or his relationship with the navigator. Of young Yerminia Zhdanko, the only woman on board the St. Anna, Konrad preserved a shining memory: "We all loved and worshipped our doctor. This was a strong woman, the hero of the entire crew."
(V.I. Akkuratov's interview)

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