Ryszard W. SCHRAMM POLISH POLAR STUDIES Podlaska 8/2,60-623 Poznań XXVI Polar Symposium POLAND /ff еШУУУ*!

Lublin, June 1999

POLAR EXPLORERS IN "THE EXPLORERS' CLUB" POLARNICY W „EXPLORERS' CLUB"

In 1904 Henry C. Walsh, the writer, war correspondent and explorer of the Arc- tic suggested founding an informal club uniting various explorers. On 17 October 1905 seven citizens of the United States submitted a signed proposal to found "The Explorers' Club." Among them, besides Walsh, there was another even more famous explorer Dr. Frederick A.Cook, the physician during the expedition of "Belgica" in which our explorers - Henryk Arctowski and Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski took part. The first meeting of the club took place a week later. Its first president was General A. W. Greely and its secretary was H. C. Walsh. The English word "ex- plorer" has two meenings: 1 - explorer, 2 - discoverer. It is expressed clearly in Ar- ticle II of the "Bylaws of the Explorer Club" - "Club Goals": "The Explorers' Club is a multidisciplinary, professional society dedicated to the advancement of field re- search, scientific exploration, resource conservation and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore." Therefore the range of E.C. members is wide from scientists-theoreticians to sportmen. For the latter not only field activity but also a journalistic one is important. In the first years of the Club activity the explorers played a predominant role in it. The second president of the Club was F. A. Cook (1907-1908) and then Robert E. Peary (1909-1911) elected again for two successive terms in 1913-1916. In 1919-1921 Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefensson was E.C. president. Among the first thirteen medalists of the Club there were as many as seven explorers: Robert Peary, Wilh- jalmur Stefansson, Knud Rasmussen, Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Richard E. Byrd. Later the Transantarctic Expedition by Fuchs and "Transglobe Expedition" which explores both Poles were honoured with medals. Among the first twenty members of honour of E.C. (the number of member of ho- nour is constant) were: Sir Ernest Shackleton, Otto Nordenskjold and Robert Fal- con Scott. The next were Otto Schmidt and Sir Edmund P. Hillary, the oldest of the still living members of honour of E.C. and its President of Honour. The present president is also an eminent polar explorer Dr. Alfred Scott McLaren. The first Polish member of E.C. was also an explorer - Henryk Arctowski who became the member of the Club in 1911. Another Polish member was the surgeon, professor of Poznań University, Dr. Antoni Tomasz Jurasz. During World War II prof. Jurasz was a founder and Dean of the Polish Medical Faculty at Edinburgh 426 Ryszard W. Schramm

University. In 1947 he returned to Poland to his previous chair but soon after- wards he took leave and went back to Edinburgh to close down the Polish Medical Department there. Being invited by the Paderewski Foundation he went to USA. Not receiving a permission for prolongation of the leave by the Deputy Rector of the Poznań University, prof. Bolesław Kurylowicz he stayed in the United States where he worked and become a member of the Explorers' Club as the second Pole. He died in 1961. The third member of Polish origin became the captain of the US Navy Jakub (Yaacov) Adam, who was a pre-war emigrant from Poland. They were introduced into the Club by the members sponsoring them. In 1958 the Cracow astronomer Dr. Kazimierz Kordylewski, the discoverer of the dusty moon rings (died in 1981) became the E.C. member at the invitation of the Board. In 1979 Ry- szard W. Schramm was the fifth Pole as a member of the Club. (The same year a proposal by E.C. to professor Alfred Jahn to become a member was not replied to). R. W. Schramm sponsored the next members of the Club: Stanisław Siedlecki, Maciej Kuczyński and Dariusz Bogucki (all polar explorers) who were accepted into the class of members correspondents (CO - high class - not paying membership fees as members of honour). The attempts to introduce other Poles into E.C. and form the Polish Division failed though the E.C. Board members came to Poland to arrange this matter. The reasons were financial ones as our candidates could not afford to pay over 100 USD as the annual membership fee and the highest E.C. or- gan "Board of Directors" did not agree to reduce the fee. The situation changed in 1993 when the Polish members of the American E.C. Divisions - Yaacov Adam and Jerzy Majcherczyk accepted as the tenth Pole in 1992 arrived in Poland dele- gated by the E.C. Board. During their attempts and obtaining some subsidies, other members were accepted and the Polish Division of E.C. was opened at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The Polish Division comprises 17 ordinary members and 2 members of honour (Y. K. Adam and J. Majcherczyk, who as the citizens of the USA are obliged to be the members of the E.C. Divisions there). At present the annual membership fee for the Polish Division was reduced to 50 USD. Every few years the Explorers Club publishes a list of the members ("Roster") whereas about half of them give the field of their activity and interests ("Vocation and Avocation"). According to the last list published in the 1993 autumn, the Club had 2,829 members in 24 divisions (18 divisions USA, + Australia, Great Britain, India) Norway, Poland and West Europe, lately Russian and New Zealand). Of these members about three thousand members pointed at "polar exploration/research as their activity and 94 members Arctic/ Antarctic activity. Assuming that another half of the members who did not mention their vocation/avocation is similar, it can be stated that in 1993 about 200 members of E.C. i.e. 7% were polar explorers. Recembly the comprehensive interest in polar regions (exploratory, scientific, sport) is increasing and it can be accepted that the present situation is not worse. The question arises about the situation in Poland (see the list enclosed). Of 28 E.C. Polish members as many as 12.i.e. almost 43% are polar explorers but some of them (Kuczyński, Bogucki, Czajkowski, Koisar) are even more active in other fields. This seems to confirm the thesis presented by professor Jahn that the Polish are attracted, though they are not being compelled, to polar regions.