10 Interesting Douglas Mawson Facts

Find out Douglas Mawson Facts if you want to know the man who ascents Mount Erebus for the first time. Mawson was a well known academic, geologist, and Antarctic explorer. Let’s read the facts about Mawson in the following post below:

Douglas Mawson Facts 1: life span

Mawson was born on May 5, 1882 in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England. He passed away on 14 October 1958 at the age of 76 years old in Brighton, South Australia.

Douglas Mawson Facts 2: personal life

In 1914, he married Francisca Paquita Delprat. Both had two daughters, Patricia in 1915 and Jessica in 1917.

Douglas Mawson Expedition

Douglas Mawson Facts 3: awards

There are several awards that Mawson had when he was alive.  He got Fellow of the Royal Society, Bigsby Medal and Clarke Medal.

Douglas Mawson Facts 4: fame

Mawson gained the critical acclaim in the world because he is one of the key expedition leaders in the Antarctic exploration.  The other important leaders include Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen, and Ernest Shackleton.

Douglas Mawson Face

Douglas Mawson Facts 5: parents

Douglas was the son of Robert Ellis Mawson and Margaret Ann Mawson. He was born in England but his family moved to Australia and lived at Rooty Hill when Douglas was only two years old.

Douglas Mawson Facts 6: education

Douglas went to Fort Street Model School in Australia. Then he pursued higher education at University of Sydney and left the school in 1902. He got a bachelor of engineering from the university.

Douglas Mawson Facts

Douglas Mawson Facts 7: geologist

In an expedition to New Hebrides which is now called as Vanuatu, Mawson was selected as a geologist. The expedition was conducted in 1903. He created a report which became one of the first geological works of Melasenis in Geology of The New Hebrides.

Douglas Mawson Facts 8: Mittagong

Another geological work that he published was Mittagong, New South Wales.  In 1905, he was appointed as a lecturer in Petrology and mineralogy at University of Adelaide.

Douglas Mawson Image

Douglas Mawson Facts 9: Davidite

Davidite was the first mineral that Mawson identified and described. Check mineral facts here.

Douglas Mawson Facts 10: the first opera

The expedition of Mawson to Antarctica in 1911 to 1914 was created as an opera in December 2013. It was called The Call of Aurora.

Douglas Mawson

In 1958, Mawson was buried at the historic cemetery located in Saint Jude’s Anglican Church, South Australia. Do you have any opinion on facts about Douglas Mawson?