The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery." Royal approval is required before an award can be made. The awards originated as an annual gift of fifty guineas from

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

, first made in 1831, "to constitute a premium for the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery." The Royal Geographical Society decided in 1839 to change this monetary award into the two gold medals. Prior to 1902 the Patron's Medal was alternatively known as the "Victoria Medal". Recipients include

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

in 1855, Mary Somerville in 1869,

Nain Singh Rawat Nain Singh (21 October 18301 February 1882), also known as Nain Singh Rawat, was one of the first Indian explorers (dubbed "pundits") employed by the British to explore the Himalayas and Central Asia. He came from the Johar Valley in Kumaon. H ...

in 1877, Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1878, Alfred Russel Wallace in 1892 and

William Woodville Rockhill William Woodville Rockhill (April 1, 1854 – December 8, 1914) was a United States diplomat, best known as the author of the U.S.'s Open Door Policy for China, the first American to learn to speak Tibetan, and one of the West's leading exper ...

in 1893, to more recent winners including

William Morris Davis William Morris Davis (February 12, 1850 – February 5, 1934) was an American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the "father of American geography". He was born into a prominent Quaker family in Philadelphia, ...

in 1919, Sir

Halford John Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was an English geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ext ...

in 1945, Richard Chorley in 1987 and

David Harvey David W. Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-born Marxist economic geographer, podcaster and Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He received his P ...

in 1995.

Recipients (since 1970)

Source
List of Past Gold Medal Winners by RGS

Recipients (1901–1970)

Recipients (1832–1900)

References

External links

List of Past Gold Medal Winners by RGS
List of Past Gold Medal Winners {{Royal Geographical Society Awards of Royal Geographical Society

Recipients (since 1970)

Recipients (1901–1970)

Recipients (1832–1900)

See also

References

External links