Treshnikov, Aleksei

Born Apr. 1 (14), 1914, in the village of Pavlovka, in what is now Barysh Raion, Ul’-ianovsk Oblast. Soviet oceanographer and polar explorer. Hero of Socialist Labor (1949); doctor of geographical sciences (1963); professor (1967). Member of the CPSU since 1944.

After graduating from the geography department of Leningrad State University in 1939, Treshnikov joined the staff of the Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Research Institute; he became the director of the institute in 1960. He took part in several expeditions to the arctic and the antarctic. He served as leader of the third Severnyi Polius drifting station (1954–55) and headed the second and 13th antarctic expeditions (1956–58 and 1967–68, respectively) of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. His main works deal with hydrology, meteorology, and the history of the study of polar countries.

Treshnikov received the State Prize of the USSR in 1971 for his part in compiling the Atlas of Antarctica. He became chairman of the Geographical Society of the USSR in 1978. Treshnikov has been awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Badge of Honor, and medals.