Belgian Antarctic Expedition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2006)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Belgian Antarctic Expedition (BelgAE) of 1897 to 1899, named after its expedition vessel Belgica, was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region.

It left Antwerp, Belgium on August 16, 1897 and head towards the west coast of the Antarctic peninsula. Due to bad seamanship they were frozen in nearby Peter I Island, and drifted helplessly around the Bellinghausen Sea for the next thirteen months.

They were poorly equipped, and the conditions were hard, but nevertheless they still managed to collect a significant amount of scientific data.

The expedition team included:

Adrien de Gerlache (1866-1934): Belgian - leader
Henryk Arctowski (1871-1958): Pole - geologist, oceanographer and meteorologist
Emile Danco (1869-1898): Belgian - geophysical observations
Emil Racoviţă (1868-1947): Romanian - biologist (zoologist and botanist) and speleologist
Roald Amundsen (1872-1928): Norwegian - sublieutenant
Georges Lecointe (1869-1929): Belgian - geophysical observations and second in command on the Belgica
Frederick Cook (1865-1940): American - doctor and photographer
Antoine Dobrowolski (1872-1954): Pole – assistant-meteorologist
Jules Melaerts (1876-?): Belgian - third lieutenant
Henri Somers (1863-?): Belgian – chief mechanic
Max Van Rysselberghe (1878-?): Belgian - mechanic
Louis Michotte (1868-1926): Belgian - cook
Adam Tollefsen (1866-?): Norwegian - sailor
Ludvig-Hjalmar Johansen (1872-?): Norwegian - sailor
Engelbret Knudsen (1876-1900): Norwegian - sailor
Gustave-Gaston Dufour (1876-1940): Belgian - sailor
Jean Van Mirlo (1877-1964): Belgian - sailor
Carl August Wiencke (1877-1898): Norwegian - sailor
Johan Koren (1877-1919): Norwegian - sailor and assistant-zoologist