Biography of Fedor Konyukhov. Russian Traveler and Artist

Biography of Fedor Konyukhov is the story of the life of a unique and incredibly gifted person. Most people know him as a brave and tireless traveler who conquered the highest mountain peaks and alone crossed the oceans. However, long-distance expeditions are not his only hobby. In his spare time Konyukhov draws pictures and writes books. In addition, he is a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).

Childhood

Fedor Konyukhov was born in 1951 in the Ukrainian village of Chkalovo (Priazovsky district, Zaporozhye region). His parents were simple peasants. Mother of the famous traveler Maria Efremovna was born in Bessarabia. She devoted her life to raising children (except Fedor, 2 more sons and 2 daughters were growing up in the Konyukhov family). Father, Philip Mikhailovich, was a hereditary fisherman, his ancestors lived in the Arkhangelsk region. During the Great Patriotic War he went along with the Soviet troops to Budapest. Konyukhov, the elder, was fishing in the Azov Sea and often took Little Fedor with him. The son liked to fish with his father. The boy with great pleasure helped Philip Mikhailovich pull out fishing nets from the water and carried out his other assignments. Already in those days Konyukhov's travels began to attract. Being in a fishing boat in the open sea, he often peered into the distant horizon and dreamed of swim to the opposite shore.

The first sea voyage

Fedor Konyukhov fulfilled his cherished childhood dream at the age of 15, having independently crossed the Azov Sea on his father's fishing boat. By his first expedition the teenager had been preparing for several years, studying rowing, swimming and sailing. In addition to travel, the young Konyukhov was very keen on drawing, athletics and football. And he liked to read. His favorite writers were Jules Verne, Ivan Goncharov and Konstantin Stanyukovich. The idol of the Russian naval commander Fedor Ushakov became the idol of a simple village boy. Reading the biography of this great man, Fyodor dreamed of repeating his fate in the future.

Education, army service

In high school, Fedor already firmly knew that he would devote his life to the sea. After graduating from school in his native village, he enrolled in the Odessa Naval School, where he received the specialty of a boatmaster. Then followed the study on navigator navigator in the Leningrad Arctic School. After his graduation, Konyukhov was drafted into the army. Urgent service, he took place in the Baltic Fleet, where for the courage shown was selected in a special unit intended for sending to Vietnam. Arriving in South-East Asia, Fedor for 2.5 years served as a sailor on a boat providing ammunition to Vietnamese guerrillas. After demobilization, Konyukhov Fedor Filippovich studied at a carver-incrustator in Bobruisk vocational school No. 15 (Belarus).

Beginning of expedition activities

Konyukhov made his first serious journey at the age of 26, exactly repeating the route in the Pacific Ocean, along which Vitus Bering followed during his Kamchatka expeditions. A great distance Fedor sailed on a sailing yacht. He refused comfort and repeatedly risked his life, but his dangers did not frighten him. The brave traveler decided to make the transition in the same conditions as his predecessor, Bering, furrowed the ocean expanses in the first half of the 18th century. Konyukhov managed to independently reach the shores of Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and the Commander Islands. During these expeditions, the knowledge and skills that the Odessa Naval School gave him were as useful as ever. And he managed to survive in difficult natural conditions thanks to unconditional faith in God.

The Conquest of the North

From his childhood, Fedor Konyukhov had a dream of independently reaching the North Pole. He took several years to prepare for this expedition. He spent a lot of time in Chukotka, where he learned to survive in extreme conditions, mastered the secrets of traveling on dog sleds and learned the science of erection of ice huts. Until the moment to make a solitary trip to the North Pole, Konyukhov several times managed to visit it as part of group expeditions.

Self-conquest of the North began in 1990. On the expedition Fedor went skiing, carrying a large backpack on his back and dragging sledges with food and equipment. The journey was not easy. During the day Konyukhov had to overcome many obstacles, and at night he slept directly on the ice, hiding from the severe Arctic winds in the tent or sleeping bag. When there were only 200 km left until the end of the route, the Russian traveler got into the ice rink zone and nearly died. Miraculously surviving, 72 days after the start of the campaign, he reached his cherished goal and became the first person in history to conquer the North Pole without anyone's help.

Expedition to Antarctica

In 1995 Fyodor Filippovich made a solitary trip across Antarctica. He reached the South Pole on the 59th day of the expedition, solemnly setting the flag of the Russian Federation at the end of the route. Biography of Fedor Konyukhov testifies that during this expedition he carried out many important studies on measuring the radiation field of the southern continent and finding the human body in conditions of extreme weather conditions and lack of oxygen. On the basis of the experiments and research that he conducted, he subsequently created several scientific papers that made an invaluable contribution to the study of Antarctica.

Conquest of the highest mountain peaks

In 1992, Konyukhov, in the framework of the "7 peaks of the world" program, made a solitary ascent to Elbrus Mountain, which is the highest point in Europe. A few months later, together with the famous Russian alpinist Yevgeny Vinogradsky, he conquers the highest mountain peak in Asia and the world - Everest. In January 1996, during an expedition to the South Pole, Fyodor Filippovich ascends to the highest point of Antarctica - the Wilson Massif. In the spring of the same year, the traveler ascended to Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America. In 1997, he conquered alone the highest points of Australia and Africa - Kosciusko peak and Kilimanjaro volcano. In the same year, Konyukhov completed the program with a heroic ascent to Mount McKinley in North America. At the last summit, a brave traveler managed to climb up a company with a mountaineer Vladimir Yanochkin. After the conquest of McKinley Konyukhov was the first native of the CIS, who managed to successfully implement the program "7 peaks of the world." In 2012, Fedor Filippovich together with a group of Russian athletes makes a second ascent to Everest, timed to the 30th anniversary of the Soviet mountaineers conquering the mountain peak.

