Josephine Diebitsch Peary

Who was Josephine Diebitsch Peary?

Josephine Cecilia Diebitsch Peary was an American author and arctic explorer.

She was born as Josephine Cecilia Diebitsch in Forestville, Maryland on May 22, 1863 to a linguist at the Smithsonian Institution. She had a brother, Emil Diebitsch who would later become the Mayor of Nutley, New Jersey. In 1888 she married Arctic explorer Robert Peary, whom she often accompanied on his northern travels, recording her experiences in a series of books including My Arctic Journal and The Snow Baby. She died on December 19, 1955, only a few months after having been granted the National Geographic Society's highest honor, the Medal of Achievement, for her Arctic accomplishments.