Zanders Martyn Andreevich (Martins)

(1870-1941)

Moryak, a Latvian, younger brother of Janis Zanders, a member of the expedition G.Ya. Sedov.

Mārtiьš Zander arrived in Arkhangelsk shortly before the departure of the expedition, and the elder brother persuaded the younger to take the place of the second mechanic at Saint Fock.

The life of Martins Zanders was quite different than that of his older brother. Their paths diverged already during the expedition. M. Zanders returned to Arkhangelsk after “Saint Foka” began its wintering in the summer of 1913. Sedov approved the group, which was supposed to go to the mainland. The captain of the vessel N. Zakharov, the second mechanic M. Zanders, the carpenter Karzin and the sailors Katharine and Tomitsar carried the materials of the expedition to the continent accumulated by that time. It was also necessary to agree on new stocks of food, coal, supplies of dogs and fuel for wintering men.

The remaining members of the expedition did not have accurate information about the fate of those who left the ship. N. Pinegin writes that during the group’s trip to the south, due to the excessive economy of products and Zakharov’s unwillingness to produce fresh meat, Katharine, Tomitsar and M. Zanders fell ill with scurvy, from which Katarin and Zanders subsequently died.

In reality, only 20-year-old sailor Katharine could not be saved, although he was sent for treatment to Yalta. After returning from the expedition, Mārtiьš Zanders lived another 28 years.  In Latvia, the former second mechanic "St. Foke" arrived in 1919. Besides, Otilia Zandere also returned from Arkhangelsk. In the last years of his life, M. Zanders repeatedly told her about his participation in the expedition to the North Pole. He spent one year with Sedov’s team and subsequently did not say a single bad word about the expedition leader or the sailors — about any of the expedition members, except one person. Doctor Kushakov did not enjoy the special sympathies of the crew, as some authors report, because of his disbelief in the success of the enterprise and because of how he treated people. In his memoirs, Otilia Roburgh (Zandere) writes that Mārtiьš Zanders often told her: “If a real doctor were in Kushakov’s place, your father would surely have survived”. 
M. Sanders' health was undermined. In Latvia, we had to start all over again. In 1920 he managed to rent five hectares of land in Olaine. There he spent the last years of his life.

Stones (Brothers Zander) east of the islands Gorbovy. Named by  G.Ya. Sedov  in 1913.