Notable people · Explorer · Journalist
George Kennan
Born in Norwalk, Kennan surveyed a telegraph route across Siberia as a young man, then wrote Tent Life in Siberia. After seeing political exiles in 1885 he turned against the czarist regime and wrote Siberia and the Exile System.
At a glance
- Born
- 1845-02-16
- Died
- 1924-05-10
- Known as
- Explorer, Journalist
- Organizations
- National Geographic Society, Russian-American Telegraph Company
Life story
George Kennan was born in Norwalk in 1845 and started work at twelve in a railroad telegraph office. In 1864 he joined the Russian-American Telegraph Company to survey a line through Siberia and across the Bering Strait.
After two years in Kamchatka he came home and became known for lectures and for Tent Life in Siberia, about the Koryak, Chukchi and Yakut peoples.
At first he defended the Russian government, but a 1885 trip and meetings with political exiles changed his mind. He lectured widely, co-founded the journal Free Russia and published Siberia and the Exile System in 1891. He also reported on the Spanish-American War and the Russian Revolution, and died in Medina, New York, in 1924.
Timeline
- 1845-02-16: Born (Norwalk, OH) source
- 1864: Joins telegraph survey in Siberia (Siberia) source
- 1885: Journey to meet Russian exiles (Siberia) source
- 1888: First Corresponding Secretary of the National Geographic Society (Washington, DC) source
- 1891: Publishes Siberia and the Exile System source
- 1924-05-10: Dies (Medina, NY) source
What George is known for
- Author of Siberia and the Exile System (1891)
- First Corresponding Secretary of the National Geographic Society, 1888
- Tent Life in Siberia
- Siberia and the Exile System (1891)
Honors and things named for them
- First Corresponding Secretary, National Geographic Society
Ohio places
Where George Kennan was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Norwalk, Huron County ZIP 44857 · Norwalk · Huron County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: George Kennan (explorer) dates, career, activism, books