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Charcot Jean Baptiste (15.07.1867 – 16.09.1936)
Born in Neyisyur-Sen in the western suburbs of Paris. After graduating from school, he received a medical education, worked at the Pasteur Institute in the clinic of the University of Paris, until the death of his father in 1893 assisted him a lot in his medical work, traveled to many countries (including Russia). In 1895, he defended his thesis of the Doctor of Medicine "Progressive Muscular Dystrophy". At the same time, Charcot went in for sports a lot and in 1894 became the French rugby champion in the “Club France” club. In 1892, Charcot bought his first yacht, and already in 1900 took part in the Summer Olympics among the boats with a displacement of up to 0.5 tons. Together with Robert Linzelie and two other participants, he came in both races second and won silver medals twice. However, the quiet scientific work did not satisfy the young man, and he decided to exchange it for the life of a polar explorer, filled with dangers and adventures. In 1901, he conducted a series of oceanographic studies in the vicinity of the Hebrides, Shetland and Faroe Islands, in 1902 he received the rank of naval officer and swam to Iceland and the island of Jan Mayen. At the same time, J. Charcot developed a plan for the expedition to the North Pole. For this purpose, he built in the shipyards of Saint-Malo according to his drawings and at his own expense a three-masted ship with a steam engine, which he called "French". The Paris Academy of Sciences and a number of other scientific institutions took over the leadership of the expedition, creating a special committee that fully endorsed Charcot’s plan. But in early 1903, the committee unexpectedly suggested that J. Charcot, instead of the Arctic, go to the Antarctic to search for the Swedish expedition of Nordensheld and to explore the Land of Alexander I (the open Russian expedition of F. Bellingshausen). On June 23, the ship departed from Le Havre to the shores of South America. Since Nordenskiöld and his comrades had already been rescued at that time, Charcot immediately set about the second task. The area of upcoming research was on the west coast of Graham Land. The most important results of this heavy expedition were that Charcot managed to find the Land of Alexander I, describe the shores of Graham Land south of the Land of Danko, open a new land south-west of the Land of Alexander 1, which he called the Land of Loubet, and explore the archipelago of Palmer, Bisco, and others. In addition, Charcot brought a lot of valuable materials about the life of Antarctic birds: penguins, skuas, petrels, etc. These materials are still considered unsurpassed in terms of completeness and accuracy of descriptions. Returning to France, Charcot began to prepare for a new South Polar Expedition. On December 15, 1908, he set off to the western shore of Graham's Land on the same vessel, which he now called “Purcua-Pa?”. Charcot assumed that, moving to the southwest of Graham Land, it would be possible to penetrate further into the completely unexplored eastern part of the Ross quadrant. According to its results, the second expedition of Charcot also proved extremely successful. In addition to the discovery of a number of new land areas, we managed to come close to the Luba Land and Alexander I Land and even make a number of landings. From the Land of Loubet and Graham Land, the expedition brought many rock samples. Although back in January 1909, Charcot's ship came across an underwater rock and was seriously damaged, despite the hard work and extreme exhaustion, all members of Charcot's expedition returned home healthy and full of strength. After these successful expeditions to the Antarctic, Charcot in 1912 again embarked on a journey, but not to the south, but to the north, to the shores of Greenland. Then a tireless researcher almost every year went on expeditions to the North Atlantic for a variety of scientific observations and research. Since the beginning of World War I, Charcot originally served at the Maritime Hospital in Cherbourg, but in 1915 he received command of an anti-submarine ship, and until the end of the war he was engaged in anti-submarine defense off the coast of Brittany and Normandy, and was awarded orders of France and Great Britain. In 1921 he made a detailed study of the Rokoll rocks (west of the British Isles), and in 1928 undertook a thorough search of Amundsen, who, unfortunately, did not give any results. Jean Charcot led a huge scientific work, publishing its results in the Hydrographic collections of the Marine Hydrographic Service. Under his direct supervision, the research work of the Marine Laboratory of Higher Knowledge was created. Peru Jean Charcot, in addition to special scientific works, belong to the well-known reports of the expedition of 1903-1905. and about traveling on the ship "Purcua Pa?". In 1928 he published a book about Christopher Columbus and his travels. In July 1934, a ship entering the harp waters annually in France took on board young scientists Paul Emile Victor, Robert Jessain, Michel Perez and Motter, who were leaving for Greenland. In August 1935, it brought them back to Europe. In July 1936, the same scientists, except Motter, again went to Greenland, in order to come to France in the fall. The members of this expedition also returned "Purcua-Pa?" from Greenland. The vessel left Reykjavik (Iceland) in Copenhagen. Towards evening, a storm arose, and Captain Konya decided to turn back to Reykjavik. At night, the storm intensified, and the ship landed on the pitfalls of the Borg fjord. “The water began to penetrate the engine room”, says the only surviving sailor from the "Purcua-Pa?". The dilapidated ship was shaking from hitting stones. Suddenly there was a terrible explosion, the boiler exploded. The ship immediately went to the bottom. The last thing I remember: "Dr. Charcot and Captain Konya are standing next to each other on the bridge”. So did Jean Charcot and his vessel Purqua-Pa?, On which he began, conducted and tragically completed polar explorations. The waves of the Atlantic Ocean absorbed a man who devoted his entire life to the great cause of exploring the polar countries. His body was found and buried on October 12 at the Montmartre cemetery in Paris. Territory (Charcot Land) in eastern Greenland in the Skourby Bay area. |
