Václav Vojtěch

Václav Vojtěch (born November 28, 1901 in the Skřivany forest house ; † August 6, 1932 in the Elbe near Sadská ) was a Czechoslovak geographer and polar explorer .

Life

After attending high school in Nový Bydžov , Vojtěch began studying at Charles University in Prague in 1919 after graduating from high school . After completing his doctorate, he worked at the State Archives and the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Charles University in Prague. Against the wishes of his parents, Vojtěch married his former fellow student Božena Čapková and moved with her to a chalet in Sloupno . Their son Václav was born on November 26, 1926. The marriage soon broke up due to the different characters of the partners and was divorced on April 8, 1932.

Between 1928 and 1930 he took part in Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd's Byrd Antarctic Expedition , and on January 27, 1929, he was the first Czech to set foot in Antarctica. On May 24, 1930 Vojtěch was the first Czech to be honored with the gold medal of the United States Congress .

Vojtěch died in 1932 while preparing for an expedition with Aleš Hrdlička to study the polar climate and geology of Alaska , for which he had bought a ticket on the ship Montcalm for August 5, 1932 . After the departure of the ship had been postponed by a week, Vojtěch said goodbye to friends on August 6th and went paddling on the Elbe. At Sadská the boat capsized and Vojtěch drowned.

Web links

Commons : Václav Vojtěch - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Vojtěch, Václav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Czechoslovak geographer and polar explorer
DATE OF BIRTH	November 28, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH	Forest house Skřivany
DATE OF DEATH	August 6, 1932
Place of death	Elbe near Sadská