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
  1. Markham, Clements (1873). On Discoveries east of Spitzbergen, and Attempts to reach the Pole on the Spitzbergen Meridians. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London. London: Royal Geographical Society. p. 99.
  2. Norum, Roger; Proctor, James (2018). Svalbard (Spitsbergen). Chalfont Saint Peter, United Kingdom: Bradt Travel Guides. p. 130. ISBN 9781784770471.
  3. Colby, Frank Moore (1918). The New International Encyclopedia, Volume 9. Dodd, Mead. p. 766.
  4. "Soviet Expedition Seeks Lost Phantom Island in the Arctic". The Evening News. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. August 22, 1935. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  • Michel d'Arcangues, Dictionary of pole explorers , Séguier, 2002, p. 223
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