Back George
(06.11.1796–23.06.1878)

English admiral and arctic explorer.
Born in Stockport, Cheshire. Service in the Navy began in 1808 as a midshipman, but a year later he was captured by the French. He was so small that when they were led through the Pyrenees, he had to be carried in a basket on the back of a mule. He spent five years in captivity. After his release, Back joined the fleet in Flushing, and then served at the station in Halifax. After being certified as a navigator in 1817, Back got on the warship Balvark, and a year later volunteered to go to the ship Trent, one of the ships of David Buchan’s expedition, departing from England with the intention of reaching the north pole from Spitsbergen. The commander of "Trent" was Lieutenant J. Franklin. The expedition managed to reach only 80ºN. Having stood for two months in one of the Spitzbergen fjords, the ships were forced to turn home.
In 1819  Back again participated in the expedition of J. Franklin. This time, their ground unit had the task of moving from the mouth of the Mednorudnaya River to the east before meeting with the W. Parry detachment, moving west from the Baffin Sea.
Coming out of England on May 23, 1819, the travelers arrived on August 30 at the main base of the Hudson Company, Fort York, on the banks of the Hudson Bay. Only at the end of July 1821, having survived two winterings, having made thousands of kilometers of the hardest foot and boat route, reached the mouth of the Copper River and then for a month went by boat to the east along the coast. The way back was scary. People broke up into small groups, experiencing torments of terrible cold and hunger, of the last forces in a semi-conscious state moved south. On this journey, Back showed the greatest endurance, courage, and patience. We can say that, thanks to him, the expedition did not end in complete collapse. Franklin sent Back, as the strongest, forward to the Fort Enterprise to inform the Indians about the status of the expedition and to receive help from them. However, there were no Indians there. When Franklin arrived at Fort Enterprise, he found there only a note from Back stating that there were no Indians here and that Back is moving further to Providence fort, but he has no confidence that he will come. And yet he came. The Indians sent to them came to the people of Franklin at the most critical moment. Franklin justly attributed the rescue of the expedition to the merit of Back.
In 1821, Back was promoted to lieutenant and served on the Magnificent ship in Western India.
In 1826, he accompanied Franklin for the third time on his Arctic expedition. The ground squad of Franklin was part of a large-scale English expedition with the aim of opening the Northwest Passage. It also included the naval detachments of W. Parry and F. Beachy, who moved from the east and west, respectively. All three groups were to meet at any point, which would mean the opening of a through passage through the Canadian Arctic archipelago.
Wintered in 1825 - 1826 on the shore of the Great Bear Lake, along the Mackenzie River down to the mouth, which reached 14 August. Here, divided, moved along the coast. Franklin's group, which included Back, went west to meet with Beachy. The advance was very difficult due to the heavy ice conditions, shallow waters, storms and fogs. A month later, they turned back a little - the meeting with Beachy did not take place.
After returning from this expedition, Captain Back remained untapped until 1833, when he expressed a desire to lead a land expedition in order to search for John Ross, who set off in search of the Northwest Passage in 1829. He was instructed to examine the shores of the Strait-Regent Strait.
The tank moved from the depths of the continent to the mouth of the Big Fish River, which is also called the River Back. The first wintering was on the shore of the Great Slave Lake. Here Back caught up with the news of the happy return of John Ross. Not wanting to stop the expedition, during the summer of 1834 he explored the Great Fish River to the mouth, spent a second winter on the Great Slave Lake and in the fall of 1835 returned to England without losing a single person.
The following year, to explore the Canadian Arctic archipelago, Back embarked on a sea expedition aboard the "Terror", but, moving from the Hudson Bay, only the he was able to reach Repals Bay near the southeastern base of the Peninsula of Butia. After a heavy wintering here, he returned to England with nothing. The participant of this expedition was R. McClure, who became famous later.
From that moment, with the exception of a brief period of inspecting the state of the Golihead fortress, Back remained on his half salary.
In 1837  the Royal Geographical Society awarded him with both his medals, in 1839 he received the nobility and gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society, in 1857 he became vice-admiral, and in 1867 - admiral. For many years  Back participated in the work of the Geographical Society, was a leading consultant in organizing numerous Arctic expeditions from Franklin in 1845 to J. Ners in 1875.

He died in London. He was buried in Brent County, north-west London, at Kensal-Green Cemetery (official name Cemetery of All Souls).
Cape on the southern coast of Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Cape in the north of the Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Cape on the east coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Cape in the Beaufort Sea east of longitude 150º W.

A bay in the northeast of the Prince of Wales Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
A bay in the west of King William Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

River (Big Fish or Back) in northern Canada, flowing into the ocean opposite the island of King William.
Strait between the islands of Jackson and Karl Alexander archipelago Franz Josef Land. Opened in 1874 by  Yu. Paier and named them "Back passage".