Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen ( – ; , Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen ) was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy , cartographer and explorer , who ultimately rose to the rank of Admiral . He was a notable participant of the first Russian circumnavigation and subsequently a leader of another circumnavigation expedition , which discovered the continent of Antarctica . Bellingshausen started his service in the Baltic Fleet , and after distinguishing himself , he joined the First Russian circumnavigation in 1803 - 1806 , where he served on frigate " Nadezhda " under the captaincy of Adam Johann von Krusenstern . After the journey he published a collection of maps of the newly explored areas and islands of the Pacific Ocean . Subsequently he commanded several ships of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleet s . As a prominent cartographer , Bellingshausen was appointed to command the circumnavigation of the globe in 1819 - 1821 , intended to explore the Southern Ocean and to find land in the proximity of the South Pole . The expedition was prepared by Mikhail Lazarev , who was made Bellingshausen ' s second - in - command and the captain of sloop " Mirny " , while Bellingshausen himself commanded sloop " Vostok " . During this expedition Bellingshausen and Lazarev became the first explorers to see the land of Antarctica on January 28 , 1820 ( New Style ) . They managed to twice circumnavigate the continent and never lost each other from view . Thus they disproved Captain Cook ' s assertion that it was impossible to find land in the southern ice fields . The expedition discovered and named Peter I Island , Zavodovski , Leskov and Visokoi Island s , Antarctic Peninsula and Alexander Island ( Alexander Coast ) , and made some discoveries in the tropical waters of the Pacific . Made Counter - Admiral on his return , Bellingshausen participated in the Russo - Turkish War of 1828 – 1829 . Promoted to Vice - Admiral , he again served in the Baltic Fleet in 1830s , and from 1839 he was the military governor of Kronstadt , where he died . In 1831 he published the book on his Antarctic travel , called " Double Investigation of the Southern Polar Ocean and the Voyage Around the World " ( " Двукратные изыскания в южнополярном океане и плавание вокруг света " ) . He is remembered in Russia as one if its greatest admirals and explorers , and multiple geographical features and locations in the Antarctic , named in honor of Bellingshausen , remind of his role in exploration of the southern polar region . Early life and career . Bellingshausen was born to a Baltic German family in the Lahhentagge manor , Ösel , now in Salme Parish , Saare County , Estonia — then part of the Russian Empire . He enlisted as a cadet in the Imperial Russian Navy at the age of ten . After graduating from the Kronstadt naval academy at age eighteen , Bellingshausen rapidly rose to the rank of captain . First Russian circumnavigation . A great admirer of Cook ' s voyages , Bellingshausen served from 1803 in the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth . The vessel " Nadezhda " ( " Hope " ) , where he was one of the officers , was commanded by Adam Johann von Krusenstern . The mission was completed in 1806 . After the journey Bellingshausen published a collection of maps of the newly explored areas and islands of the Pacific Ocean . Service as Captain . Bellingshausen ' s career continued with the command of various ships in the Baltic and Black Seas . From 1812 to 1816 he commanded frigate " " and from 1817 to 1819 frigate " " , both in the Black Sea Fleet . First Russian Antarctic expedition . When Emperor Alexander I authorized an expedition to the south polar region in 1819 , the authorities selected Bellingshausen to lead it as an experienced captain and explorer , and a prominent cartographer . The expedition was intended to explore the Southern Ocean and to find land in the proximity of the South Pole . The preparation work on the two ships , the 985 - ton sloop - of - war " Vostok " ( " East " ) and the 530 - ton support vessel " Mirny " ( " Peaceful " ) was carried out by Mikhail Lazarev , who had captained his own circumnavigation of the globe before . Bellingshausen became the captain of " Vostok " , and Lazarev captained " Mirny " . The journey started from Kronshtadt on 4 June 1819 . Leaving Portsmouth on 5 September 1819 the expedition crossed the Antarctic Circle ( the first to do so since Cook ) on 26 January 1820 . On 28 January 1820 ( New Style ) the expedition discovered the Antarctic mainland approaching the Antarctic coast at a point with coordinates 69º21 ' 28 " S 2º14 ' 50 " W and seeing ice - fields there . The point in question lies within twenty miles of the Antarctic mainland . Bellingshausen ' s diary , his report to the Russia n Naval Minister on 21 July 1821 and other documents , available in the Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic in Saint Petersburg , Russia , were carefully compared with the log - books of other claimants by the British polar historian A . G . E . Jones in his 1982 study " Antarctica Observed " . Jones concluded that Bellingshausen , rather than the Royal Navy ' s Edward Bransfield on 30 January 1820 or the American Nathaniel Palmer on 17 November 1820 , was indeed the discoverer of the sought - after Terra Australis . During the voyage Bellingshausen also visited Ship Cove in New Zealand , the South Shetland Islands , and discovered and named Peter I , Zavodovski , Leskov and Visokoi Islands , and a peninsula of the Antarctic mainland which he named the Alexander Coast but which has more recently borne the designation of Alexander Island . Bellingshausen and Lazarev managed to twice circumnavigate the continent and never lost each other from view . Thus they disproved Captain Cook ' s assertion that it was impossible to find land in the southern ice fields . The expedition also made discoveries and observations in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean . Admiral . Returning to Kronshtadt on 4 August 1821 , Bellingshausen was made Counter Admiral . He fought in the Russo - Turkish War of 1828 – 1829 and attained the rank of Vice Admiral in 1830 . In 1831 he published the book on his Antarctic travel , called " Double Investigation of the Southern Polar Ocean and the Voyage Around the World " ( " Двукратные изыскания в южнополярном океане и плавание вокруг света " ) . Military governor of Kronshtadt . He became the military governor of Kronstadt ( from 1839 ) and died there in 1852 . Legacy . Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen is remembered in Russia as one if its greatest admirals and explorers . In the Antarctic , multiple geographical features and locations , named in honor of Bellingshausen , remind of his role in exploration of the southern polar region . Monuments . There is a memorial stone of von Bellingshausen on the previous site ( on the ruins ) of Lahhentagge / Lahetaguse manor in Oesel / Saaremaa . There is a monument to Bellingshausen in Nikolayev , Ukraine . There is a monument to Admiral Bellingshausen in Kronshtadt .