The Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue (1787-1846) commanded two of the earliest Russian maritime expeditions which explored the Pacific and circumnavigated the world.

Otto von Kotzebue was born at Revel (Tallin), Estonia, on Dec. 30, 1787. He was the second son of the popular German dramatist and supposed agent of Czar Alexander I, August von Kotzebue, whose assassination on March 23, 1819, by the radical Karl Sand occasioned Metternich's reactionary Carlsbad Decrees. Between 1803 and 1806 Otto served as a cadet on the Nadezhda, the vessel in which Adam Ivan Krusenstern led the first Russian voyage of circumnavigation.

A keen sailor with a great interest in navigation, Kotzebue served in the Baltic after his return but was anxious to explore the Pacific islands which he had visited with Krusenstern. Impressed with his qualities, the latter recommended him to lead an expedition aimed partly at exploring the relationship between the Siberian and American mainlands and...