What is Vladimir Atlasov?

Vladimir Vasilyevich Atlasov or Otlasov (Russian: Владимир Васильевич Атласов, Отласов, born between 1661 and 1664—died in 1711) was a Siberian Cossack who established the first permanent Russian settlement on Kamchatka Peninsula. Atlasov Island, an uninhabited volcanic island off the southern tip of Kamchatka, is named after him.

In 1697–1699 Atlasov, founder of the Anadyr settlement, led a group of 65 Cossacks and 60 Yukaghir natives to investigate the Kamchatka Peninsula. As a result, he made the local Koryak and Itelmen population pay tribute to the Tsar and built two forts along the Kamchatka River which became trading posts for Russian fur trappers.

At the beginning of 1701, Atlasov went to Moscow, where he was promoted to the rank of officer for Kamchatka's colonization. He was the first to present a detailed description of the region's nature and people, about the islands and lands near Kamchatka, Chukotka, and Japan. He would also later bring back Dembei, a shipwrecked Japanese merchant, to Moscow, where he would become the first person to teach Japanese to the Russians. Vladimir Atlasov was killed during an uprising of the service class people in Kamchatka.