Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel (1 July 1859, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise – 3 June 1938, Montbrison), the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation. Martel explored thousands of caves in his native France and many other countries, popularised the pursuit of cave exploration, introduced the concept of speleology as a distinct area of scientific study, maintained an extensive archive, and in 1895 founded , the first organisation devoted to cave science in the world. Édouard-Alfred Martel was born in Pontoise, Seine-et-Oise on 1 July 1859. Born into a family of lawyers, he studied at the
International Union of Speleology International Union of Speleology International Union of Speleology (, UIS) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization to promote interaction between academic and technical speleologists from a wide range of nationalities for the purpose of developing and coordinating international speleology in all of its scientific, technical, cultural and economic aspects. It formed in 1965 upon the initiative of the International Speleological Congress (held every four years since 1949) Its voting members consist of a delegate from each member country representing the cavers and speleologists of that country, rather than any of the official national bodies. Its activities take place in a number