Constantine Possiet 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 statesman and admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

 who served as Minister of Transport Communications between 1874 and 1888.

Possiet was a descendant of one Possiet de Rossier, a French noble who was commissioned by Peter the Great to lay out vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

s near Astrakhan

Astrakhan

Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...

. Constantine was born in Pärnu

Pärnu

Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...

, Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

, a town of which he later became an honorary freeman. After attending the Naval Cadet Corps

Sea Cadet Corps (Russia)

The Sea Cadet Corps , occasionally translated as the Marine Cadet Corps or the Naval Cadet Corps, is an educational establishment for training Naval officers for the Russian Navy in Saint Petersburg.It is the oldest existing high school in Russia.-History:...

 in St. Petersburg, he pursued the career of a military author. Artillerie-Exercitium (1847), a comprehensive treatise about modern artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, won him a Demidov Prize

Demidov Prize

The Demidov Prize was a national scientific prize in the Russian Empire awarded annually to the members of the Russian Academy of Sciences. One of the most prestigious and oldest scientific awards in the world, its traditions influenced other awards of this kind including the Nobel Prize...

 from the Russian Academy of Sciences

Russian Academy of Sciences

The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....

.

In 1852-54, Possiet followed Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin

Yevfimy Putyatin

Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin was a Russian admiral noted for his diplomatic missions to Japan and China which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855.-Early life:...

 on the frigate Pallas to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Accompanied by novelist Ivan Goncharov

Ivan Goncharov

Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov was a Russian novelist best known as the author of Oblomov .- Biography :Ivan Goncharov was born in Simbirsk ; his father was a wealthy grain merchant and respected official who was elected mayor of Simbirsk several times...

 and inventor Alexander Mozhaisky, Possiet explored and mapped the northern coastline of the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

, including Possiet Bay, which now bears his name. In 1856 he carried to Japan the news of the ratification of the Treaty of Shimoda

Treaty of Shimoda

The Treaty of Shimoda of 1855, formally Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia , was signed between the Russian Vice-Admiral Euphimy Vasil'evich Putiatin and Toshiakira Kawaji of Japan in the city of Shimoda, Izu Province, Japan, on February 7, 1855...

. Possiet's journeys and published observations made him something of an expert on Japan. Years later, he negotiated with Enomoto Takeaki

Enomoto Takeaki

Viscount was a samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate who fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War...

 the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, which brought entire Sakhalin Island into the Russian fold.

Back in the capital by 1858, Possiet was asked to supervise the education of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia

Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia

Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia was the sixth child and the fourth son of Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Maria Alexandrovna . Destined to a naval career, Alexei Alexandrovich started his military training at the age of 7...

, who was destined for a naval career. In the 1860s, he accompanied Grand Duke on the naval excursions to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. During a visit to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Possiet and his pupil inspected the condition of U.S. railroads and inner waterways; they also made the acquaintance of Hamilton Fish

Hamilton Fish

Hamilton Fish was an American statesman and politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York, United States Senator and United States Secretary of State. Fish has been considered one of the best Secretary of States in the United States history; known for his judiciousness and reform efforts...

 and other leading politicians.

Between 1874 and 1888, Possiet served as Minister of Ways and Communications. Inspired by his American experience, he set himself the task of extending Russia's network of state-owned railways and upgrading the obsolete Mariinsky Canal System. He also introduced a system of marine salvage operations. As early as 1875, Possiet came up with a detailed proposal concerning the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway

Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...

, but the project had to be abandoned due to the outbreak of the Turkish war.

Posyet's tenure of office was brought to an abrupt end by the Borki train disaster

Borki train disaster

The Borki train disaster occurred on near Borki station in the former Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire , 295 kilometers south of Kursk, when the imperial train carrying Tsar Alexander III of Russia and his family from Crimea to Saint Petersburg derailed at high speed...

 involving royal train of Alexander III

Alexander III of Russia

Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...

. The aged minister was replaced by the young and energetic Sergei Witte

Sergei Witte

Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte , also known as Sergius Witte, was a highly influential policy-maker who presided over extensive industrialization within the Russian Empire. He served under the last two emperors of Russia...

, but remained active in the State Council of Imperial Russia

State Council of Imperial Russia

The State Council was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia.-18th century:Early Tsars' Councils were small and dealt primarily with the external politics....

 until his death. He was a recipient of numerous Russian and foreign awards, including the Order of the Rising Sun

Order of the Rising Sun

The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun...

, 1st Class. In 1896, he emerged as a leading advocate for the restoration of the familiar white-blue-red tricolor as the official flag of Russia

Flag of Russia

The flag of Russia is a tricolour flag of three equal horizontal fields, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The flag was first used as an ensign for Russian merchant and war ships and only became official in 1896...

. Posiet bequeathed his extensive library and collections to the Kunstkamera

Kunstkamera

The Kunstkamera was the first museum in Russia. Established by Peter the Great and completed in 1727, the Kunstkammer Building hosts the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, with a collection of almost 2,000,000 items...

 in St. Petersburg. His grave is in the Novodevichy Cemetery

Novodevichy Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)

Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg is a historic cemetery in the South-West part of the city near the Moscow Triumphal Gate. The cemetery is named after the historical Resurrection Convent...

in St. Petersburg.