Weyprecht, Karl

views updated

Karl Weyprecht (kärl vī´prĕkht), 1838–81, German arctic explorer. With Julius von Payer he made a voyage to Novaya Zemlya in 1871. Weyprecht and Payer were leaders of an Austrian expedition (1872–74) to the arctic in the course of which Franz Josef Land was discovered. Weyprecht became an advocate of internationally coordinated exploration of the polar regions; his views were influential in the formation of the first International Polar Year of 1882–83.

See J. von Payer, New Lands within the Arctic Circle (1876).