The Belgica & Beyond


amateur translations, scans, & assorted research by m.w.
actively under construction.

WRITTEN FROM THE BELGICA 1897-1899

  1. Racovitza’s cartoons 
  2. Racovitza’s shipboard diary
  3. Racovitza’s letters home
  4. Lecointe’s meeting notes

CORRESPONDENCE

  1. before
  2. after

    NEWS OF THE BELGICA 1896-1900

    1. coverage in the Belgian press, translated
    2. coverage in the British press
    3. coverage in the American press
    4. scientific lectures, translated
    5. list of Expedition publications
      6.        a) Lecointe on Danco’s contributions

    QUELQUES EXPÉDITIONS SUIVANTES

    1. de Gerlache & Charcot (the Français)
    2. de Gerlache & the Duke of Orléans (the Belgica in the Arctic)
    3. the failed Second Belgian Antarctic Expedition (Arctowski & Lecointe)
    4. the successful Second Belgian Antarctic Expedition (Gaston de Gerlache)
    5.  the Royal Belgian Observatory
    6. Georges Lecointe’s 20th Century

      MARRIAGES & OTHER LIFE EVENTS

      1. Lecointe Family
      2. Arctowski
      3. de Gerlache
      4. Racovitza
      5. van Mirlo
      6. van Rysselberghe

      ASSORTED BELGICA RESOURCES

      1. bibliography
      2. associated persons
      3. contemporary photographs


      the sailors of the Belgica performing a “starlight concert” on Sept. 26, 1897, from Johan Koren’s diary

      contact: packloafertranslations@gmail.com

      Henryk Arctowski, post-Belgica


      All of the following were translated/transcribed by m.w. unless otherwise stated.




      LOVE AMID ICEBERGS The Joliet Daily Republican, December 28, 1900

      Explorer Arctowski Picks His Bride While in Antarctic. Charmed by Face in a Magazine, He Returns to Paris, Finds the Original and Wins Her for His Wife.
          In the marriage abroad of Miss Caroline Adey, heiress and prima donna, to Henry Arctowski, geologist and mineralogist of the Belgian antarctic expedition, there is a romantic story. News of the marriage came by letter to friends and relatives in this country.
          Miss Adey is the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Adey, of 18 North Thirty-eight Street, Philadelphia, was a society favorite of that city. Beautiful, talented, and heiress to a fortune in seven figures, she had many suitors. None was encouraged long, for the ambitious young woman had set her heart on the pursuit of art. She withdrew from society and studied under the best teachers. Finally, accompanied by her mother, she went off to Paris to finish her musical studies, with Mme. Marchesi.
          After many concert successes a few months ago, Miss Adey prepared herself to commence an European tour as prima donna of the Savoy opera company. But at this critical moment the ardent explorer, Prof. Arctowski, loomed on the horizon. By happy coincidence, artiste and scientist found themselves at the same Parisian hotel. 
         It was a case of love at first sight, but, strange to say, the explorer felt that he had had a previous “first sight” of Miss Adey. Racking his brains and consulting his diary he found that on April 9, 1899, aboard the steamer Belgica, enveloped by the summer long antarctic night, there was a “grand concourse of beautiful women.” Faces and figures were enlisted from popular magazines and journals. The women were separated into classes and the lonesome explorers balloted for the women of their choice. Of course, when Arctowski came across a full length picture of Miss Adey in a Grecian pose he was so charmed as to vote for her over and over. It was almost 12 months before the expedition returned to civilization and almost two years before the lucky scientist met and won the object of his pictoral esteem.

      Corrections: 

      According to The Whitcomb Family in America by Charlotte Whitcomb, “Arian Jane Addy, daughter of Caroline E. Whitcomb and George Addy, after studying vocal music in Chicago and Philadelphia, spent eleven years in Paris, where she was under masters in voice culture and studied for grand opera, her mother remaining with her. […] Her operatic career was never begun owing to her marriage which took place in St. George’s Chapel, London, in April 1900.”

      Multiple other articles indicate that Henryk and Jane met at the royal gala thrown in honor of the       Belgica’s return, where she was performing as a musical guest.

