Robert Edwin Peary was one of the last and greatest explorers of the Arctic. In 1909, he claimed to be the first to reach the North Pole.
Biography
Robert Peary was born on May 6, 1856 in Cresson, Pennsylvania to Charles Peary and Mary Wiley. After his father's death in 1859, Robert and his family moved to Portland, Maine. In 1873 he entered Bowdeen College. And in 1877 he successfully graduated with a diploma in civil engineering.
Bowdeen College
Photo: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Robert Peary also served with the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington DC as a cartographer. He was in charge of technical drawings. Even then, Piri began to think about long expeditions and even began to engage in physical training. His elaborate workouts included weekly 40-kilometer hikes. And soon, perseverance and natural ingenuity will help him achieve another goal. In 1881, Robert Peary enlisted in the US Navy as a civil engineer, where he made a good showing and received the rank of lieutenant. It was during the years of service in the US Navy that Peary will begin to implement his plans for the study of the Arctic.
In late 1911, he moved to Harpswell, on the Maine coast. Subsequently, his house became one of the historical landmarks of these places.
Robert Peary died on February 20, 1920 in Washington at the age of 63. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, where a monument to Admiral Robert Edwin Peary was unveiled on April 6, 1922. The ceremony was held in the presence of his daughter, President of the United States Warren Harding and former Secretary of the United States Navy, Edwin Denby.
Career
Peary joined the United States Navy in 1881. He continued his naval career until retirement, using the leave he was given to explore the Arctic. In 1886, he traveled inland from Disko Bay with Christian Maygaard, assistant to the Danish governor at Ritenbenck, and two indigenous people of Greenland. Peary hired the African-American explorer Matthew Henson, who later accompanied him on several other expeditions as an assistant.
Matthew Henson
Photo: Unknown author / Wikimedia Commons
After advancing 161 km and reaching 2288 meters above sea level, the entire team was forced to return due to lack of food. And Piri returned to his work in Nicaragua, where he was sent as an employee of the Corps of Civil Engineers to reconnoitre the route of the alleged transoceanic canal.
In 1891, at Pirie, he again went to Greenland in the company of seven companions, among whom were his wife Josephine, Henson, and the American physician and explorer Frederick Cook. They managed to drive 2,100 km in northeastern Greenland. During this expedition, Piri discovered the Independence Fjord and found evidence that Greenland is an island. He also studied the "Arctic Highlanders" - an Eskimo tribe that lived in isolation and helped Piri a lot on subsequent expeditions.
Between 1893 and 1905, the explorer made several sleigh rides to northeastern Greenland. He did not give up hope of reaching the North Pole, and during his summer travels in 1895 and 1896, he was mainly involved in transporting meteoric iron from Greenland to the United States.
From left to right: F. Cook, M. Henson, E. Astrup, J. Vergoev, Josephine and Robert Peary
Photo: Frederick Cook / Wikimedia Commons
In 1905, Peary was provided with the Roosevelt ship, which was built to his specifications. The explorer sailed to Cape Sheridan, but due to unfavorable weather and ice conditions, the tobogganing season was unsuccessful.
In 1908, Peary returned to Ellesmere for his third attempt at the North Pole. In the end, on April 6, 1909, he and his companions allegedly managed to do this. But when he returned home, Peary received bad news. His former colleague Cook claimed to have reached the North Pole on his own in April 1908. And although Cook's claim was subsequently discredited, this spoiled Peary's pleasure of triumph.
He retired on March 3, 1911. In retirement, Peary has received numerous awards from various scientific communities in Europe and America for his expedition to the North Pole. The researcher is also the author of a number of published works, including Northward Over the Great Ice (1898), Nearest the Pole (1907), The North Pole (1910)) and Secrets of Polar Travel (1917).
Personal life
Robert Peary married on August 11, 1888. His chosen one was Josephine Diebitsch, a graduate of a business school. The girl had a modern, progressive outlook and, according to Peary, was the only girl who would interfere with the implementation of his research plans. In marriage, the couple had two children - Mary Anayito and Robert Peary Jr.
Josephine Diebitsch and Robert Peary on their wedding day
Photo: Unknown author / Wikimedia Commons
Robert Peary's attention has always been focused on work. Of the first twenty-three years of his marriage, he spent only three years with his family. The joys and sorrows of his wife and children passed him by. Even the birth and early death of his son Piri missed.
It is believed that he also had a relationship with an Eskimo woman named Allakasingwa. They developed during his long expeditions in the Arctic. She bore him two children.
