Norbert Casteret
Encyclopedia
Norbert Casteret was a famous French caver and adventurer, and is one of the most recognisable names in caving worldwide. Following Édouard-Alfred Martel
Édouard-Alfred Martel
, the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation...

 (the "father of modern speleology
Speleology
Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form and change over time...

", although Casteret sometimes also enjoys this title), Casteret, along with Robert de Joly
Robert de Joly
Robert-Jacques de Joly was a famous French caver and speleologist. Considered by some as the successor to Édouard-Alfred Martel , de Joly was a leading figure of French speleology between the world wars and into the 1960s.De Joly was an active cave explorer throughout his entire life, from age...

, became a leading figure of French speleology between the world war
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....

s and into the middle of the 20th century.

An all-round athlete and accomplished mountaineer, Casteret began caving in 1912, spanning the era of matches and candles into the age of electric lights. Unlike de Joly, who made caving his profession, Casteret was more the amateur adventurer (albeit a very knowledgeable one).

Casteret's fame began with a bold free-dive in the in 1923, which led to the discovery of prehistoric cave drawings on the far side. He went on to undertake many important cave explorations, including the caves of Marboré in 1926, the in 1931, Cigalère in 1931, (−303 metres) in 1933, Henne Morte (thought to be −446 m, corrected to −358 m) in 1947, and the (−689 m) in 1952–3 where his teammate Marcel Loubens died after a winch failure on the entrance shaft.Depths in parentheses were French depth-records at the time.

Casteret's popularity grew in the 1940s and 1950s, in part from his prolific writing – hundreds of articles, and more than 40 books with numerous reprintings in French and translations into several languages. Two of his best-known works, (1933) and (1936) were combined and translated into English as Ten Years Under the Earth in 1939.

My Caves, translated from the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 by R. L. G. Irving, was published in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

by J.M. Dent & Sons in 1947.
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