      The “Grand Concourse of Beautiful Women” was actually held in April 1898. Per Lecointe, Arctowski was bribed away from his initial choice with the promise of some corks for his bottles.


      HENRYK ARCTOWSKI & HIS WIFE JANETadeusz Krzyzewski, June 1984
      translated by Raisa Shapiro, raisashapiroofficial@gmail.com

          1983 marked twenty-five years since the death of two original and exceptionally charming academics, popular before the war at Lwow’s Jan Kazimierz University among faculty and students alike. They were a married couple, wholeheartedly dedicated to Poland and our home city.
          H. Arctowski (1871-1958), one of the foremost experts on Earth’s polar regions, was an explorer as well as an accomplished geologist and geographer. Along with A.B. Dobrowolski, he took part in the 1897-99 Antarctic expedition of the Belgica, led by Adrian Gerlach. During the expedition Arctowski conducted numerous meteorological and oceanographic studies, which were used to model a comprehensive bathymetric map of the Arctic Sea. 
          Upon returning from this famous expedition, Gerlach and Professor Arctowski were invited to a soiree at the royal palace of Belgium. There Arctowski met a young, beautiful American singer named Jane Addy, who was there to entertain the party guests. It was love at first sight for them both. The wedding followed soon after. The Arctowskis settled in Belgium, where the professor set to analyzing material from the Belgica expedition and served as chief royal meteorologist. 
          Jane Arctowska performed concerts in Belgium, France, and Germany, while her substantial dowry supported her husband’s academic career, which she valued above her own artistic one. After a short stay in England and some research on Spitsbergen in 1910, the Arctowskis moved to the US in 1912, where the professor managed natural sciences at the New York Public Library for seven years. In 1912 UJK [JKU] Lwow awarded Professor Arctowski an honorary PhD. 
          Six years later Arctowski participated in the peace conference that demarcated Poland’s borders, presenting a study entitled “Report on Poland, compiled for the use of the American Delegation to the Peace Conference.” The 2500-page report included exhaustive date on physiography, hydrography, soil, climate, and mineral resources, as well as data on agriculture and forestry in Poland. Professor E. Romerin particular has recognized Arctowski’s role in establishing Poland’s borders in 1918, along with his propaganda for Polish independence in America.
          H. Arctowski returned to Poland permanently in 1920 at the government’s behest; however, he declined then-Prime Minister Ignacy Paderewski’s offer to appoint him as Minister of Education. Instead, he devoted himself to academic pursuits at UJK [JKU]’s department of geophysics and meteorology, working as the program’s director.
          Jane Arctowska retired from her singing career to stay by her husband’s side constantly and everywhere. She was honored with the Order of Polonia Restituta for service rendered to the Polish people during WWI, and after settling in Lwow, became actively involved in volunteer work. She said: “I must somehow thank the nation that gave me a husband of Henryk Acrtowski’s caliber.”  
          On the fourth floor of the University’s new building, the Arctowskis lived in a spacious flat with a low-pitched gable roof “landscaped” by the professor’s wife—she installed a garden, a pond with a small fountain, and in the summer months she would set up deck chairs and little tables with bright, colorful patio umbrellas. Mrs. Arctowska organized “English language courses,” every year accepting around 30 students for a three-year course. She was a wonderful teacher, extremely punctual, conscientious, exacting and strict. No more than a third of those who started made it through all three years. Lectures took place twice a week in unoccupied university classrooms, each for two hours after noon. But the biggest attraction was conversation club, which met on Mondays, where current language learners could speak English with former students who’d finished the program. On Mondays, though all conversations were conducted in English, Mrs. Arctowska did not correct anyone’s mistakes. There was always a cup of excellent tea and a slice of very bad cake that Mrs. Arctowska—doubtless in good faith—would recommend to her American guests as “the national polish [sic] cake!”
          The salon where these meetings were held was one of a kind. On the walls there were photos of famous friends with dedications to both Arctowskis. Starting with Paderewski, Amundsen, Scott, Marie Sklodowska-Curie and ending with Maurice Chevelier and Hanka Ordonowna. Above Mrs. Arctowska’s favorite setee, on the shelf, always illuminated—in a small, black marble urn—were her mother’s ashes. Her American ancestors’ particular understanding of the “memento mori” principle!... 
          Professor Arctowski would make the rounds among their guests with his ever-present pipe, stooped and smiling, introducing his friends to a whole world of interesting people who’d also shown up at their Monday meetings. Great Polish scientists had been there, professors like E. Romer, the anthropologist Jan Czekanowski, Jerzy Kurylowicz, E. Porebowicz – the renowned translator of Dante, Z. Ciechanowski, K. Bartel…There were also guests from abroad, from Chesterton to a mad American woman who looked more like a child and traveled the world on horseback with a Browning tucked into her belt and a flashy checkbook in her pocket.
          Once a year the Arctowskis held a great ball for all their students. The ball took up the entire fourth floor. It was a grand fete with flaming punch, music, confetti and streamers. The professor in a tuxedo, his wife in a ball gown hand-sewn from American journal patterns, decked out, like their guests, in festive paper hats, also made by the indefatigable Mrs. Arctowska. They danced with their students, handsome, full of mirth, and as always deeply in love.
               Mrs. Arctowska funded an annual stipend for her two best students. This covered a two-month stay in England, which was highly sought after.
          The Arctowskis’ final yearly ball took place on New Year’s Eve, 1938. The last ball and Jane’s last meeting with her beloved students. She bid them farewell with a beautiful New Year speech and announced that they’d meet somewhere in the world…
          In June of 1939, at the government’s insistence, the Arctowskis left for America, where they spent the second World War. They searched for, protected, took care of, and supported their students all over the world. During the war many of their students fought on every front, and many of them were killed…
          Jane Arctowska died in Washington, D.C. in 1958, just four months after her eminent husband. Two former students accompanied her coffin. Her last wish was for them to be buried, along with her husband, in Polish soil. 
         In 1960 the Polish Academy of Sciences, whose members include many students of the professor and his wife, repatriated the Arctowskis’ remains to Poland, where they were interred in the Aleja Zasluzonych at Powazkowski Cemetery in Warsaw.




