Fyodor Konyukhov's biography is the life story of a unique and incredibly gifted person. Most people know him as a brave and tireless traveler who conquered the highest mountain peaks and single-handedly crossed the oceans. However, long-distance expeditions are not his only hobby. In his free time Konyukhov paints pictures and writes books. In addition, he is a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).
Childhood
Fyodor Konyukhov was born in 1951 in the Ukrainian village of Chkalovo (Priazovsky district, Zaporozhye region). His parents were simple peasants. The mother of the famous traveler Maria Efremovna was born in Bessarabia. She devoted her life to raising children (besides Fedor, 2 more sons and 2 daughters grew up in the Konyukhov family). Father, Philip Mikhailovich, was a hereditary fisherman, his ancestors lived inArkhangelsk region. During the Great Patriotic War, he reached Budapest together with the Soviet troops. Konyukhov Sr. fished in the Sea of Azov and often took little Fedor with him. The son liked to fish with his father. With great pleasure, the boy helped Philip Mikhailovich pull fishing nets out of the water and carried out his other assignments. Already in those days, Konyukhov's travels began to beckon. Being in a fishing boat on the high seas, he often peered into the distant horizon and dreamed of swimming to the opposite shore.
First sea voyage
Fyodor Konyukhov fulfilled his cherished childhood dream at the age of 15, having independently crossed the Sea of Azov on his father's fishing boat. For his first expedition, the teenager prepared for several years, learning to row, swim and sail. In addition to traveling, young Konyukhov was seriously interested in drawing, athletics and football. And he also loved to read. His favorite writers were Jules Verne, Ivan Goncharov and Konstantin Stanyukovich. The idol of a simple village boy was the famous Russian naval commander Fyodor Ushakov. Reading the biography of this great man, Fedor 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 entered the Odessa Naval School, where he received the speci alty of a navigator. This was followed by study as a navigator-navigator at the Leningrad Arctic School. After graduation, Konyukhov was drafted into the army. He served in the B altic Fleet, where, for his courage, he was selected for a special detachment destined to be sent to Vietnam. Arriving in Southeast Asia, Fedor served as a sailor on a boat for 2.5 years, providing ammunition for Vietnamese partisans. After demobilization, Fyodor Fyodor Filippovich Konyukhov studied as a carver-encruster at 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 that Vitus Bering followed during his Kamchatka expeditions. Fedor sailed a huge distance on a sailing yacht. He refused comfort and repeatedly risked his life, but the dangers did not frighten him. The brave traveler decided to make the transition under the same conditions as his predecessor Bering, who plied the ocean 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 more useful than ever. And he was able to survive in difficult natural conditions thanks to unconditional faith in God.
Conquest of the North
From childhood, Fedor Konyukhov had a dream to reach the North Pole on his own. It took him 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 secretsmovement on dog sleds and comprehended the science of building ice huts. Until the moment he made a solo trip to the North Pole, Konyukhov managed to visit it several times as part of group expeditions.
Independent conquest of the North began in 1990. Fyodor set off on skis on his expedition, carrying a large backpack on his back and dragging sleds with food and equipment behind him. The journey was not easy. During the day, Konyukhov had to overcome many obstacles, and at night he slept right on the ice, hiding from the harsh Arctic winds in a tent or sleeping bag. When only 200 km were left to the end of the route, the Russian traveler got into the zone of ice hummocking and nearly died. Having miraculously survived, 72 days after the start of the campaign, he reached his cherished goal and became the first person in history who managed to conquer the North Pole without anyone's help.
Expedition to Antarctica
In 1995, Fyodor Filippovich made a solo trip to 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. The biography of Fedor Konyukhov shows that during this expedition he conducted many important studies on measuring the radiation field of the southern continent and finding the human body in extreme weather conditions and lack of oxygen. Based on his experiments and research, he subsequently created several scientific works that made an invaluable contribution to the study of Antarctica.
Conquest of the highestmountain peaks
In 1992 Konyukhov made a solo ascent of Elbrus, the highest point in Europe, as part of the 7 Peaks of the World program. A few months later, together with the famous Russian climber Evgeny 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 climbed the highest point in Antarctica - the Wilson Massif. In the spring of the same year, the traveler climbed Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America. In 1997, he conquered alone the highest points of Australia and Africa - the Kosciuszko peak and the Kilimanjaro volcano. In the same year, Konyukhov completed the program with a heroic ascent of Mount McKinley in North America. The brave traveler managed to climb the last peak in the company of climber Vladimir Yanochkin. After conquering McKinley, Konyukhov became the first native of the CIS who managed to successfully complete the 7 Summits of the World program. In 2012, Fedor Filippovich, together with a group of Russian athletes, makes a second ascent of Everest, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the conquest of the mountain peak by Soviet climbers.
Land travel
Fyodor Konyukhov's fascinating biography was not complete without lengthy overland expeditions. In 1985, he made a hiking trip through the Ussuri taiga along the route laid by the Russian traveler Vladimir Arseniev and his guide Dersu Uzala. In mid-1989, on the initiative of Konyukhov, a bike ride Nakhodka - Moscow -Leningrad, which was attended by athletes from the USSR and the USA. 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 off-road race that began in Nakhodka and ended in the Russian capital. In 2002, Konyukhov led the first caravan expedition in the history of our country 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 route from Kalmykia to Mongolia.
Sea adventures
Conquering the North and South Poles, climbing the highest mountain peaks in the world and hiking are only a small part of Konyukhov's travels. The main passion of Fyodor Filippovich from childhood is the sea, and he remained faithful to him for life. The Zaporozhye region has the right to be proud of its famous fellow countryman, because he has more than four dozen sea expeditions and 5 round-the-world trips to his credit. He swam the Atlantic Ocean alone 17 times. During one of these voyages, he set an absolute world record by covering the required distance in a rowboat in just 46 days. Another record of Konyukhov was recorded while crossing the Pacific Ocean. To sail the route from Chile to Australia, the Russian traveler spent 159 days and 14 hours on the road.
Fyodor Konyukhov's sea expeditions did not always go smoothly. During one of themthe traveler became seriously ill and ended up in a Philippine hospital. While he was recovering, pirates hijacked his ship and hid him on a nearby island. After recovering, Konyukhov went to rescue the stolen vehicle. To return it, he was forced to steal a boat from his offenders and get on it to his own ship. This unpleasant adventure ended safely for the traveler 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. The work of the artist did not go unnoticed. His works have been repeatedly shown at Russian and international exhibitions. In 1983 he became the youngest member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Later, he was accepted into the Moscow Union of Artists and Sculptors and awarded the title of Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts.
Fyodor Konyukhov's biography would be incomplete without mentioning his literary activities. The traveler is the author of 9 books that tell about his adventures during expeditions and ways to overcome difficulties in extreme conditions. In addition to literature for adults, Konyukhov publishes children's books. Member of the Writers' Union of Russia.
Father Fedor
During his travels Konyukhov often risked his life and was on the verge of death. Being in the open ocean or on the top of a mountain, in difficult situations, he could only count on the help of the Almighty. Becoming matureAt the age of a religious man, Fyodor Filippovich decided to devote the rest of his life to the service of God. So in his fate appeared the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, in which he studied to be a priest. On May 22, 2010, in Zaporozhye, Konyukhov received the rank of subdeacon from the hands of Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine. The next day, Bishop Joseph of Zaporozhye and Melitopol, he was ordained a deacon. 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. Having become a priest, Father Fyodor Konyukhov began to spend less time on expeditions, but he did not completely abandon them.
Wife, children and grandchildren
Fyodor Filippovich is married to Doctor of Law Irina Anatolyevna Konyukhova. He has three adult children (daughter Tatiana, sons Oscar and Nikolai) and six grandchildren (Philip, Arkady, Polina, Blake, Ethan, Kate). Of all the offspring of the traveler, the most famous is his son Oscar Konyukhov, who devoted his life to sailing. He goes on expeditionary voyages and manages projects in which his father takes part. From 2008 to 2012, Oscar served as Executive Director of the Russian Sailing Federation. The son of Fyodor Filippovich has a cherished dream - to circumnavigate the world without stopping in 80 days. The expedition requires huge material investments and for this reason remains only in the plans.
Preparing for a round-the-world balloon trip
With the adoption of a religious dignityFyodor Filippovich's desire for adventure subsided a little, but did not completely disappear. He recently set his sights on a new world record by flying solo around the Earth in a hot air balloon. The length of the flight route is 35 thousand kilometers. Fyodor Konyukhov's balloon is called "Morton", it is supposed to take off in Australia and land there. Initially, the launch was scheduled for July 2, 2016, but due to strong winds, it was forced to be postponed until the weather conditions improved. The priest had been preparing for his next trip for more than a year. His balloon was built in England. Meteorological instruments were delivered to it from Belgium, burners from Italy, and an autopilot from Holland. In total, about fifty people from 10 countries of the world took part in the preparation of the project.
Father Fyodor plans not only to fly around the planet, but also to break the world record of the American extreme traveler Steve Fossett, who was the first in the history of mankind who managed to fly around the Earth alone in a balloon. The entire flight of Konyukhov will be broadcast online, and anyone can watch him.
