Golovnin, Vasily Mikhailovich

Golovnin, Vasily Mikhailovich (vəsē`lyē mēkhī`ləvĭch gələvnyēn`), 1776–1831, 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 (1811–13) by the Japanese. Later, in circumnavigating the world, he made a second trip (1817–19) to Kamchatka and the Aleutians. He wrote Narrative of My Captivity in Japan, during the Years 1811, 1812, 1813 (1816, tr. 1818 and 1824).