Non-Returnee. A Story of One Escape

А.М. Panfilov

Speaking about Gmelin, one cannot pass over in silence an amusing fact of his biography, namely his failure to return to Russia after vacation and disagreeable administrative hearing related to this event. .

Yes, Gmelin was a ‘non-returnee’. This circumstance might explain the suspicious attitude of the St. Petersburg Academy to his Journey across Siberia and the Academy’s reluctance to translate the book into Russian. Actually the initial rejection of the monograph was to a certain extent of ideological character, then, as it usually happens, the negative attitude continued by inertia, as a result we still do not have a Russian version of this remarkable book. Well, this is only guesswork, which seems to be quite realistic. As an excuse to our compatriots, we should mention that the full text of the book is nonexistent in modern German either. In this regard, Gmelin and his Journey… had bad luck. We have no choice but to hope that this is not a final sentence and the story may have a happy end...

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