The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Golovnin, Vasily Mikhailovich
(vs´ly mkh´lvch glvnyn´) (KEY) , 17761831, Russian explorer and writer. Sent in 1807 to make a geographical survey of Kamchatka and the Russian possessions in Alaska, he was captured and imprisoned (181113) by the Japanese. Later, in circumnavigating the world, he made a second trip (181719) to Kamchatka and the Aleutians. He wrote Narrative of My Captivity in Japan, during the Years 1811, 1812, 1813 (1816, tr. 1818 and 1824).