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 offered assistance (including financial) to cavers and prepared special legislation for the exploration, discovery and exploitation of underground systems. The published a quarterly newsletter and a "Spelunca" journal (2nd series) for the publication of scientific papers and detailed accounts of exploration. On 1 March 1936, proposed by Bernard Gèze, the became the (SSF), residing in Nîmes at the Natural History Museum. The intention was to give national status to a hitherto only regional group. The SSF admitted subsidiaries and affiliates. It also continued the publication of "Spelunca". The first national speleological conference took place in Mazamet in 1939. Unlike the