author
Josephine Diebitsch Peary
1863–1955
An adventurous writer who refused to stay behind, she joined Arctic expeditions to Greenland and later turned those experiences into vivid books and lectures. Her life blended travel, endurance, and a rare firsthand view of the far North.
3 Audiobooks
Children of the Arctic
by Josephine Diebitsch Peary, Marie Ahnighito Peary
My Arctic journal: a year among ice-fields and Eskimos
by Josephine Diebitsch Peary
The Snow Baby: A true story with true pictures
by Josephine Diebitsch Peary
About the author
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1863, Josephine Diebitsch Peary became known as an American author and Arctic explorer at a time when very few women were associated with polar travel. She married Robert E. Peary in 1888, but her own story is more than a footnote to his: she traveled with expeditions to northern Greenland and built a public reputation as a capable observer and storyteller.
Bowdoin College's Arctic Museum notes that she accompanied the 1891 expedition to Greenland, and she is widely remembered as the first white woman to winter in the Arctic. She spent multiple seasons in the far North, where she wrote about daily life, travel, and the people she met, experiences that later shaped books including My Arctic Journal: A Year among Ice-Fields and Eskimos.
Her writing helped bring Arctic exploration to readers who would never see that world for themselves. She lived until 1955, leaving behind a record of courage, curiosity, and sharp-eyed reporting from one of the harshest environments on earth.