Obituary

Baron Gaston de Gerlache de Gomery died on 13 July 2006 at the age of 86 (Fig. 1). On 11 January 1958, the 60 year old flag of Belgica flew once more in Antarctica when a short ceremony marked the construction of a geophysical observatory in Dronning Maud Land. This Belgian contribution to the Inter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Record
Main Author: Van Autenboer, Tony
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600581x
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740600581X
Description
Summary:Baron Gaston de Gerlache de Gomery died on 13 July 2006 at the age of 86 (Fig. 1). On 11 January 1958, the 60 year old flag of Belgica flew once more in Antarctica when a short ceremony marked the construction of a geophysical observatory in Dronning Maud Land. This Belgian contribution to the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–1958, as well as the subsequent Belgian Antarctic programmes were made possible thanks to the interest, initiative and unrelenting effort of Baron Gaston de Gerlache de Gomery. Like his famous father Adrien de Gerlache, at the end of the previous century, he managed to convince politicians and scientists that the world was not confined by the borders of Belgium.