The Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations et Voyages de Découverte (, "Great Gold Medal of Exploration and Journeys of Discovery") has been awarded since 1829 by the Société de Géographie of France for journeys whose outcomes have enhanced geographical knowledge.

Recipients YearRecipientReason1829Captain John Franklin for his voyage to the North Polar region1830René Caillié and Major Alexander Gordon Laing for their journey to Timbuktu1832Jean Baptiste Douville for his journey to the Congo and in equatorial Africa1834Captain John Ross for his voyages in the Polar seas1835Alcide d'Orbigny for his journeys in southern America1836Captain Camille Callier for his journeys in the Orient (Middle East)1837Captain George Back for his voyages in the Arctic region1838Frédéric DuBois de Montperreux for his journey in the Caucasus region1841Rear-admiral Dumont d'Urville for his voyage to the South Pole and Oceania1843James Clark Rossfor his discoveries in the Antarctic seas1844Xavier Hommaire de Hellfor his voyage on the Caspian SeaJoseph-Pons d'Arnaudfor his journey towards the source of the White Nile1845Claude Gay for his journey to Chile and for their journey in Abyssinia1846Charles Tilstone Beke and for their journey in Abyssinia (medal returned by Beke)1847Ludwig Leichhardt for his journey in Australia for his journey in Choa1850Antoine and Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie for their journey in Abyssinia1855Captain Robert McClure for discovering the North-west Passage1856Henry Barthfor his journey to Timbuktu1857David Livingstonefor his journeys across southern Africa1858Elisha Kent Kanefor his journey to the Arctic regions1859Hermann, Robert and Adolf von Schlagintweit for their explorations in Tibet and Turkestan1860Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke for their exploration of the great lakes of east Africa1861 for his exploration of the Khorassan1864Henri Duveyrier for his exploration of the Algerian Sahara and the country of the Touareg1867Sir Samuel White Bakerfor his journey in equatorial Africa1869Ernest Doudart de Lagrée and Francis Garnier for their exploration of Indo-China1872Alfred Grandidierfor his exploration of Madagascar1876Gustav Nachtigalfor his journey across central Africa1877Verney Lovett Cameronfor his journey across equatorial Africa1878Henry Morton Stanleyfor his journey across equatorial Africa1879Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzafor his exploration of the Upper Ogoue 1880Adolf Nordenskjoldthe Northwest Passage1881Major Alexandre de Serpa Pintofor his journey across Africa1884Alphonse Milne-Edwardsfor underwater surveying and dredging from the ships Travailleur and Talisman1886Hermenegildo de Brito Capelofor his journey across southern Africa1890Captain Louis Gustave Binger for his journey of exploration from the Upper Niger to the Gulf of Guinea1891Gabriel Bonvalot for his journey from Siberia to Tonkin via Tibet1893Parfait-Louis Monteilfor his journey from Senegal to Tripoli via Chad1896Prince Henri of Orléans for his journey from the Gulf of Tonkin to the Gulf of Bombay, 18951897Fridtjof Nansen for his crossing of the Arctic Sea, 1893–18961898Édouard Foà for his crossing of equatorial Africa, 1894–18971899Emile Gentil for exploration in Africa, from the Congo to Chad, 1895–18981900Jean-Baptiste Marchand for the Congo-Nile expedition, 1896–18991901Fernand Foureau for the (Foureau-Lamy) trans-Sahara expedition, 1898–19001902Captain Paul Joalland for the (Joalland-Meynier) expedition to central Africa, 1899–19011903Auguste Pavie for his exploration of Indo-China, 1879–18951904Sven Hedin for his explorations in central Asia, 1894–19021907Colonel for his geodesic expedition at the Equator1910Sir Ernest Shackleton for exploration of Antarctica1912Jean-Baptiste Charcotfor his Antarctic expeditions1913Raoul Amundsenfor the discovery of the South Pole1914Admiral Robert E. Pearyfor the discovery of the North Pole1918for the expedition to central Africa1922Charles Howard-Buryfor the Everest Expedition of 1921Charles Granville Bruce for the Everest Expedition of 19221923Sir Aurel Stein for explorations in central AsiaRosita Forbes for her exploration of the Kufra oasis1924Ole Olufsenfor his journey to the French Saharafor the journey from Cameroon to Cairo via Lake Tchad and the Libyan Desert1925Baron Adrien de Guerlache de Gomeryfor the Belgian Antarctic Expedition 1897–1899 and 1905: 07–091927Charles Lindberghfor the first crossing of the Atlantic by aeroplane1928for exploration in Angola1929Ahmed Hassanein and Prince Kamal el Dine Husseinfor their exploration of the eastern Sahara1932Wickliffe Preston Draper for the Augiéras-Draper Expedition (Southern Sahara), 1927–19281933Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Audouin-Dubreuilfor the Citroën Expedition to Central Asia, 1931–19321939Alexander Hamilton Ricefor his exploration of the Amazon Basin1950French expedition to the Himalayas and Maurice Herzogfor the first ascent of Annapurna1952Théodore Monod for expeditions and studies in Africa1953Augustin Lombard for his study trip up Mount Everest1954Georges Houot and Pierre Willm for the first dive into the deep ocean in a Bathyscaphe1955John Hunt, Baron Hunt, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgayfor the first ascent of Mount Everest1957Henri Lhotefor his travel and archaeological work in the Sahara1958Vivian Fuchs for the first transantarctic expedition and complete crossing of the continent1970Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins for the first landing on the Moon1977Germaine Dieterlen for Ethnology, especially the black civilisations (Dogon, Molinké and Bambara)1979Norbert Casteret for Speleology1991Jean-Louis Étiennefor his transantarctic expedition1998Patrice Franceschifor his New Guinea expedition1999Georges Pernoudfor his television series Thalassa2001Yann Arthus-Bertrandfor the sum of his photographic work2002Jean-Yves Empereur for his archaeological discoveries in Egypt, notably in the port of Alexandria (underwater archaeology)2003Nicolas Hulotfor his expeditions, his television programs and his works2004for his Arctic expedition of 2000–20042005 Jean-Marc Pineaufor having retraced on foot the journey of René Caillié and his account of the journey Sur les pas de René Caillié2006 Érik Orsennafor the sum of his work, Salut au Grand Sud and Voyages aux Pays du Coton 2007 Jean Raspailfor the sum of his work

See also

List of geography awards

References