      AMUNDSEN AND SCOTT AS SEEN BY A WOMAN


      March 17, 1912 in the New York Times

      AMUNDSEN AND SCOTT AS SEEN BY A WOMANMme. Arctowski’s Recollections of the Explorers, Who Were Friends of Her Husband.
      SCOTT’S POLAR WORK A DUTY
      Wife of Belgian Scientist Tells of Amundsen’s Fondness for a Yellow Cat—Once Lost His Luggage.

          Mme. Jane Arctowski, wife of Dr. Henryk Arctowski, a Belgian explorer, lived for many years in Brussels, where she entertained her husband’s associates in the Belgian antarctic expedition and other distinguished scientists interested in polar research. Mme. Arctowski is now in New York, having come to this country on a concert tour. She is a soprano of reputation in leading European musical centres.
          Among others whom Mme. Arctowski knew personally while abroad were Amundsen and Capt. Scott. Writing her recollections of these men she says:
          “After Amundsen came back from the Northwest Passage expedition he was invited to come to Brussels and give a lecture to the Geographical Society, and I gave a reception in his honor. He was very popular in Brussels, having been a member of the Belgian expedition, and then, too, his expedition had been successful, and everyone was anxious to see him. As yet I had not met him, and though I had heard so much about him that I felt as if I knew him, I was as anxious as every one else to meet him. My guests came early, and the rooms were quite full, but Amundsen did not arrive. I began to worry. To invite everybody to come and see the lion and then not have the lion appear is very uncomfortable for the hostess. He was coming from Holland by a train which would just give him time to change and get to us. What if he had missed the train.

      Amundsen Forgot His Luggage.
         “Finally, when I had almost given up looking for him, he came with his brother, and the gentleman who had volunteered to meet him at the station and bring him to us told us of their dismay when it was found that the luggage had been held at the Dutch frontier because Amundsen had forgotten to go out and have it examined. Their search for evening clothes and a fresh collar was in vain. My friend was quite unable to come to Amundsen’s rescue, being very small, while Amundsen is a large man. The only thing to do was to come as they were, and that they did, happily.
          “The next day Amundsen and his brother came to luncheon with us. My husband and he, who had been good comrades during the Belgian expedition, had not seen each other since their return and they had many things to say to each other and questions to ask. It was very interesting for the others at the table, and I think that we all got up with a sigh of reluctance when a reporter of one of the journals was announced.

