American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

Jochelson, Waldemar, 1855-1937
birth: January 14, 1855
death: 1937
Waldemar Jochelson was an ethnographer and anthropologist, specializing in the Koryaks and Yukaghir of Siberia and the Aleuts and Kamchadals of Alaska. During the years 1901 to 1902, he was a leader in the Jesup North Pacific Expedition directed by Franz Boas. From 1923 to 1928, after returning to the U.S. from work in Russia, Jochelson was associated with the American Museum of Natural History. Jochelson was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, and graduated from a Russian gymnasium. His work for revolutionary organizations led to his imprisonment, then exile to Siberia in 1888. Jochelson spent ten years studying the languages and ethnology of the native peoples, remaining in Siberia after his term of exile expired, in order to continue his work. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an associate curator at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology in St. Peterburg, 1912-1922, and published numerous works on anthropology, ethnology and languages.