This is a Timeline of women in Antarctica. This article describes many of the firsts and accomplishments that women from various countries have accomplished in different fields of endeavor on the continent of Antarctica.
650s 650 Māori legend, Ui-te-rangiora, is described in oral tradition as having reached Antarctic waters. Women were included in these explorations.
1770s 1773 The first confirmed woman to visit the Antarctic region was Louise Séguin, who sailed on the Roland with Yves Joseph de Kerguelen in 1773. 1776-1777 First female scientist in the sub-Antarctic region is botanist valet, Jeanne Baret.
1830s 1833 First written account about sub-Antarctic travel from a woman's perspective is written by Abby Jane Morrell. 1839 An unnamed female castaway who later traveled on the Eliza Scott and Sabrina journeyed "within sight of the continent."
1900s 1908-1910 Adolf Amandus Andresen, the Norwegian manager of the Sociedad Ballenera Magallanes, was accompanied by his wife in a whaling expedition in Deception Island. Meeting the French Antarctic expedition, Mrs. Andresen is mentioned in Jean-Baptiste Charcot's journal as "probably the first and only woman who ever came to Antarctica".
1930s 1931 Norwegian Ingrid Christensen and her companion, Mathilde Wegger, were the first recorded women to see Antarctica.
1935 Caroline Mikkelsen of Denmark becomes the first woman to set foot on Antarctica."Women in Antarctica: Sharing this Life-Changing Experience", transcript of speech by Robin Burns, given at the 4th Annual Phillip Law Lecture; Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; 18 June 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
1937 Christensen landed at Scullin Monolith, becoming the first woman to set foot on the Antarctic mainland, followed by her daughter, Augusta Sofie Christensen, and two other women: Lillemor Rachlew, and Solveig Widerøe.Bogen, H. (1957). Main events in the history of Antarctic exploration. Sandefjord: Norwegian Whaling Gazette, page 85
1940s 1947 Jackie Ronne is the first woman to explore Antarctica.
1947-1948 Ronne and Jennie Darlington winter-over. They are the first women to spend a year on Antarctica.
1950s
1956 Geologist Maria Klenova of the Soviet Union was the first woman to begin scientific work in Antarctica. Klenova helped create the first Antarctic atlas. Jennie Darlington publishes her book about spending a year in Antarctica called My Antarctic Honeymoon. 1957 Ruth Kelley and Pat Heppinstall, airline stewardesses, become first women to visit a United States Antarctic base.
1959-1960 Mary Gillham, Susan Ingham, Isobel Bennett and Hope MacPherson became the first British and Australian women scientists to do research in the Antarctic region, joining an Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition trip to Macquarie Island in December 1959.
1960s
1960 Artist Nel Law is the first Australian woman to set foot in Antarctica, landing at Mawson and visiting in an unofficial capacity. 1968 The first group of female scientists conducted research in Antarctica. They included biologist Irene Bernasconi, bacteriologist María Adela Caría, biologist Elena Martinez Fontes and Carmen Pujals, a specialist in algae. This made Bernasconi the first woman to lead an Antarctic expedition. She was aged 72 at the time. The first New Zealand woman to visit the mainland of Antarctica was Marie Darby. 1969
First team of women scientists from the United States, led by Lois Jones, works on Antarctica. First group of women to reach the pole were Pamela Young, Jean Pearson, Lois Jones, Eileen McSaveney, Kay Lindsay and Terry Tickhill. The women stepped off of the C-130 ramp at the same time. Christine Müller-Schwarze is the first American woman to do scientific research on the continent of Antarctica.
