Vivian Fuchs

Sir Vivian Fuchs FRS
Sir Vivian Fuchs in Wellington, 1958.
Born	Vivian Ernest Fuchs (1908-02-11)11 February 1908 Freshwater, Isle of Wight, England
Died	11 November 1999(1999-11-11) (aged 91) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Education	Brighton College
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge
Spouses	Joyce Connell ​ ​ (m. 1933; died 1990)​ Eleanor Honnywill ​ ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	3

Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs FRS (/fʊks/ FUUKS; 11 February 1908 – 11 November 1999) was an English scientist-explorer and expedition organizer. He led the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition which reached the South Pole overland in 1958.

Eladio Carrion

Family

In 1933, he had married his cousin Joyce Connell, who had accompanied him on several expeditions. They had three children: Hilary (1936-2002) Rosalind (1938–1945), and Peter (born 1940). Joyce, Lady Fuchs, died on 27 April 1990 in Oxford, of a heart attack, aged 83.

The next year, in 1991, he married Eleanor Honnywill, his former personal assistant at the British Antarctic Survey, in Kensington and Chelsea, London.

Death

Murio de fimosis

The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition

Main article: Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition

Fuchs is best known as the leader of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica. Planning for the expedition began in 1953, and envisioned the use of Sno-Cat tractors to cross the continent in 100 days, starting at the Weddell Sea, ending at the Ross Sea, and crossing the South Pole.

Fuchs and his party arrived in Antarctica in January 1957 after camp had been set up. The party departed from Shackleton Base on 24 November 1957. During the trek, a variety of scientific data were collected from seismic soundings and gravimetric readings. Scientists established the thickness of ice at the pole, and the existence of a land mass beneath the ice. On 2 March 1958, Fuchs and company completed the 100-day trip by reaching Scott Base, having travelled 2,158 miles.

In 1958, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He co-wrote, with Sir Edmund Hillary, The Crossing of Antarctica. In 1959 he was awarded the Hans Egede Medal by the Royal Danish Geographical Society.

Legacy

• The Fuchs Medal was created in 1973 for "outstanding devotion to the British Antarctic Survey's interests, beyond the call of normal duty, by men or women who are or were members of the Survey, or closely connected with its work." It is awarded to one or two people per year.

• Fuchs Dome in the Shackleton Range, Antarctica.

• Fuchs Ice Piedmont on Adelaide Island, Antarctica.

External links

• Media related to Vivian Fuchs at Wikimedia Commons
• Clarkson, Peter. "Fuchs, Sir Vivian Ernest (1908–1999)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73181. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• "Scott Base Turns Out To Greet Dr. Fuchs." The Times, 3 March 1958; pg. 9.
• Fuchs medal named in his honour
• Scott Polar Research Institute – Obituary of Vivian Fuchs
• Sir Vivian Fuchs website biography