Research activities have always been esteemed in the Russian Empire, and one of the outstanding researchers of that time was Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov. Born on February 10, 1749, into a prosperous merchant family, he began developing the family business in Siberia from a young age. At 28, orphaned, he became the full owner of a large merchant enterprise and decided to move from the Belgorod region to Siberia, starting a new life.

In 1777, Shelikhov's ship reached the shores of Japan, and on his next voyage, he reached the Aleutian Islands. Impressed by what he saw, he decided to focus on research in this direction. Shelikhov reached Alaska and founded the first Russian settlement on Kodiak Island. Despite frequent attacks from local residents, which caused serious damage to several Russian groups, one of which was completely destroyed, he conducted a campaign of intimidation that resulted in the deaths of many Eskimos, with over a thousand taken captive. He then established the 'Northeast Company' in Irkutsk and began fur shipments from the Aleutian Islands. His entrepreneurial activities went hand in hand with scientific ones, and in 1788 he was awarded a gold medal and a silver sword for his achievements.

Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, the outstanding Russian researcher, lived only 46 years and died on August 4, 1795. He was buried in the necropolis of the Znamensky Monastery. During the Soviet years, his tombstone was damaged, but it survived, unlike the graves of many famous people buried there. Today, his name is carried by a museum, a city, an airplane, a strait, an island, a bay, and a cove, and monuments have been erected in several places. Thus, his memory is preserved more than 200 years after his death.