Cornelis Giles
Cornelis Giles (in Dutch: Cornelis Cornelisz. Gielis), born in Den Helder around 1675 and died at sea on July 2, 1722, was a Dutch navigator and cartographer.
As a whaler, Giles traveled in 1707 north of Nordaustlandet in Svalbard and managed to reach a degree farther north of Sjuøyane without encountering ice. A published abstract in the Royal Geographical Society's proceedings remarked in 1873 that such voyages "have never been equalled (sic) up to the present day".[1] He then continued his route eastward in an open sea and sighted an unknown high land at 80° N, the island Kvitøya, which will not be seen again until 1876. The location appeared on charts as "Giles Land" for a number of years,[2] and it was visited for an exploration in 1898 by Alfred Gabriel Nathorst.[3] Somehow hence, the island came to be considered mythical -- as late as 1935 -- when an expedition by Georgy Ushakov and the icebreaker Sadko was described in the news as seeking "a phantom island" or "the alleged island" of Gillis or Giles Island.[4]
Giles died at sea on July 2, 1722, and he was buried in Den Helder on August 19, 1722. The Gilessundet inlet in Svalbard was named in his honor.
References
- ^ Markham, Clements (1873). On Discoveries east of Spitzbergen, and Attempts to reach the Pole on the Spitzbergen Meridians. London: Royal Geographical Society. p. 99.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Norum, Roger; Proctor, James (2018). Svalbard (Spitsbergen). Chalfont Saint Peter, United Kingdom: Bradt Travel Guides. p. 130. ISBN 9781784770471.
- ^ Colby, Frank Moore (1918). The New International Encyclopedia, Volume 9. Dodd, Mead. p. 766.
- ^ "Soviet Expedition Seeks Lost Phantom Island in the Arctic". The Evening News. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. August 22, 1935. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- Michel d'Arcangues, Dictionary of pole explorers , Séguier, 2002, p. 223