Mawson, Sir Douglas

Mawson, Sir Douglas (1882-1958), explorer, b. Bradford, England.

Douglas Mawson grew up in Australia and became a professor of geology at the University of Adelaide.

In 1908, he took part in an expedition to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton.

In 1911-14, he explored the part of Antarctica belonging to Australia and in 1929-31 he explored the coastline of the continent.

Mawson barely escaped death on the ice in 1913. With two companions, he made a journey of 250 miles (400 kilometers) from his base. One man died in a fall down a crevasse and a sledge containing most of their food was lost. Mawson and his companion, Xavier Mertz, set out on a desperate race back to base. On the way Mertz died and Mawson alone struggled back to base.

See Lennard Bickel Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written