Travel by land

The fascinating biography of Fedor Konyukhov did not pass without long land expeditions. In 1985, he carried out a hike in the Ussuri taiga along a route laid by a Russian traveler Vladimir Arseniev and his guide Dersu Uzala. In mid-1989, on the initiative of Konyukhov, the Nakhodka-Moscow-Leningrad bike ride was held, in which athletes from the USSR and the USA took part. One of the participants in the bike ride was the younger brother of Fyodor Filippovich Pavel. Two years later, the traveler organized a Soviet-Australian run on off-road vehicles, which began in Nakhodka and ended in the Russian capital. In 2002, Konyukhov headed the first in the history of our country caravan expedition along the route of the Great Silk Road. It passed through the desert territories of Kalmykia, Dagestan, Stavropol Territory, Volgograd and Astrakhan regions. The second stage of the expedition, which took place in 2009, covered the way from Kalmykia to Mongolia.

Sea adventures

Conquest of the North and South Poles, climbing the highest mountain peaks of the world and hiking are only a small part of Konyukhov's travels. The main passion of Fyodor Filippovich since childhood is the sea, and he kept him faithful for life. Zaporozhye region has the right to be proud of its famous compatriot, after all, on his account more than four dozen marine expeditions and 5 round-the-world voyages. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean 17 times alone. During one of these voyages, he set an absolute world record, having overcome the necessary distance on a rowing boat in just 46 days. Another record Konyukhov was recorded during the crossing of the Pacific Ocean. To swim the route from Chile to Australia, the Russian traveler spent 159 days and 14 hours on the way.

Marine expeditions Fedor Konyukhov did not always go smoothly. During one of them, the traveler became seriously ill and went to a Philippine hospital. While he was being treated, the pirates hijacked his ship and hid it on a nearby island. After recovery, Konyukhov went to rescue the stolen vehicle. To return it, he was forced to steal a boat from his abusers and get on to his own ship. This unpleasant adventure ended for the traveler safely and allowed him to successfully complete his expedition around the Earth.

Creative activity

Konyukhov is not only a traveler, but also a talented artist. During his expeditions, he painted more than three thousand paintings. Creativity of the artist did not go unnoticed. His work was repeatedly demonstrated at Russian and international exhibitions. In 1983 he became the youngest member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Later he was admitted to the Moscow Union of Artists and Sculptors and awarded the title of Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts.

The biography of Fedor Konyukhov will be incomplete, if not to mention his literary activity. The traveler is the author of 9 books, telling about his adventures during expeditions and ways of overcoming difficulties in extreme conditions. In addition to literature for adults, Konyukhov publishes children's books. He is a member of the Writers' Union of Russia.

Father Fyodor

During his travels, Konyukhov often risked his life and was a hair's breadth from death. Being in the open ocean or at the top of the mountain, in difficult situations he could rely only on the help of the Almighty. Having become a religious man in adulthood, Fedor Filippovich decided to devote the rest of his life to serving God. So in his destiny appeared the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, in which he studied for a priest. May 22, 2010 in Zaporozhye Konyukhov received from the hands of the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, Vladimir San subdeacon. The next day he was ordained deacon by the bishop of Zaporozhye and Melitopol. In December 2010, Fyodor Filippovich was elevated to the rank of priest of the UOC-MP. The place of his service is his native Zaporozhye region. Becoming a priest, Father Fyodor Konyukhov began to spend less time on expeditions, but did not completely abandon them.

Wife, children and grandchildren

Fedor Filippovich is married to Doctor of Law Sciences Irina Anatolyevna Konyukhova. He has three adult children (daughter Tatyana, sons Oscar and Nikolai) and six grandchildren (Philip, Arkady, Pauline, Blake, Ethan, Kate). Of all the offsprings of the traveler, his son Oscar Konyukhov is most famous, who devoted his life to sailing. He goes on expedition voyages and manages projects in which his father takes part. From 2008 to 2012 Oscar was the executive director of the Russian Sailing Federation . The son of Fyodor Filippovich has a cherished dream - to carry out a round-the-world voyage without stops for 80 days. Expedition requires huge material investment and for this reason remains only in the plans.

Preparing for a round-the-world travel in a balloon

With the adoption of religious dignity, the desire for adventure with Fyodor Filippovich a little subsided, but did not completely disappear. Recently, he swung to a new world record, deciding alone to fly around the Earth in a hot air balloon. The length of the flight is 35 thousand kilometers. The balloon of Fedor Konyukhov is called "Morton", he must take off in Australia and land there. Initially, the launch was scheduled for July 2, 2016, but due to a strong wind, it was forced to postpone it until the weather improved. To his next trip, the priest was preparing for more than a year. Its balloon was built in England. Meteorological instruments were brought to him from Belgium, burners from Italy, and autopilot from Holland. In total about fifty people from 10 countries of the world took part in the preparation of the project.

Father Fedor plans not just to fly around the planet, but also to beat the world record of American traveler-extreme Steve Fosset, who was the first in the history of mankind to fly alone around the Earth in a balloon. Konyukhov's entire flight will be broadcast online, and anyone can watch it.