Louis Bernacchi
Encyclopedia
Louis Charles Bernacchi a physicist
and astronomer
, is best known for his role in several expeditions to the Antarctic
.
to Italian parents, who migrated to Tasmania
in 1884. His father Angelo Bernacchi, established a vineyard on Maria Island
in 1884. He was educated in Hobart
Tasmania
at the Hutchins School. He trained in astronomy at the Melbourne Observatory
in the use of sextants and magnetic instruments. During this period he developed an interest in Antarctic Exploration, expressed in letters to the press and by following the proceeding of Antarctic Exploration Committees.
's Southern Cross expedition (1898-1900) which wintered at Cape Adare, Antarctica
, joining the expedition in New Zealand
after the previous physicist candidate had been rejected on medical grounds. The expedition was the first to spend the winter on the Antarctic continent (the Belgian Antarctic Expedition
having been first to overwinter in 1898) and the first to sledge towards the South Pole
. He wrote a book about the expedition To the south polar regions: expedition of 1898-1900 published in 1900. His granddaughter Janet Crawford has edited a version of his diaries from the expedition under the title The First Antarctic Winter: The story of the Southern Cross Expedition of 1898-1900.
He was again a physicist on the Discovery expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott
(1901-1904). Bernacchi was the only man on this expedition who had previously been to the Antarctic. During the trip, he made extensive magnetic observations. Following the trip, Bernacchi was awarded the Royal Geographical Society
and King's Antarctic Medal as well as the Légion d'honneur
. Scott was the best man at Bernacchi's marriage in 1906 in England and invited him to participate in his ill-fated second expedition but Bernacchi declined due to family commitments.
in Peru
, Bernacchi made two unsuccessful attempts to run for the House of Commons as a Liberal Party
candidate, standing in Widnes in 1910. He also invested in rubber plantations in Malaya, Java and Borneo
.
During World War I, he served subsequently in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
, the Admiralty
and the United States Navy
. In 1919, he received both an Order of the British Empire
and the United States Navy Cross
. Following the war, he returned to his interests in rubber.
He remained active in scientific organisations, most notably the Royal Geographical Society, serving as a council member between 1928 and 1932. Bernacchi planned his own expedition to the Antarctic in 1925, but failed to raise sufficient funds. In 1930, he organised the British Polar Expedition and helped to organise the Second International Polar Year
in 1932.
Bernacchi wrote a number of books on the Antarctic including a biography of Lawrence Oates
called A Very Gallant Gentleman published in 1933 and Saga of the Discovery in 1938. In World War II, he returned to the Royal Naval Reserve Volunteers before his death in 1942.
and Bernacchi Bay, on the coast of Victoria Land
.
In 2001, Australia Post
issued a postal stamp in honour of the 100th anniversary of Australia's involvement in Antarctic exploration. (The Hobart Mercury, "Antarctica a sticking point" 17 May 2001 page 13) The Premier of Tasmania, Jim Bacon
, unveiled sculptures of Bernacchi and fellow explorers at Sullivans Cove. (The Hobart Mercury, "Sculpting a piece of Antarctic history" 11 September 2002)
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, is best known for his role in several expeditions to the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
.
Early life
Bernacchi was born in BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to Italian parents, who migrated to Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in 1884. His father Angelo Bernacchi, established a vineyard on Maria Island
Maria Island
Maria Island is a mountainous island off the east coast of Tasmania. The entire island is a national park. Maria Island National Park has a total area of 115.50 km², which includes a marine area of 18.78 km² off the island's northwest coast. The island is about 20 km in length from...
in 1884. He was educated in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
at the Hutchins School. He trained in astronomy at the Melbourne Observatory
Melbourne Observatory
Melbourne Observatory was founded in 1862 to serve as a scientific research institution for the rapidly growing city of Melbourne, the capital of the colony of Victoria. The observatory was tasked by the Victorian government with maintaining an accurate time reference for the colony through...
in the use of sextants and magnetic instruments. During this period he developed an interest in Antarctic Exploration, expressed in letters to the press and by following the proceeding of Antarctic Exploration Committees.
Polar exploration
He joined Carstens BorchgrevinkCarstens Borchgrevink
Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink was an Anglo-Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of modern Antarctic travel. He was the precursor of Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and other more famous names associated with the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
's Southern Cross expedition (1898-1900) which wintered at Cape Adare, Antarctica
Cape Adare
Cape Adare is the northeastern most peninsula in Victoria Land, East Antarctica. The cape separates the Ross Sea to the east from the Southern Ocean to the west, and is backed by the high Admiralty Mountains...
