Abstract. The article examines one of the significant episodes in the prehistory of the search for the North-East passage – the statement of the Russian diplomat Dmitry Gerasimov, recorded in 1525 by the Italian humanist Paul Jovius about the possibility of reaching China via the Arctic route. This is the first documented assumption of this kind in European literature, although the Russian state by that time had already reached the Arctic borders and was actively developing the western section of the modern Northern Sea Route. Particular attention is paid to the criticism of interpretations of Gerasimov’s statement, which was sometimes simplified or distorted in scientific and journalistic literature. The study shows that the statement had a significant influence on Western European expeditions of the 16th-17th centuries (including the voyages of Barents), but in Russia until the era of Peter I and Lomonosov it did not become the subject of a targeted state policy, remaining a geographical hypothesis. It is emphasized that Gerasimov's idea became an important, but not the first stage of the centuries-long process of Russia's development of the Northern Sea routes, initially aimed at ensuring territorial connectivity, and not just searching for a trade route. The practical implementation of the Northern Sea Route as a transport artery became possible only in Modern times.

Key words: Dmitry Gerasimov, Paolo Giovio, Northeast passage, Northern sea route.