February 25] 1755) was a Russian explorer of Siberia, naturalist and geographer who gave the first full description of Kamchatka in the early 18th century.

[1] Krasheninnikov studied plants, animals and minerals, but in addition he developed a strong interest in Siberian history and geography.

He made numerous observations of natural history, ethnology and linguistics, e.g. records of Evenki (tungus) and Buryat vocabulary.

From Bering’s headquarters at Yakutsk, the expedition professors Gmelin and Gerhard Friedrich Müller sent Krasheninnikov ahead to Okhotsk and Kamchatka to build house and make preliminary observations.

[6] Apart from detailed accounts of the plants and animals of the region, there also were reports on the language and culture of the indigenous Itelmen and Koryak peoples, with whom he is said to have got along extremely well.