KRUSENSTERN, Adam Johann von, Russian navigator: b. Haggud, Esthonia, 19 Nov. 1770; d. there, 24 Aug. 1846. He entered the cadet corps and took part in the war (1788) with Sweden, and served in the English fleet (1793-99). He was given (1803) command of an expedition to the northwest coast of America and Asia, with the object of opening up the fur trade of the Pacific coast and renewing the Japanese commercial relations. He failed in the latter object but the scientific outcome of the world's circumnavigation was important. From 1827 to 1842 he was director of the naval school and, in 1841, was made general-admiral. His bronze statue was erected (1876) at the naval school, Saint Petersburg. He wrote 'Voyage round the World in 1803 06' (Saint Petersburg 1810-12), translated into several languages and containing an atlas and 104 plates; 'Atlas de'l Ocean Pacifique' (Saint Petersburg 1824-27, with supplements).
KRYLOV, Ivan Andreievitch, Russian fable writer: b. Moscow, 13 Feb. 1768; d. Saint Petersburg, 21 Nov. 1844. He was the son of a poor subaltern officer, yet in his 15th year he wrote the successful opera ('The Coffee Fortune-teller') and was ap pointed Unterkanzlist in a circuit town (1781) and Kanzlist at Tver end of the same year. He received a position in the Chamber of Finance at Saint Petersburg (1782) and in the cabinet of the empress (1788) but retired in 1790. He then published several periodicals unsuccessfully though they established his repu tation as journalist, the fine satiric talent dis played in his contributions, and by gift of ob servation and masterly language. Meanwhile he was writing odes, tragedies, a comic opera 'The Crazy Family' (1793) and comedies, all in the French taste but none important. From
1797-1801 he lived on the estate of Prince Golitzyn in the Ukraine, becoming his secre tary (1803). In 1806 he went to Moscow, then Saint Petersburg, where he wrote (1907) his most popular comedy 'The Fashion Magazine,' and 'A Lesson for Daughters,' the 'Magic Opera,' the Hero,' etc. He next turned to poetry, his true field soon appearing to be fables. The first issue of his fables (23) ap peared in 1809, the second (21 new) in 1811, in which year he was elected member of the Saint Petersburg Academy. The last collection under his supervision (1843) contained 197 fables and reached its 26th edition in Saint Petersburg in 1891. He was appointed assistant at the Im perial Library in 1812. A memorial in his honor was erected (1885) in the Saint Peters burg Summer Garden. Through their Russian sentiment, humor and naturalness, wit and good nature, his fables have become the favorite book of the people and new editions continue to appear rapidly. Translations in the French (Paris 1825) and the Italian languages have been published, and German versions by Torney (Mitau 1842), Lowe (Leipzig 1874) and Frau von Gernet (ib. 1881) find wide circulation. A comprehensive collection of his works was published (1847 and 1859) in Saint Peters burg with a biography by Pletnev, and another Ka by kasha (Saint Petersburg 1914). W. Kene vitch's and Historical Notes on the Fables of Krylov' (Saint Petersburg, 2d ed., 1878) contains perhaps, the best com mentaries.