Born Apr. 1, 1873, in Chabris; died July 25, 1955, in Sceaux. French geographer; representative of the French “human geography” school; member of the Paris Academy of Sciences (1942).
Martonne became a professor at the Sorbonne in 1909. Between 1938 and 1952 he served as president of the International Geographical Union and in 1952 became honorary president. In 1933 he was named an honorary member of the Geographic Society of the USSR. He undertook field investigations in France, Rumania, and other European countries, as well as in North Africa and North and South America. His contributions to the fundamentals of physical geography, geomorphology, the classification of climates, and physical-geographic area studies were significant. His chief works were in general and regional physical geography.