Charcot's Second Antarctic Expedition

Jean-Baptiste Charcot was born July 15, 1867, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Fr.—died c. Sept. 16, 1936, at sea off Iceland. The French explorer and oceanographer led the third and fourth French expeditions to the Antarctic and carried out extensive charting in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The son of a distinguished neurologist, Charcot studied medicine and worked at the Hospital of Paris from 1890 to 1894, when he was also connected with the Pasteur Institute. He served as chief of the clinic of the faculty of medicine at the University of Paris from 1896 to 1898. Only after the death of his father did Charcot dedicate his life to maritime exploration—spending the rest of his life traversing the icy seas making significant scientific discoveries.

On his first Antarctic expedition (1903–05) Charcot charted parts of the Palmer Archipelago, explored the Gerlache Strait, and sailed as far as the northern end of Adelaide Island. On his second expedition (1908–10) in the boat specifically designed for the expedition titled “Pourquoi Pas?” (Why Not?), he charted the coast to Alexander Island and discovered the Fallières Coast and the island that bears his name. Deception Island and Adelaide Island were charted in detail and 1,250 miles of coastline and newly discovered territory was surveyed.
In 1912 he published a two-volume report of his findings, Autour du pôle sud (“Around the South Pole”). These lantern slides were part of a large 20th-century photographic collection. The images are of the expedition ship, exploration activities, the Antarctic Peninsula and islands, icebergs, and penguins, and were probably part of a slide presentation given by Charcot upon his return to France on June 5th, 2010.

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