F. Nansen and S.V. Vostrotin as Ideologists of the Development of Arctic Transport Routes of the Yenisei Siberia. The Beginning of the 20th century

This study examines the theoretical and practical activities of Fridtjof Nansen and Stepan Vasilyevich Vostrotin (1864-1943) on the development of Arctic transport routes in the Yenisei Siberia at the beginning of the 20th century.By a fortunate coincidence, the period of their intensive research activity occurred at the end of the 19th -beginning of the 20th centuries, when there was a need to study the northern territories and their economic and strategic prospects.Both researchers paid great attention to the logistics potential of the Northern Sea Route, which could ensure stable and regular trade of the Siberian region with European countries, including Great Britain and Scandinavia.Particular attention in the study is paid to F. Nansen's travels across Siberia in the summer and autumn of 1913, which he made in company with S.V. Vostrotin.As a part of the trip, the Norwegian visited Yeniseisk, Krasnoyarsk and a number of other settlements.The result was the publishing of the book «To the Land of the Future».The article analyzes the main stages of the life path of F. Nansen and V.S. Vostrotin, provides an analysis of their most progressive views on the development of Russian North, Yenisei Siberia, transport routes of this region and its potential in the evolution of international trade and intercultural communication.However, the further development of the creative union of F. Nansen and V.S. Vostrotin was prevented by the revolutionary events of 1917 in Russia.The authors used a wide range of personal sources and analyzed the main historiography of the issues under consideration.The methodological basis of the study was the historical-anthropological approach and the biographical method in historical science.