author
Lincoln Ellsworth
1880–1951
Drawn to the planet’s most remote frontiers, this American explorer helped open a new era of polar travel by air. His flights over the Arctic and Antarctica turned him into one of the great adventure figures of the early 20th century.
2 Audiobooks
Our polar flight
by Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth
D'Europe en Amérique par le pôle nord : voyage du dirigeable "Norge"
by Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth
About the author
Born in Chicago on May 12, 1880, he studied at Yale and Columbia before working as a surveyor and engineer. Backed by family wealth but driven by real curiosity, he moved from technical work into exploration and became closely associated with the great polar expeditions of his time.
He is best known for helping finance and join Roald Amundsen’s Arctic ventures, including the 1926 airship Norge flight over the North Pole region. In Antarctica, he led major aerial expeditions of his own and is widely remembered for the 1935 trans-Antarctic flight with pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, a landmark achievement in polar aviation.
Along with exploring, he wrote about his travels and helped bring the drama of the polar regions to a wider public. He died in New York on May 26, 1951, leaving behind a legacy tied to some of the boldest flights ever attempted over ice and snow.