On 29 May 1951, Jean Malaurie and the Inuk companion Kutsikitsoq reached the North Geomagnetic Pole, marking a significant milestone in polar exploration. This expedition was one of thirty-one missions the French researcher conducted between 1948 and 1990, spanning territories from Greenland to Siberia to document the geomorphological and anthropological realities of the Arctic.
Early Career and Geographic Studies
Born in 1922 in Mainz, Malaurie pursued extensive education at the Lycée Condorcet, Lycée Henri-IV, Lycée Hoche, and the Faculty of Arts of Paris. His early academic work focused on geomorphology, leading to missions in the Hoggar desert and Greenland. As a geomorphologist for the French Polar Expeditions, he mapped regions of northern Greenland, identifying previously unknown fjords. In 1962, he earned his Docteur d'État de géographie from the University of Paris with a thesis centered on geocryological ecosystems.
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In 1950, Malaurie led the first French geographical and ethnological mission to Northern Greenland for the CNRS. During this time, he established the first four-generation genealogy of 302 Inughuit individuals, implementing strategies to mitigate risks of consanguinity. His documentation of Inuit sociology and rituals informed his method of anthropogeography, which posits that human culture must be interpreted through the lens of the physical environment. In 1955, he published his foundational work, Last Kings of Thule, which was eventually translated into twenty-three languages.
Academic and Institutional Leadership
Appointed to the Chair of Polar Geography at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in 1957, Malaurie founded the Center for Arctic Studies and the journal Inter-Nord. He served as the founder and director of the Terre Humaine collection at Plon from 1954 until 2015. His administrative influence extended to international projects, including his role as the leader of the first Franco-Soviet expedition to Siberia in 1990 and the founding of the State Polar Academy in Saint-Petersburg in 1992.
Advocacy and Recognition
Malaurie acted as an advisor to the governments of Washington, Ottawa, Copenhagen, and Moscow regarding the rights of Arctic minorities. He frequently contested industrial encroachment in the Far North, most notably protesting the construction of the Thule Air Base in 1951. His service was recognized through numerous distinctions, including his appointment as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2007, the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2015, and the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit in 2020. He died in Dieppe in 2024.
Fast facts
- Born: 1922, Mainz
- Died: 2024, Dieppe
- Citizenship: France
- Notable Work: Ultima Thule: Explorers and Natives in the Polar North
- Positions: UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador (2007-2024)
- Academic Base: School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences
- Key Discovery: Whale Alley, 1990
Questions readers ask
What was the significance of the Terre Humaine collection?
Founded by Malaurie at Plon in 1954, the series aimed to shift focus away from Western-centric perspectives, publishing anthropological classics like Last Kings of Thule.
What is anthropogeography according to Malaurie?
It is a methodology viewing the history, rituals, and sociology of Arctic peoples as inseparable from their specific physical environment.
Achievements
- Commander of the National Order of Merit
- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
- Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour
- commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
- Recorded as physicist, anthropologist and ethnohistorian
