Caroline Mikkelsen (20 November 1906 – 15 September 1998, later married Mandel) was a Danish-Norwegian explorer who on 20 February 1935 was the first woman to set foot on

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, although whether this was on the mainland or an island is a matter of dispute.

Antarctic exploration

Caroline Mikkelsen was born on 20 November 1906 in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, later she married her first husband Norwegian Captain Klarius Mikkelsen and moved to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Mount Caroline Mikkelsen gov pic 1966 (sq cropped)

In the winter of 1934–1935, Mikkelsen accompanied her Norwegian husband Klarius on an Antarctic expedition sponsored by

Lars Christensen Lars Christensen (6 April 1884 – 10 December 1965) was a Norwegian shipowner and whaling magnate. He was also a philanthropist with a keen interest in the exploration of Antarctica. Career Lars Christensen was born at Sandar in Vestfold, Norw ...

, on the resupply vessel ''M/S Thorshavn'' with instructions to look for Antarctic lands that could be

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

for

. Mount Caroline Mikkelsen is named for her. On 20 February 1935, the expedition made landfall somewhere on the Antarctic continental shelf. Mikkelsen left the ship and participated in raising the Norwegian flag and in building a memorial

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

. Mikkelsen never made any recorded claims to have landed on the mainland, but was initially thought to have landed on the

Vestfold Hills The Vestfold Hills are rounded, rocky, coastal hills, in extent, on the north side of Sorsdal Glacier on the Ingrid Christensen Coast of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The hills are subdivided by three west-trending peninsulas bounded by na ...

not far from the present Davis Station. She did not publicly speak about her Antarctic voyage until sixty years after her landing in 1995 when she spoke about her journey to the Norwegian newspaper ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'' having been contacted by Davis Station Leader Diana Patterson. In 1941 her husband Klarius died and in 1944 she married Johan Mandel from Tønsberg. Mikkelsen-Mandel died in 1998. In 1998 and 2002, Australian researchers published historical articles in the ''

Polar Record ''Polar Record'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of Arctic and Antarctic exploration and research. It is managed by the Scott Polar Research Institute and published by Cambridge University Press. The journal was ...

'' concluding that the landing party from the Thorshavn—and thus Mikkelsen—landed on the

Tryne Islands The Tryne Islands are a group of numerous small Antarctic islands and rocks, about in extent, forming the western limit of Tryne Bay and Tryne Sound at the north-eastern end of the Vestfold Hills. The islands were mapped by Norwegian cartogr ...

where a marker at Mikkelsen's Cairn can still be seen today. The landing site is an approximately five kilometres from the Antarctic mainland. No alternative mainland landing site for the Mikkelsen party has been discovered, in spite of years of searching by Davis Station workers. Consequently, Mikkelsen is regarded as the first woman to set foot on Antarctica, and

Ingrid Christensen Ingrid Christensen (10 October 1891 – 18 June 1976) was an early polar explorer. She was known as the first woman to view Antarctica and land on the Antarctic mainland. Early life Christensen (née Dahl) was the daughter of Alfhild Freng Dahl ...

as the first to stand on the Antarctic mainland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikkelsen, Caroline Explorers of Antarctica 1906 births 1998 deaths Danish explorers Norwegian explorers Female polar explorers Danish emigrants to Norway