BOOKSHELF OF "NORTHERN PACIFIC"

Several years ago, in 1993, when Russian Federation Government issued the Decree on celebration of 250-years' anniversary of Russian America trade and industrial exploration by Russian people, an idea was born to publish a new series of books "History of Okhotsk-Kamchatskiy Territories and Russian America in Documents and Fiction". This publication would encompass the books, articles and archival materials on the exploration of the Russian Far East and Alaska never published before, as well as those published very long ago or very recently so as not to have reached the Russian readers.

The idea received support from Kamchatka Regional Administration and the first volume came out entitled "Trailblazers" about Russian navigators paving the way from Anadyr and Okhotsk down to Kamchatka and farther to the Kuril Islands. Unfortunately, the finances were short to publish more volumes. Overall series should include over 16 volumes.

Currently, Rossiane Historical Educational Center, engaged with the work on the joint publishing project with the Department of Culture of Kamchatka Regional Administration, invited the North Pacific Digest to participate and attract sponsors from different regions of the RFE, true patriots of this land, who would like to have the multi-volume "History..." series in full in their personal libraries. Thus, the idea of joint publishing projects to produce books on the history of discoveries in the North Pacific, called the library of the North Pacific.

Today we would like to introduce one of the authors of the series, American writer Victor Porfirievich Petrov, who was elected the ninth member of the Honorable Chamber of Congress of Russian Americans for his works on Russian America history. So far only one book, The Russians in American History, has been published in Russia. For our publication he offered his novel-trilogy about people, the history of the Russian America is unthinkable--Grigory Shelikhov, Alexander Baranov, Nickolai Rezanov, and others. In present time these three volumes united in one book are about be printed.

Extraordinary is the biography of the author himself. We told about it by a journalist from Washington, DC, Lyudmila Foster.

Victor Petrov started publishing in 1933 in Shanghai, China, at Victor Kamkin's publishing house. As of today, he has published 35 books 28 of which were in Russian, 8 in English, and 1 in Japanese. He also authored over 300 articles on history and geography of Russia, China and America, as well as a series of traveler's notes written on his trips. The most known of his works are the following: the Russians in America, 18-19th Century; the Russians in America, 20th Century; the Russians in American History.

Retired teacher for 20 years, Victor Petrov went in for historical novels about Russians living in China, the country of his birth where he spent the tumultuous years of the Russian Civil War, then of the Japanese intervention. Those were hard times. In 1940 he managed to leave for the United States. There, in California, he contributed to many Russian-speaking newspapers, participated in the Committee on Restoration of the Fort Ross, listed as one of the historical places of the California State. Also successful was the search of the lost bell of the Fort Ross Chapel. The bell was returned to its original place.

In California, Victor Petrov found the grave of the great American writer Jack London, and solicited that the grave lookedafter by the State authorities.

In 1945, awarded the Master and Doctor degrees, Victor Petrov started lecturing at various higher education institutions of the United States, presented reports at forums of professional and scientific associations. thus he became on the originators of the American Association for Teachers of Slavonic Languages. By now he is a member of the American Association for Slavonic Scholars, where he gives annual presentations on the history of Russian America. In 1971 his name was entered into the most reputable American Encyclopedia, The Who is Who in America. In the course of twenty years, he has been writing articles on the Russian geography, and the Russian history in America for the British Encyclopedia. For a brief term he entered the governmental service, he took a position of an Assistant to the National Science Foundation's Programs Director. In 1959, his work "Soviet Oceanographic Research in Support of International Geophysics' Year» was, on Senator Magnusson's request, stored among the U.S. Congress documents. The article assisted Senator Magnusson in receiving a 670 million dollar subsidy to modify the U.S. research vessels and work out a 10-year oceanographic research program. Later on, Victor Petrov's articles on Soviet space programs attracted attention of the U.S. Senate Committee on Space and Aeronautics.

After the collapse of the Soviet communism, Dr. Petrov began lecturing and traveling in Russia. In June of 1994, highly crediting his contributions in research and popularization of the history of Russian America, the Center on Russian America Studies at the World History Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, awarded him a Foreign Fellow of the Center title.

In 1973, Victor Petrov, became one of the founders of the Congress of Russian Americans. He has been participating in the Congress's activities since then. He heads the CRA's Washington Branch and publishes the Stolichiy Listok Newsletter, dedicated to the CRA activities and the events in the Russian Diaspora of Washington. Already over 110 issues have come out of press. Now, eventually, the CRA elected Victor Petrov into its Honorable Camber.