Strzelecki, Sir Paul Edmund de (1797-1873), a Polish explorer and scientist, climbed and named Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in the Australian Alps, in 1840. He was interested in geology and mineralogy, and he explored much of New South Wales and Tasmania. In 1839, he found small quantities of gold near Hartley and Wellington, in New South Wales. He claimed that the Bathurst area contained gold in larger quantities. In 1840, he went from Mount Kosciuszko through Gippsland to Western Port and Melbourne. The track was so rough that he was forced to abandon his horses and many geological specimens.
Strzelecki was born on July 20, 1797, near what is now Poznań, Poland. He was educated in Warsaw and entered the Prussian army. He landed in Australia in 1839 but settled in the United Kingdom in 1843. He died in London on Oct. 6, 1873.
See also Snowy Mountains.
