Paul-Émile Victor (born Paul Eugène Victor; 28 June 1907 – 7 March 1995) was a French

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. Victor was born in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland to French Jewish parents of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

descent. He graduated from

École Centrale de Lyon The Centrale Lyon (), formerly (, abbr. ECL), is a research university in Grand Lyon, greater Lyon, France. Founded in 1857 by François Barthélemy Arlès-Dufour in response to the increasing industrialization of France, it is one of the oldes ...

in 1928. In 1931, he learned how to fly with his instructor and friend,

Claude de Cambronne Claude de Cambronne (; 23 October 1905 – 31 January 1993) was a French businessman. Early life He studied at the École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (Sup'Aéro), learnt how to fly to polar explorer, Paul-Émile Vi ...

. In 1936, he led an expedition traversing Greenland by dog-sled. Victor, Robert Gessain, Michel Perez, and

Eigil Knuth Count Eigil Knuth (8 August 1903 – 12 March 1996) was a Danish people, Danish explorer, archaeologist, sculptor and writer. He is referred to as the Nestor (mythology)#Advice, Nestor ("elder statesman") of Danish polar explorers. His archa ...

completed the 825 km from Christianshåb in the west to Angmagssalik in the east in 44 days. During World War II, he engaged himself in the US Air Forces. After the War, he initiated the to organize French polar expeditions. He died in 1995 on

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French language, French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the we ...

, to which he had retired in 1977. A survey led by Victor in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet,

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

is composed of three large islands.Find Greenland Icecap Bridges Three Islands
, ''Ellensburg Daily Record'', Oct 24, 1951, p6, accessed 2012-05-13 In 1952 he was awarded the

Patron's Medal 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 promoti ...

by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

of London for the work. Mount Victor, in the Belgica Mountains of

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

, is named for him. His son, Jean-Christophe Victor, stars in the weekly geopolitical show '' Le dessous des cartes'' on

Arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

until December 2016. Another son, Teva Victor, is a sculptor.

References

External links

Records of the Field Expedition to Greenland
at Dartmouth College Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Victor, Paul-Emile 1907 births 1995 deaths 20th-century French explorers École Centrale de Lyon alumni French people of Polish-Jewish descent Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Scientists from Geneva