Koppen Pavel Egorovich
(19(31).12.1846–05(18).08.1911)

General of the artillery.
He graduated from the cadet corps and Mikhailovsky Artillery School. He began his service in the 23rd artillery brigade, and then from 1879 for 23 years managed the court of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna: “Next to Alexandra Iosifovna were two generals who always and everywhere accompanied her. When traveling abroad, Alexander Iosifovna was accompanied by General A. Kireev. Any trip to Russia was unthinkable without General Köppen, who was in charge of the Grand Duchess's court. Even in Pavlovsk and Strelna, when she was still there, Pavel Egorovich Keppen came along with Alexandra Iosifovna. And with Kireev, and Köppen she had the most trusting relationships. They lasted for many years”.

The love and respect of contemporaries Köppen deserved primarily for his charitable activities. He was a member of the Council of Children's Shelters of the Department of Empress Maria’s institutions, took an active part in the life and organization of the Petersburg Women's Gymnasium and the Women's Pedagogical Institute, the Strelnikovo Palace School of Horticulture, the Pavlovsky Four-Class School, the Blagoveshchensk Infirmary and many other pedagogical and charitable institutions. During his stay, the Marble Palace opened its doors to children of various classes,who could engage in games and gymnastics.
From a young age, Köppen worked in children's magazines, in his publications promoting the moral and physical education of the younger generation.
Köppen had a huge library of about 20,000 volumes of various contents. The main place was occupied by books on hygiene, pedagogy, Russian history. There was a collection of Russian alphabets. After the death of Köppen, the library entered the will at the Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg.

He died in St. Petersburg, six weeks after the death of Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna. “The cancer patient himself and knowing that his days are numbered, Pavel Egorovich Köppen asked to be transferred to the rooms of the Grand Duchess. He sat in the crimson living room next to her bedroom”.

“Pavel Egorovich was funeral in the home church of the Marble Palace. He went to pray in this church all his life. The sons of Konstantin Konstantinovich carefully carried the coffin along the marble stairs of the palace. And then they walked all the way to the grave at the Volkov Cemetery (?). Konstantin Konstantinovich walked ahead, and the August day was with the same summer smells as that long August night when Pavel Egorovich guessed the secret of young Constantine’s ambitious soul: "You want a romance with eternity, not with a woman, but with eternity ...". Pavel Egorovich bequeathed to bury himself without noise, without general honors. He asked that there be no wreaths and flowers. But when the coffin was lowered into the grave, a wreath arrived from the Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich, who in his youth knew Köppen and could not help but give a sign of his grief. This unexpected wreath made many cry ..".

Köppen was buried in the Smolensk Orthodox cemetery. The grave could not be found.

Bennett Island, Paul Koppen Bay. On the horizon Cape Emmeline

(photo by N. M. Stolbov)

Paul Koppen Bay (view from the helicopter)

(photo by N. M. Stolbov)

Valley of the river flowing into the bay of Pavel Köppen

(photo by EA Gusev)

Bay (Pavel Köppen) in the east of the Bennett Island of the De Long archipelago. Named in 1903 E.V. Toll.