World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr.

リチャード・イー・バード

Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr.

Aliases: Richard E. Byrd / Richard Evelyn Byrd

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1888-10-25 （Winchester, Virginia, U.S.）
Died
1957-03-11 （Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.） age 68
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Winchester, Virginia - birthplace → Boston (Beacon Hill), Massachusetts - later residence

Career

Occupations
Naval officer, Aviator, Explorer, Author
Active Years
1912-1956
Affiliations
United States Navy, National Geographic Society, Explorers Club, Boy Scouts of America (Honorary Scout), Pi Gamma Mu (honorary national president)
Memberships
Freemasons (Federal Lodge No.1, Kane Lodge No.454, etc.), National Sojourners, Sons of the American Revolution (Tennessee Society), Explorers Club, American Legion, National Geographic Society, Pi Gamma Mu (honorary national president)
Influenced By
Donald B. MacMillan, Floyd Bennett, Bernt Balchen
Influenced
Paul Allman Siple, Later polar explorers and polar research institutions (influenced establishment of Byrd Polar Research Center)

Education

Virginia Military Institute
Period: 在籍（中途退学）—1900年代初期
Country: United States
Attended for two years, later transferred
University of Virginia
Period: 在籍（途中退学）
Country: United States
Attended briefly before financial difficulties led to change
United States Naval Academy
Degree: Commission (Ensign)
Period: 1908–1912
Year of Graduation: 1912
Country: United States
Graduated 1912 and commissioned as an ensign

Awards

Medal of Honor
1926
Work: For the 1926 North Pole flight (claimed)
Organization: United States Government (special act of Congress)
Result: 受賞
Navy Cross
1929
Work: Flight to the South Pole (Byrd Antarctic Expedition I)
Organization: United States Navy
Result: 受賞
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
1926
Work: For leadership in the North Pole flight
Organization: United States Navy
Result: 受賞
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
1941
Work: For command of the U.S. Antarctic Service
Organization: United States Navy
Result: 受賞
Legion of Merit
1943
Work: Special Navy Mission to the Pacific
Organization: United States
Result: 受賞
Langley Gold Medal
1929
Work: Outstanding achievement in aviation
Organization: Smithsonian Institution
Result: 受賞
American Geographical Society Gold Medal
1930
Work: For Antarctic exploration and the South Pole flight
Organization: American Geographical Society
Result: 受賞
Silver Lifesaving Medal
1914
Work: For lifesaving acts at sea
Organization: United States Government
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Little America

1930 Non-fiction (exploration narrative)

Byrd's account of his first Antarctic expedition (Little America), describing base construction, aerial exploration, and scientific work.

Polar explorationAerial explorationScientific investigation
Adaptations
  • [Film] With Byrd at the South Pole (1930)

Alone

1938 Non-fiction (autobiography/memoir)

A memoir focusing on Byrd's experience alone at Advance Base during his second Antarctic expedition, including his carbon monoxide poisoning episode and psychological strains.

SolitudeExtreme conditionsExploration and science

Bibliography

  • Little America (1930)
  • Alone (1938)
  • Discovery: The Story of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition (1935)

Adaptations

  • With Byrd at the South Pole (1930 short film)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Autobiographical and empiricalExploration-report style with scientific detail
Recurring Motifs
Solitude of the polesAviation and navigationHarsh nature and scientific discovery

Health

  • Carbon monoxide poisoning
    1933–1934（第二次南極探検中、Advance Base滞在時）
    Nearly fatal episode during second Antarctic expedition; left serious physical and psychological effects, described in his memoir Alone.
  • Heart ailment (later life)
    1950年代（1957年に心臓疾患で死去）
    Died in his sleep of a heart ailment in 1957.

Legacy

Richard E. Byrd was a leading 20th-century polar explorer and pioneer of aerial polar exploration. He received numerous honors, has Antarctic place names (e.g., Marie Byrd Land) and institutions (Byrd Polar Research Center) named after him, and his 1926 claim to reach the North Pole remains controversial.

Museums

  • Byrd Polar Research Center Columbus, Ohio (The Ohio State University) Opened in 1987
  • Richard Byrd Library Springfield, Virginia (Fairfax County Public Library) Opened in 1958

Academic Societies

  • Pi Gamma Mu (honorary national president)
  • American Philosophical Society

Archives

  • Byrd Polar Research Center archival collection
  • Papers and expeditionary records transferred from Marie A. Byrd estate (1985)

In Popular Culture

  • 1930 short film 'With Byrd at the South Pole'
  • Appears in Maggie Shipstead's novel 'Great Circle' as a stopover and setting
  • Often referenced in polar-related conspiracy tales and UFO myths (e.g., 'holes in the pole')

Quotes

  • I have to warn my compatriots that the time has ended when we were able to take refuge in our isolation and rely on the certainty that the distances, the oceans, and the poles were a guarantee of safety.
    Source: Interview by International News Service (quoted in El Mercurio) (1947)

Trivia

  • His pet dog Igloo accompanied him on polar expeditions and is buried at Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery.
  • He named Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica after his wife Marie Ames Byrd.
  • He received three ticker-tape parades in New York City (1926, 1927, 1930).