Reginald Koettlitz

Reginald Koettlitz (1860–1916) was a British physician and polar explorer. He participated in the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition to Franz Josef Land and in the Discovery Expedition to Antarctica.

Early life Reginald Koettlitz was born on 23 December 1860 in Ostend. His father was a Lutheran minister, and his mother was English. He was educated at Dover College and later Guy's Hospital in London, where he received training as a physician. He practiced medicine near Dover.

Exploration

In 1894, Koettlitz joined the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition to Franz Josef Land in the Arctic, as physician and geologist. On returning to Dover, brought back a polar bear, which is still in the Dover Museum. Koettlitz Island (Ketlitsa Ostrova) – a low-lying island in the British Channel in the Franz Josef Land archipelago – is named after him. While on the expedition, he was also called on to treat the captain of the expedition's ship Windward. Koettlitz discovered that the captain had syphilis. Whilst on this Expedition Koettlitz designed and manufactured a tent that is the basic design of tents used in polar exploration for many years after. (Scott's forgotten Surgeon -AA Jones)

In 1900 he travelled to Somaliland and Abyssinia with Herbert Weld Blundell. He also journeyed to the Amazon.

On this expedition Koettlitz took the first colour photos of Antarctica - These, along with his scientific reports did not appear in the final reports of the Expedition - apparently Scott had little respect for him - 55 colour prints and the logs are now missing.(Scott's forgotten Surgeon -AA Jones)

He also carried out scientific work. Many of his samples are held in the archives of the Natural History Museum, London. His assistant on this trip was E.A. Wilson, later surgeon on Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition. On a trip he led across McMurdo Sound, Koettlitz discovered two glacial features later named after him: the Koettlitz Glacier and the Koettlitz Névé. For his role in the Discovery Expedition, Koettlitz was awarded a medal from the Royal Geographical Society.

Later in life, he practised medicine in Cradock, South Africa. He died from dysentery in January 1916, as did his French born wife on the same day.

Publications