Robert Edwin Peary

Peary, Robert Edwin 

Born May 6, 1856, in Cresson, Pa.; died Feb. 20, 1920, in Washington, D.C. American arctic explorer. Educated as an engineer. Served in US Navy. Admiral from 1911.

In the spring of 1892, Peary was the first to cross the northern ice cap of Greenland, traveling by dogsled from Inglefield Gulf to the northeast and then back to the bay; in the spring of 1895 he repeated this round-trip crossing. In the spring of 1900, Peary, traveling northeast from Smith Sound, was the first to trace the entire northern coast of Greenland, in particular, the peninsula later named Peary Land, where he discovered Cape Morris Jesup. In the spring of 1906, proceeding northward from Cape Hecla on Ellesmere Island, Peary reached 87°06′ N lat. He then set out from Cape Columbia and reached the North Pole on Apr. 6, 1909 (89°55′ N lat. according to the best estimates of American experts). On the last stage of the journey, from 87°47′ N lat., he was accompanied by four others.

WORKS

Northward Over the “Great Ice,” vols. 1–2. London, 1898.
Nearest the Pole. New York, 1907.
Secrets of Polar Travel. New York, 1917.
In Russian translation:
Severnyi polius. Moscow, 1972.

REFERENCE

Laktionov, A. F. Severnyi polius [3rd ed.]. Moscow, 1960.

I. P. MAGIDOVICH