Ernest Shackleton
1874–1922 · Anglo-Irish (Ireland/London) · Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
Known for: Led the Endurance expedition—when his ship was crushed by ice, he brought all 28 men home alive in one of history's greatest survival stories
Shackleton was charismatic, resilient, and an extraordinary leader of men in crisis. When the Endurance was trapped and crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea, he kept his crew's morale up for months on the ice, then led them in lifeboats to Elephant Island.
He then sailed an open 22-foot boat 800 miles across the world's stormiest ocean to South Georgia, crossed unmapped mountains, and rescued every man. He was restless, terrible with money, and repeatedly unfaithful to his wife—but in a crisis, he was the greatest leader in the history of exploration.
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