[1] Spafaryev was director of lighthouses in the Gulf of Finland and cartographer of the Russian Admiralty.

[2] Spafariev was an important contributor to the improvement of navigation along the Russian coasts.

The first lighthouses in Russia were built during tsar Peter the Great's drive for reform and modernization at the beginning of the 18th century.

This office was established by the Russian Navy and it began under the leadership of Leontiy V.

[3] In 1820, Spafariev published his essay "Description of the lighthouses of Finland and Gulf of Riga", a highly valued work by hydrographers.