John French Sloan
One thousand eight hundred sixty six
Adrien Victor Joseph, Baron de Gerlache de Gomery (French name-Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery)
the Belgian polar Explorer, an officer of the Belgian Navy, is best known for the Antarctic expedition of 1897-1899 on the ship "Belgica". Born in Hasselt (Limburg, Belgium), in an ancient noble family. Eldest son. He was educated in Brussels. Graduated from École polytechnique (now divided into the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Vrije Universiteit Brussel) with a degree in civil engineering. During the holidays and instead of pre-graduate practice, he worked on steamers that plied between Ostend and Dover, as well as on vessels of the fishing fleet. After receiving a diploma, contrary to family tradition and the desire of his father, he joined the Navy, and was awarded the first non-commissioned officer rank on January 19, 1886. he Graduated from the officer school in Ostend, was assigned to the hydrographic ship "Belgica".[source not specified 384 days] in 1890, he was promoted to Lieutenant. During his service, he first became interested in polar research. in 1895, he took part in a voyage to Jan Mayen and the Eastern coast of Greenland. He received an invitation from Adolf Erik Nordenskiold to participate in a Swedish expedition to Greenland, but it fell through due to lack of funding. In response, Gerlache proposed a plan for his own expedition. The main sponsor of the Belgian expedition to Antarctica was king Leopold II, a large donation was provided by the Geographical society of Belgium, as well as the soda producers — the company of Ernest Solvay. The program of the expedition was very broad: in addition to geographical and cartographic work, research of the southern magnetic pole, planned colonial seizures in the southern hemisphere and the search for minerals. In 1896, Gerlache bought the Norwegian whaler Patria, renamed Belgica (after the Roman province in Belgium). The personnel of the expedition was international, and included: Adrien de Gerlache, the Belgian chief of the expedition; Georges lecointe, a Belgian geophysicist, first assistant to the commander; Jules melaerts, Belgian second-in-command, Lieutenant in the Navy; Roald Amundsen, Norwegian Navigator of the Belgica; Henrik Arctowski, Polish geologist, oceanographer and meteorologist; Emil Danko, Belgian geophysicist; Emil Rakovica, Romanian biologist, zoologist, botanist and speleologist; Frederick cook, USA-ship's doctor and photographer. In 1909, he claimed to have reached the North pole on April 21, 1908; Anton Dobrovolsky, a pole meteorologist; Henri Somers, a Belgian senior engineer; Max van Risselberg, a Belgian second engineer; Louis Michotte, a Belgian cook; Adam Tollefsen, a Norwegian sailor; Ludwig Hjalmar Johansen, Norwegian sailor; Engelbreth Knudsen, Norwegian sailor; Karl-August winke, Norwegian sailor. Died 22 January 1898, falling overboard; Johan Koren, a Norwegian sailor, acting as assistant biologist; Gustav-Gaston Dufour, a Belgian sailor; Jean van mirlo, a Belgian sailor. Sailing from Antwerp, the Belgica reached the coast of Graham Land in January 1898, following a long route through the Strait of Magellan. Passing through the Strait named after the ship, the expedition crossed the South polar circle on February 15, 1898. Time was lost, and on February 28, the ship was trapped by ice in the Bellingshausen Sea, and an unplanned wintering began. An all-out epidemic of scurvy started on Board due to an unsuitable diet (only cook and Amundsen, who regularly hunt seals, avoided it). There were no polar clothing on Board (Amundsen had to make it out of pink wool blankets), and The Belgica's living quarters kept the temperature below the freezing point of the water. It turned out that a tiny amount of lighting kerosene was taken, and people were sitting in the dark. From may 17 to July 23, the polar night lasted, during which two sailors went mad (one of them went on foot to Norway). During the winter there was a major conflict between Gerlash and Amundsen, who took command of the team without permission, and said that he had nothing to do with the commander. The drift lasted 186 days. On February 15, 1899, the ice began to crack, and Dr. cook forced the crew to manually cut a 900-meter channel to free the ship. On March 14, 1899, the ship left the pack ice, and returned to Antwerp on November 5, 1899. The course of the expedition was described by Gerlache in the book "Quinze Mois dans l'antarctique" (1901), which was awarded the prize of the French Academy in 1902. In 1901, Gerlache went to the French-owned island of Kerguelen, but was recalled while EN route, so he headed to the Persian Gulf, where the team engaged in pearl fishing. In the same 1902, he joined the Antarctic expedition of Jean-Baptiste Charcot, but left it in the Brazilian Pernambuco due to the conflict. In 1904, Gerlache married Suzanne Poulet. There were two children in this marriage: Philippe and Marie-Louise. In 1905, "Belgica" was bought by Duke Philip of Orleans. The Duke and Gerlache made three expeditions on it: to the East Greenland sea (1905), the Kara sea (1907), and to Svalbard and Franz Josef Land (1909). In 1913, Gerlache divorced his wife. After the outbreak of the First World war, Gerlache actively participated in the defense of Ostend and the fight against submarines. In 1915-1916, he lived in Norway and Sweden, recruiting supporters for the movement to achieve Belgian independence. On December 28, 1916, gerlash remarried to Elisabeth Heyer of Sweden, from whom He was married in 1919. a son was born, Gaston de Gerlache (named after Gerlache's brother, who died at the front in 1915), who became a famous polar Explorer. In 1957, he founded the first Belgian research station in Antarctica. After the end of the war, Gerlache served in the General staff, in 1926 was appointed General Director of the Belgian Navy, and in 1928 became commander of the Navy. He died in Brussels of salmonellosis on December 4, 1934. Sources and literature: Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery: Le Voyage de la Belgica, Br & #252;ssel 1902; Frederick A. Cook: Die erste Sü dpolarnacht 1898-1899 Kempten, Verlag d. Jos. K & #246;SEL'schen Buchhandlung 1903; Georges Lecointe: In Penguin Country Socié té Belges de Librarie, Oscar Schepens & Cie, Editeurs, Brüssel 1904; Hugo Decleir (red.): Roald Amundsens Belgica-dagboek. De eerste Belgische zuidpoolexpeditie, Hadewijch, Antwerpen/Baarn 1998; Full text of de Gerlache's book "Belgium at war".
