Yegor Kovalevsky

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Yegor Petrovich Kovalevsky was a Russian traveler, writer, and diplomat who lived from February 18, 1809 (some sources say 1811) to October 2, 1868. Born in the Kharkov region to a noble family, he studied philosophy at Kharkov University and then worked in the Mining Department, becoming a mining engineer. He opened four gold mines in Siberia by 1837.

That year he went to Montenegro to search for gold and ended up in border clashes with Austria. He wrote Four Months in Montenegro about his experiences, and the Tsar praised him for his actions. In 1847 he was invited to Egypt to hunt for gold for Muhammad Ali, and he worked to gather information about public works and slave trade. He charted the source of the White Nile and found a small gold deposit near Wad Madani. His findings appeared in A Journey to Inner Africa, in which he supported a canal to boost trade with India and condemned slavery.

In 1849 Kovalevsky joined Russia’s thirteenth Spiritual Mission to Beijing, helping to map better merchant routes through Mongolia. He helped formalize the Treaty of Kulja with Western China in 1851 and expanded Russian influence in Central Asia; he wrote A Journey to China as well. During the Crimean War (1853–1855) he served as a commissar in Montenegro and took part in the Siege of Sevastopol, gathering material for his historical work War with Turkey and the Break with the Western Powers.

After the war, in 1856 he was appointed head of the Asian Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position he held until 1861 when he became a Senator. He helped found the Literary Fund in 1859 and served as its chairman until his death. Kovalevsky wrote more than 100 works in his lifetime. He died in Saint Petersburg in 1868, and the poet Fyodor Tyutchev wrote a memorial poem in his honor.