Gamalia Plato Yakovlevich General data:
18.11.1766 - 09.07.1817
Place of birth: Malyutyntsi village, Lubensk regiment (now Pyryatyn district, Poltava region, Ukraine) or Pyryatyn city
Studied in: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv Province, Russian Empire (since 1992, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy) (1772); Marine noble cadet corps, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (1784);
Key interests: history of astronomy, physics, mathematisc, astronomy
Biography:
He was born on November 18 (according to the Gregorian calendar) and 29 according to the Julian calendar (according to others in January) in 1766 in the Malyutyntsi village of the Lubny Regiment (now the Pyriatyn District of the Poltava Region or the town of Pyriatyn itself) in the large family of Bunchuk's comrade (Cossack officer) Yakov Galia and his wife Kateryna (as a young girl - Mandryk). He had two brothers, Elisha and Nicholas.
He came from an ancient Cossack family, which according to legends, in turn, came from the ancient Polish noble family Vysotsky, who were voivodes of Podolsk, but joined Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
In 1772 he graduated from the Kyiv Mohyla Academy and in 1784 (according to some data in 1783) the Naval Noble Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg with the rank of "midshipman".
He served in the Baltic Fleet. He was a naval theorist and teacher. He proved to be an excellent teacher, prepared a large contingent of sailors. He rose in 1804 to the rank of captain-commander. This rank corresponds to the modern rank of Rear Admiral.
In 1787, as one of the best officers of the fleet, he was appointed to a round-the-world expedition led by Lieutenant-Captain G.I. Mulovsky, which was abolished because of the war that began first with Turkey and then with Sweden.
He distinguished himself in naval battles during the Russo-Swedish War in 1788–1790. In 1788 on the ship "Rostislav" took part in the Battle of Hogland. In 1789, commanding the boat "Krechet", he took part in the Battle of Rochensalm; later - in the battle of Friedrichsham raid; then commanding 70 gunboats, he participated in the Vyborg and the Second Battle of Rochensalm; in the latter he was taken prisoner, later released.
In 1788 he received the rank of lieutenant, and on August 13, 1789 he was promoted to lieutenant captain for his heroism.
From 1791 he was a company commander.
From 1791 (according to other sources from 1795) he taught in the Marine Corps, teaching courses to midshipmen the theory of maritime art and maritime practice, according to some sources, until 1811. From 1795 he served as a class inspector.
September 23, 1797 was promoted to captain of the 2nd rank.
In 1798 he became a cavalier of the Order of St. Annie 3rd degree.
In 1801 he was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
During 1802–1811 pp. was an inspector of the Marine Corps, according to some sources in 1809 was released from military service for health reasons, according to others was released in 1811 at the same time as his brother Elisha.
From 1805 he became a permanent member of the Admiralty Department of the Ministry of the Naval Forces of the Russian Empire.
In 1808 he was elected a full member of the Russian Academy.
In the same 1808 he became a member of the Free Economic Society.
In 1808 he became a cavalier of the Order of St. Annie 2nd degree.
In 1811 he became a cavalier of the Order of St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree and was awarded a diamond ring.
In 1816 (according to some data a year earlier) he was appointed an indispensable member of the State Admiralty Department.
He died on July 9 (according to other sources 7 according to the Gregorian and 21 according to the Julian calendar) in 1817 in the estate of Lysogor, Borzensky district, Chernihiv province (now the village of Ichnyansky district, Chernihiv region) and was buried in the village cemetery near the church of St. martyr Plato and on his grave, according to legend, a stone cross with a large cast iron anchor was installed, but later the memorial was stolen, according to other sources, shortly before his death he returned to his native land, where he died in the Malyutyntsi village. or Deimanivka village of the Lubny Regiment (now Pyryatyn District, Poltava Region), possibly on July 2.
In 1805, the Russian navigator Ivan Kruzenshtern named a horn after him on the island of Honshu in the Sea of Japan, and in 1966 the rocks in Antarctica, on the Land of Queen Maud, were named in his honor.
He is the author of a number of works on naval affairs, the theory of shipbuilding and navigation, naval history, mathematics, mechanics, physics, optics, and astronomy. The following works have been preserved: "Higher Theory of Maritime Art" (parts 1-4, 1801 - 1804.), "Experience of Maritime Practice" (parts 1 - 2, 1804), "Theory and Practice of Ship-navigation" .1 - 3, 1806–1808), "Abbreviated history of astronomy". He also compiled astronomical tables for navigation, the basics of gnomonics, research on winds and other aerial phenomena, the theory of achromatic tubes, the history of optics and a number of notes and articles on the education and training of midshipmen. He defended the asteroid origin of meteors, despite the categorical statement of the French Academy of Sciences in 1772: "Stones can not fall from the sky!"
Main publications:
1. Гамалія П. Я. «Вышняя теория морского искусства», Ч1, 1801
2. Гамалія П. Я. «Вышняя теория морского искусства», Ч2, 1802
3. Гамалія П. Я. «Вышняя теория морского искусства», Ч3, 1803
4. Гамалія П. Я. «Вышняя теория морского искусства», Ч4, 1804
Sources:
1 uk.wikipedia.org
2 Усенко П. Г. Гамалія (Гамалея) Платон Якович, ст. Енциклопедія історії України. — Т. 2. — К.: Наукова думка, 2002. — С. 47.
3 rulex.ru
4 Сотниченко В. Гамалея Платон Яковлевич // Русский биографический словарь. — СПб., 1914.
