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Otto Schmidt

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Scientist

The Resume

    (September 30, 1891-September 7, 1956)
    Born in Mogilev, Belarus
    German from his father’s side and Latvian from his mother’s side
    Worked as professor at Moscow State University
    Chief editor of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1924-41)
    Led a joint Soviet-German expedition in the Pamir mountains (1928)
    Led an expedition to Franz Josef Land (1928-30)
    Head of the Arctic Institute (1930-32)
    Led two expeditions to navigate Russia’s northeastern passage from west to east (1932, 1933)
    Theorized that the Solar System was formed when the Sun passed through a rotating cloud of dust and gas, which condensed together to form planets as they emerged from a hot molten state
    Died in Moscow

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a firm supporter of the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution of 1917.
    He brought women and children during his second expedition navigating Russia’s northeastern passage.
    Worse, his icebreaker got stuck on ice during said expedition.
    Apparently, some hardcore Communist parents named their children Oyushminald (an acronym of the phrase ‘Otto Schmidt on the ice floe’ in Russian), in reference to his Arctic expedition.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He managed to get an excellent education despite his family’s poverty.
    He suffered from tuberculosis since he was a child.
    He wrote many of the articles of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
    He opposed Josef Stalin’s policies, yet managed to survive his dictatorship.
    During his membership at the USSR Academy of Sciences, he evacuated and reestablished many academic institutions during World War II.
    The people involved in his second expedition around the northeastern passage managed to get rescued, and he was subsequently celebrated as a hero to the point that girls hung portraits of him in their rooms.
    His theory on the planets’ formation sounds more reasonable than the earlier hypothesis that the planets were once cold solid bodies.
    He was awarded the title ‘Hero of the Soviet Union.' (June 27, 1937)

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 43.75% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 131 Votes: 65.65% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 19 Votes: 42.11% Annoying