      Amundsen and the Cat.
          “When any information was needed on polar subjects in Brussels the journalists always came to Arctowski, and when any of the polar people were in town it was usually in my husband’s study that the interviews took place. Good naturedly, Amundsen allowed the reporters to make a fuss over him. I have a very excellent photograph of him taken by one of them while he was lazily lounging in the corner playing with a big, impertinent, never-know-what-he-would-do-next sort of a yellow cat we had. That cat was misnamed, for in his youth, before his character became fully known, we had called him Kiki. Now Kiki didn’t care for anybody or anything. Neither did Amundsen. They understood each other, and became great friends directly. Indeed, Kiki became friends with many of the noted men who came to our house those days. In a letter written to me after a visit, speaking about Kiki, Hugh Robert Mill said:
          “‘Had you owned that cat in Puritan days, you would surely have been burned for witchcraft.’
          “From Brussels Amundsen went to Antwerp to lecture. He and my husband with several others were invited to lunch with M. Robert Osterrieth, whose mother was one of those friends who made the Belgian expedition possible. Mme. Osterrieth did not appear. But during luncheon, after a whispered conversation with a servant who came into the room, M. Osterrieth announced the birth of a son, who in honor of the occasion was to be christened Roald. This pleased Amundsen hugely and coming back to our house the next day he got up from his chair and drank again to the young Roald over there in Antwerp.

      Meets Capt. Scott
          “And now I come to the last. I wonder if it is because I like him the best that I have left him to the last? For I knew him before I did Amundsen. My husband had been invited to inspect the ship Discovery as she lay at her wharf in London nearly completed and almost loaded for her journey. I accompanied him, and it was there that I met Scott for the first time. He showed us all the things of interest. I remember I found the cabins very small and stuffy, to my husband’s astonishment, for comparing them with the Belgica’s appointment they seemed palatial in size and accommodations.
          “Capt. Scott being called away for a moment, we were standing idly on deck when one of the younger officers, who thought we had come to see and were not being attended to, took us into one of the laboratories that had been installed on deck, and began with great pains to explain the workings and importance of some meteorological instruments. My husband listened attentively, and set him right when he made some misstatement, whereupon the young man grew quite impatient, but had the grace to slip away shamefacedly when Scott, returning and taking in the situation, introduced Arctowski with great ceremony, and we all laughed at the enthusiasm of the young man, which had carried him beyond his depth.
          “It was some time after the return of the Discovery before Scott came to the Continent to lecture, and then, I don’t seem to remember why, he did not speak in Brussels. He was at my house four or five days, and such jolly times we had. Coming from Antwerp, he brought with him the son of the British Consul there, who was a clergyman, and I had visiting me a charming young girl from London, a pianist, who often played for me at concerts, &c., during the season. Together, we went sightseeing, and one day, at Scott’s suggestion, we made a trip to Waterloo.
          “At that time he had no desire to go back to the antarctic and was not enthusiastic about polar things. He spoke of his expedition as a duty undertaken and accomplished as he would have undertaken, to the best of his ability, any other duty assigned to him by his superior officer. Still, I think he felt very keenly the disappointment of having to turn back when he was so far along toward the Pole. He was so young and gay one could hardly realize that he had been at the head of that great expedition and governed all those men.
         “As Scott was a bachelor then, I invited all the young girls of my acquaintance to the party I gave for him and Altchewsky of the Opera came and sang some Russian folk songs for us. Toward the end of the evening I found these two men, so different in their careers, aims, and ambitions, hemmed into a corner conscientiously writing autographs for a bevy of very appreciative and delightfully enthusiastic young girls.”

      The Musical Courier, July 30, 1913

      Madame Arctowska on Walking Tour

          Madame Arctowska, the singer, and her husband are planning to spend the month of August in an interesting way. They intend traveling on foot down the Jersey coast, from Sandy Hook to Cape May, taking with them their two thoroughbred Airedale terriers. Madame Arctowska always was an enthusiastic walker, and she expects this little jaunt will help to prepare her for the coming season, which will be a busy one. This will be her first appearance in America after some years.