First Previous 7 OF 13 NextLast

Edward Leicester Atkinson

7 of 13 portraits by Herbert George Ponting

© National Portrait Gallery, London

1 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

Edward Leicester Atkinson

by Herbert George Ponting
gelatin silver print, 15 September 1911
12 1/8 in. x 15 in. (308 mm x 381 mm)
Purchased, 2010
Primary Collection
NPG P1364

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Herbert George Ponting (1870-1935), Photographer and antarctic explorer. Artist or producer associated with 13 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

The Royal Navy surgeon Atkinson joined Captain Scott 's Terra Nova expedition as medical officer and parasitologist. He travelled to within 293 miles of the Pole as part of the support party for the final push. On his return to the base-camp at Cape Evans leadership fell to him as sole remaining officer. He led the search party that found the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers on 12 November 1912.
Scott enthusiastically described his scientific studies: 'Atkinson is quietly pursuing the subject of parasites. Already he is in a new world…Constantly he comes to me to ask me if I would like to see some new form, and I am taken to see some protozoon or ascidian isolated on the slide plate of his microscope.'

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1911back to top

Current affairs

Asquith's Liberal government introduces the Parliament Act to curb the powers of the House of Lords following the clash between the Commons and Lords over the 1909 People's Budget. The Act removed the Lords' power to veto bills, reduced the length of Parliament from seven to five years, and provided for the payment of MPs.

Art and science

Ernest Rutherford discovers the structure of the atom. The New Zealand born physicist working in Manchester showed with his Nuclear Model that electrons orbited a nucleus composed of protons and neutrons. The discovery paved the way for nuclear physics.

International

The Polish Chemist, Marie Curie, becomes the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for her discovery in 1898 of the radioactive element, Radon.
The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre. The masterpiece was missing for two years, during which time suspicion fell on avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire and his friend Pablo Picasso, before Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the Louvre, was arrested in Florence.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.