Ernst Teodorovich Krenkel (December 24 (O.S. December 11), 1903, Tartu

Tartu

Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...

 – December 8, 1971, Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

) was a Soviet Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 explorer, doctor of geographical sciences (1938), and Hero of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

 (1938).

In 1924–1925 and 1927–1938, Ernst Krenkel was a radioman

Radioman

Radioman was a rating for United States Navy and United States Coast Guard enlisted personnel, specializing in communications technology.-History of the rating:...

 on polar stations Matochkin Shar (1924–1925, 1927–1928), Tikhaya Bay (1929–1930), Cape Olovyanniy (1935–1936), and Domashniy Island (1936). He took part in Arctic expeditions on the Graf Zeppelin

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...

 airship (1931), icebreaker Sibiryakov

Icebreaker Sibiryakov

The icebreaker Sibiryakov was a Soviet ship which was active in the Russian Arctic during the 1930s. She was built in 1909 in Glasgow and was originally the Newfoundland sealing steamer Bellaventure. After being purchased by Russia in 1916, she was renamed the Sibiryakov...

, steamship (1933–1934). Ernst Krenkel was also a radioman on the first drifting ice station North Pole in 1937–1938. He is known to have set a world record by establishing a long-distance radio communication between Franz Josef Land

Franz Josef Land

Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...

 and Antarctica.

In 1938, Ernst Krenkel went on to work for Glavsevmorput. Later in his life he was employed in the radio industry. In 1951, Krenkel was hired by the scientific research institute of hydrometeorological instrument-making, becoming its director in 1969.

Ernst Krenkel was awarded two Orders of Lenin, three other orders and several medals. He authored memoirs named My Callsign is RAEM ("Мои позывные — RAEM"). Ernst Krenkel died in 1971 and was interred at the Novodevichy Cemetery

Novodevichy Cemetery

Novodevichy Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It is next to the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg....

. A street in Moscow bears Krenkel's name.