Peter the Great’s Intermezzo with G. W. Leibniz and G. Delisle: The Development of Geographical Knowledge in Russia

Abstract

During his second trip through Western Europe, Russian Tsar Peter the Great (1672‒1725) met the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646‒1716) shortly before the death of the latter in 1716. Peter was fascinated by Leibniz’s ideas and started bringing a new system of education and academic life to Russia. Leibniz was deeply interested in the issue of a land connection between Asia and America, and discussed it with Peter. After meeting the famous French geographer Guillaume Delisle (1675‒1726) in Paris in the same year , the tsar began thinking about the usefulness of mapping his country. His encounters with the German and French scientists inspired Peter the Great to found the Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg and introduce astronomy and geography as scientific disciplines. After he returned to his newly founded capital St Petersburg, the tsar started organising large-scale expeditions to investigate and map his empire, including Siberia and Kamchatka during the First and Second Kamchatka Expeditions.