Sir Douglas Mawson
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Sir Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson (1882–1958)
Douglas Mawson was born in Bradford, England. He grew up in Australia and went on to study geology (the science of rocks and how the earth was formed) at the University of Sydney.
He is most famous for his trips of exploration to Antarctica between 1911 and 1914. It was hard to raise the money for these journeys, but Mawson thought it was important to find out all about Antarctica and for Australians to be involved with it. He was nearly killed on one of these trips, when one of the men with him fell down a crevasse. The sled carrying most of the food fell with him. Mawson and another man called Mertz had to walk more than 500 kilometres back to base, eating their huskies (dogs who pulled the sleds) to survive. Mertz died on the way and Mawson walked on alone. It took weeks, but he finally reached the base and was saved.
He later became a professor at the Adelaide University. He was made Sir Douglas by the King in 1914.
His face appears on the $100 note and his picture has appeared on stamps. The first permanent Antarctic station was named after him.
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