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
French Federation of Speleology of speleology within the (CNRS). On 28 May 1948, Jeannel met in Paris with the presidents of the clubs known to cavers as well as various eminent speleologists, under the auspices of the CNRS. This was the birth of the (CNS), whose headquarters was established at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris. The CNS consisted of the chairpersons of speleological organisations and some exceptional personalities who had "contributed in particular, for their work in the development of French caving". The inaugural committee comprised 21 organisation representatives or individuals, most of whom were scientists. Among the members was Robert de