John Bicknell Auden

Who was John Bicknell Auden?

John Bicknell Auden was an English geologist and explorer, and an official with the World Health Organization. He worked for many years with the Geological Survey of India. Auden's Col is named after him.

Auden was born in York, the second son of George Augustus Auden and older brother of W. H. Auden. He was educated at St Edmund's School, Hindhead, a Surrey prep school, Marlborough College, and Cambridge. In 1926 he joined the Geological Survey of India, where he remained until he retired in the early 1950s.

His exploration and mapping of the high Karakoram region of the Himalayas was the subject of Eric Shipton's Blank on the Map. In 1940 he was elected president of the Geological Institute of Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1945-51, he was engaged in investigating all the major dam sites, hydro electric projects, irrigation works and water supply schemes of India.

In 1960 he joined the World Health Organization, where he worked until 1970. After retiring he lived in London, where he served for two years as vice-president of the Geological Society of London.