Dersu Uzala

Dersu Uzala (Russian: Дерсу Узала; c. 1849 – 1908) was a trapper and hunter in the Okhotsk–Manchurian taiga.

[1] The Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev started his expeditions to the forests of the Far East in the area of Ussuri in 1902.

When Uzala's eyesight and other senses began to fade with age, Arsenyev offered to take him to the city where he lived.

[4] George Lucas has hinted that the character of Dersu Uzala inspired the Star Wars Jedi master Yoda.

In 1972 a village in Krasnoarmeysky District, Primorsky Krai, which before had the Chinese name of Laulyu was renamed Dersu in his honour.