ERICH VON DRYGALSKI

'Erich von Drygalski' or 'Erich Dagobert von Drygalski' (February 9, 1865 – January 10, 1949) was a German geographer, geophysicist and polar scientist, born in Königsberg, East Prussia.

Between 1882 and 1887, Drygalski studied in Königsberg, Bonn, Berlin and Leipzig mathematics and natural science. He graduated with a doctorate thesis about ice shields in Nordic areas. Between 1888 and 1891, he was an assistant on the geodetic institute and central office of international geodetics in Berlin.
Drygalski led two expeditions between 1891 and 1893, which were supplied by the Society for Geoscience of Berlin. One expedition wintered during the winter between 1892 and 1893 in Western Greenland. He habilitated 1889 for geography and geophysics with the collected scientific evidence. In 1898, Drygalski became associate professor and 1899 extraordinary professor for geography and geophysics in Berlin.

Contents

First German Antarctica expedition

Later years

Trivia

External links

First German Antarctica expedition

He led the first German South Pole expedition with the ship Gauss to explore the unknown area of Antarctica lying south of the Kerguelen Islands. The expedition started from Kiel in the summer of 1901. A small party of the expedition was also stationed on the Kerguelen Islands, while the main party proceeded further south. Erich von Drygalski paid also a brief call to Heard Island and provided the first comprehensive scientific information on the island's geology, flora and fauna. Despite being trapped by ice for nearly 14 months until February 1903, the expedition discovered new territory in Antarctica, the Kaiser Wilhelm II Land with the Gaussberg. The expedition arrived back in Kiel in November 1903. Subsequently, Erich von Drygalski wrote the narrative of the expedition and edited the voluminous scientific data. Between 1905 and 1931, he published 20 volumes and 2 atlases documenting the expedition.

Later years

From October 1906 until his retirement he was a professor in Munich, where he also presided the geographic institut, founded by him, until his death. In 1910, he also took part in Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's expedition to Spitsbergen and participated at other expeditions to North America and northeastern Asia. He died 1949 in Munich.

Trivia

Drygalski Island, Drygalski Glacier, and an alley in the southern part of Munich were named after him, as is the Dryglaski crater on the Moon. An archive in the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität remembers his pioneering efforts.

External links

★ Biography

★ Excerpt from Siege of the South Pole; includes picture of Gauss under sail

★ South Polar Expedition; instructions and preparations for the voyage