Our today's story is dedicated to the person of a non-typical profession - the cartographer Conrad Malte-Brune, who was born in August 1775 in the family of the Danish Royal Demesne governor. Conrad was destined for a career of a clergyman, but he chose instead to study at the University of Copenhagen. Moreover, subsequently he proved himself as an active defender of the right of a free press and democracy, a writing journalist and a talented geographer. In rather short period, he managed to make extensive exploration survey in the sphere of cartography and geographical research. The father's business was continued by Victor Adolph Malte-Brune (the second son of the cartographer), who became a geographer as well and made a significant contribution to the study of Africa and the Arctic in the second half of the 19th century.

Map of the southern regions of the Russian Empire from "The Complete and Universal Geographic Atlas" by C. Malte-Brun. 1812. The horizontal sheet features a survey and topographic map of the central and south regions of the Russian Empire including those located in the basins of the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas with adjacent territories of the neighboring countries. The state and administrative-territorial borders are shown; the cities and settlements are indicated in detail. The scale is given in Russian versts and French leagues. The subscriptions and inscriptions are in French.

The map was included in “The Complete and Universal Geographic Atlas” by French geographer and mapmaker Conrad Malte-Brun (1775-1826), published in the period from 1812 to 1829 in six volumes and reflecting progressive geographical knowledge of its time.

The biography of Conrad Malte-Brune is in the section “Authors”.