, joining the expedition in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
after the previous physicist candidate had been rejected on medical grounds. The expedition was the first to spend the winter on the Antarctic continent (the Belgian Antarctic Expedition
Belgian Antarctic Expedition
The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897 to 1899, named after its expedition vessel Belgica, was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region.- Preparation and Surveying :...
having been first to overwinter in 1898) and the first to sledge towards the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
. He wrote a book about the expedition To the south polar regions: expedition of 1898-1900 published in 1900. His granddaughter Janet Crawford has edited a version of his diaries from the expedition under the title The First Antarctic Winter: The story of the Southern Cross Expedition of 1898-1900.
He was again a physicist on the Discovery expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
(1901-1904). Bernacchi was the only man on this expedition who had previously been to the Antarctic. During the trip, he made extensive magnetic observations. Following the trip, Bernacchi was awarded the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
and King's Antarctic Medal as well as the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. Scott was the best man at Bernacchi's marriage in 1906 in England and invited him to participate in his ill-fated second expedition but Bernacchi declined due to family commitments.
Subsequent career
Following two short expeditions to Africa and the upper Amazon BasinAmazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Bernacchi made two unsuccessful attempts to run for the House of Commons as a Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
candidate, standing in Widnes in 1910. He also invested in rubber plantations in Malaya, Java and Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
.
During World War I, he served subsequently in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
and the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. In 1919, he received both an Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
and the United States Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
. Following the war, he returned to his interests in rubber.
He remained active in scientific organisations, most notably the Royal Geographical Society, serving as a council member between 1928 and 1932. Bernacchi planned his own expedition to the Antarctic in 1925, but failed to raise sufficient funds. In 1930, he organised the British Polar Expedition and helped to organise the Second International Polar Year
International Polar Year
The International Polar Year is a collaborative, international effort researching the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor, but died before it first occurred in 1882-1883. Fifty years later a second IPY occurred...
in 1932.
Bernacchi wrote a number of books on the Antarctic including a biography of Lawrence Oates
Lawrence Oates
Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates was an English Antarctic explorer, known for the manner of his death, when he walked from a tent into a blizzard, with the words "I am just going outside and may be some time"....
called A Very Gallant Gentleman published in 1933 and Saga of the Discovery in 1938. In World War II, he returned to the Royal Naval Reserve Volunteers before his death in 1942.
Commemoration
Two landmarks in Antarctica are named after him: Bernacchi Head, on Franklin IslandFranklin Island (Antarctica)
Franklin Island is an island long, lying in the Ross Sea about 80 miles east of Cape Hickey, Victoria Land. It was discovered on January 27, 1841 by James Ross, and named for Sir John Franklin, the noted Arctic explorer, who as Governor of Van Diemen's Land had royally entertained the expedition...
and Bernacchi Bay, on the coast of Victoria Land
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and on the west by Oates Land and Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria...
.
In 2001, Australia Post
Australia Post
Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
issued a postal stamp in honour of the 100th anniversary of Australia's involvement in Antarctic exploration. (The Hobart Mercury, "Antarctica a sticking point" 17 May 2001 page 13) The Premier of Tasmania, Jim Bacon
Jim Bacon
James Alexander Bacon, AC was Premier of Tasmania from 1998 to 2004.-Early life:Bacon was born in Melbourne; his father Frank, a doctor, died when Jim was twelve, leaving him to be raised by his mother Joan. He was educated at Scotch College and later at Monash University, but he did not graduate....
, unveiled sculptures of Bernacchi and fellow explorers at Sullivans Cove. (The Hobart Mercury, "Sculpting a piece of Antarctic history" 11 September 2002)
Writings
- The South polar times. London: Smith, Elder & co., 1907-1914. (Volume 2 editor.) An exact reproduction of the South polar times originally issued during the Antarctic expeditions of Robert F. Scott.
- Saga of the "Discovery". London: Glasgow, Blackie and son, Ltd. [1938]
- To the south polar regions: expedition of 1898-1900. By Louis Bernacchi; introduction by D.W.H. Walton. Denton, Harleston, Norfolk: Bluntisham Books : Erskine Press, 1991. ISBN 1852970359
- A very gallant gentleman. London: T. Butterworth, ltd. [1933].
- That first Antarctic winter : the story of the Southern Cross Expedition of 1898-1900 as told in the diaries of Louis Charles Bernacchi / written and edited by Janet Crawford. Christchurch, N.Z.: South Latitude Research Ltd., in association with P.J. Skellerup, c1998. ISBN 047304966X