Norbert Casteret
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Norbert Casteret (19 August 1897 – 20 July 1987) was a famous French
caver Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...
, adventurer and writer, and is one of the most recognisable names in caving worldwide. Following Édouard-Alfred Martel (the "father of modern
speleology Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their chemical composition, composition, structure, physical property, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenes ...
", although Casteret sometimes also enjoys this title), Casteret, along with Robert de Joly, became a leading figure of French speleology between the
world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...
s and into the middle of the 20th century.


Biography

Norbert Casteret was born in Saint-Martory in
Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...
on 19 August 1897. His father, Henry Casteret, was a
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
in
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
. His brothers were Roger, who died at the age of four, Jean and Martial Casteret, a
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
who accompanied his brother on some of his explorations. An all-round athlete and accomplished mountaineer, Casteret began caving in 1912, spanning the era of matches and candles into the age of electric lights. Unlike de Joly, who made caving his profession, Casteret was more the amateur adventurer (albeit a very knowledgeable one). Casteret served in the French
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
for three years during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, serving in his brother Jean's regiment. After being demobilized in 1919, he contracted the
Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...
. He kept the
helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...
and lamp he used in the
trenches A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches res ...
for future use in caving. Upon his return from the front, at his father's urging Casteret studied
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
and became a
notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...
's clerk, a position he quickly abandoned. In 1924, Casteret met his future wife, Élisabeth (born 13 May 1905), a doctor's daughter who ended her medical education after their marriage the same year. She later accompanied Casteret on many of his explorations, including the expedition to find the true source of the
Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux †...
. The couple had five children: Gilberte, Raoul, Maud, Raymonde and Marie. Élisabeth died on 6 May 1940 of
puerperal fever The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to last for six to eight weeks. There are three distinct phases of the postnatal period; the acute phase, lasting for six to twelve hours after birth; the ...
, a few days after the birth of their youngest child. Casteret's
motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...
was the
Latin phrase This is a list of Wikipedia articles of Latin phrases and their translation into English. To view all phrases on a single, lengthy document, see: List of Latin phrases (full). Lists of pages * List of Latin phrases (A) * List of Latin phrases ( ...
''Ad Augusta per Angusta'' (''through difficulties to greatness''). Casteret died in Toulouse on 20 July 1987, at age 89.


Caving career

Casteret's fame began with a bold free-dive in the Grotte de Montespan (French) in 1923, which led to the discovery of prehistoric cave drawings on the far side. He went on to undertake many important cave explorations, including the caves of Marboré, including Grotte Casteret, in 1926, the in 1931, Cigalère in 1931, () in 1933, Henne Morte (thought to be , corrected to ) in 1947, and the () in 1952–3 where his teammate Marcel Loubens died after a winch failure on the entrance shaft.Depths in parentheses were French depth-records at the time. Casteret's popularity grew in the 1940s and 1950s, in part from his prolific writing – hundreds of articles, and more than 40 books with numerous reprintings in French and translations into several languages. Two of his best-known works, (1933) and (1936) were combined and translated into English by Barrows Mussey as ''Ten Years Under the Earth'' in 1939. ''My Caves'', translated from the French by R. L. G. Irving, was published in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
by J.M. Dent & Sons in 1947, followed by ''The Darkness Under The Earth'', in 1954.


See also

* Grotte Casteret


Notes


References

*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Casteret, Norbert 1897 births 1987 deaths French cavers 20th-century French explorers French military personnel of World War I French speleologists Pyrénéistes Sportspeople from Toulouse 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers