All about Julius Payer - Arctic explorer, artist, writer and climber.
Julius Johannes Ludovicus von Payer - this is the full name of the hero of this article. First of all, he became famous as an Arctic explorer and mountaineer, and only then as an artist and writer.
Biography
Julius Payer was born on September 2, 1841 in Schönau, which belonged to the Austrian Empire. Now this town is called Teplice and is considered a resort town. Payer's family was small: a father, a former officer of the Austrian army, and a mother, about whom almost nothing is known.
Although Julius's father died when he was fourteen years old, he still managed to exert a strong influence on his son. That is why Payer gravitated towards the art of war.
Education
In 1852, Julius Payer entered the cadet school in Lobwuz, which was located near Krakow. After that, training continued at the Teresian Military Academy, where Payer was awarded the rank of non-commissioned lieutenant 2nd class, and then was assigned to the 36th Infantry Regiment in Verona. Then Julius took part in the Battle of Solferino. At that time he was 17 years old.
Polar expeditions
The mountains fell in love with Payer during his military service, and his abilities attracted the attention of the scientific community, and therefore August Petermann invited Julius to participate in the second German polar expedition as a surveyor.
After Julius Payer showed himself in the Austro-Hungarian polar expedition. He commanded the land part of the expedition. The Austro-Hungarian polar expedition turned out to be much more difficult than the second German polar expedition, but still it was successful. The main result after the completion of the expedition was the first map of Franz Josef Land, which was compiled by Payer. The following studies proved that the map was inaccurate due to time and technical constraints, but, nevertheless, it contributed to the development of the study of Franz Josef Land. Julius's work was not in vain.
Creativity, writing and career
In 1874 Payer resigned and began to study the materials obtained during the expeditions. In 1876, Julius Payer's first book was published. In 1935, a partial translation of this work was published in Russia. It was named "725 days in the Arctic ice."
After Julius devoted his time to the fine arts, in which he succeeded no less than in forwarding and writing. Subsequently, Payer opened an art school for girls, and also painted the most famous paintings. Such as "Nie zurück!"
Personal life
Julius Payer married in 1877 and had two children. The couple divorced in 1890, and Payer did not keep in touch with any of his relatives except his children.
