Peter Simon Pallas

(ru Пётр Си́мон Палла́с, Pjótr) Símon Pallás - * September 22, 1741 in Berlin; † September 8, 1811 ibid) was a German Prussian naturalist, geographer and explorer. He was appointed a full member of the Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg in 1767 and undertook expeditions through Siberia and the southern Russian Empire in 1768-1774 and 1793/1794, sponsored by Tsarina Catherine II.