1970s 1970 Engineer Irene C. Peden is the first United States woman to work in the interior of Antarctica. 1971 New Zealand limnologist Ann Chapman leads a biological survey of frozen lakes in the Taylor Valley, becoming the first woman to lead an Antarctic expedition. 1973 Duke University Group includes technicians Hana Pinshow, the first Israeli woman to set foot on the continent, and Katy Muzik. 1974 Mary Alice McWhinnie is the chief scientist at McMurdo Station, becoming the first United States woman serving in that capacity on Antarctica. McWhinnie and Mary Odile Cahoon become the first women to overwinter at McMurdo Station. Australian women are allowed to travel to the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). 1974-1975 First women civilian contractors on Antarctica were Elena Marty and Jan Boyd. 1975 Eleanor Honnywill is the first woman to be awarded the Fuchs Medal from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The House of Representatives in Australia is asked how many women have gone to Antarctica so far: the answer is one. 1975-1976 Mary Alice McWhinnie is the first woman scientist to work at Palmer Station. The first three Australian women to visit the continent of Antarctica in an official capacity -Elizabeth Chipman, Jutta Hösel and Shelagh Robinson visit Casey station for the summer. 1976 Dr Zoe Gardner becomes the first woman to winter with the Australian Antarctic Program as a medical officer on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.
1977 Meher Moos becomes the first Indian woman to visit Antarctica. 1978 Silvia Morello de Palma of Argentina is the first woman to give birth on Antarctica on January 7. Margaret Winslow of the United States is the first woman to lead an expedition to Livingston Island, Antarctica
1979 First year the United States Navy advertises for "qualified female volunteers to over-winter in Antarctica." 1978-1979 Michele Eileen Raney is the first woman physician to work year-round on Antarctica. She was also the first woman to winter at the South Pole.
1980s 1981 Dr Louise Holliday is the first woman to winter in Antarctica for the Australian Antarctic Program serving as medical officer at Davis station.
1983 First British woman, Janet Thomson, joins the British Antarctic Survey, and becomes the first British woman on Antarctica. On November 16, American Brooke Knapp, is the first person to land at McMurdo Station for a round the world flight and the first person to pilot a business jet over both the North and South Poles. Geologist Sudipta Sengupta and Aditi Pant, a marine biologist are the first women scientists from India to take part in Antarctic Expedition. 1984 Josefina Castellví is the first Spanish woman to participate in and coordinate an international expedition to Antarctica. 1985 First woman married at the South Pole is Patricia Manglicmot to Randall Chambers. The first women to winter-over at Palmer Station were Ann Wylette and Becky Heimark. Thea de Moel is the first Dutch woman to reach Antarctica as a crew member aboard the 'Footsteps of Scott Expedition' ship Southern Quest. 1986 The first Polar Medal is awarded to a woman, Virginia Fiennes, who was honored for her work in the Transglobe Expedition. Ann Peoples became the manager of the Berg Field Center in 1986, becoming the first U.S. woman to serve in a "significant leadership role." 1987 Elizabeth Chipman publishes Women on the Ice: A History of Women in the Far South. 1988 American Lisa Densmore is the first woman to summit Mount Vinson. 1987-1988 First South African women to over-winter at Marion Island were Marianna Steenkamp and Marieta Cawood. 1988-1989 Alison J. Clifton commands the Macquarie Island station, becoming the first woman to lead a sub-Antarctic base. 1989 Victoria E. Murden and Shirley Metz are the first women to reach the South Pole by land. Denise Allen and Dr Lynn Williams are jointly the first women to be awarded the Australian Antarctic Medal. Australian, Diana Patterson, head of Mawson station, becomes the first female station leader of an Antarctic base. 1989-1990 Joan Russell at Casey station and Monika Puskeppeleit at Georg von Neumayer are the first women to simultaneously lead bases on the continent.
1990s
1990-1991 First all-female over-wintering group spends the winter at Georg von Neumayer, with leader Monika Puskeppeleit. 1991 In-Young Ahn is the first female leader of an Asian research station (King Sejong Station), and the first South Korean woman to step onto Antarctica. Serap Tilav is the first Turkish woman at the South Pole. Junko Tabei, who later becomes the first woman to complete the Seven Summits, climbs to the summit of Mount Vinson. 1992 Judy Chesser Coffman, of the U.S. Navy, was the first female helicopter pilot to fly in Antarctica, in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF).Navy Personnel Command, Timeline of Women in the US Navy, 1993 Ann Bancroft leads the first all-woman expedition to the South Pole and becomes the first woman to reach both the South and North Pole. 1994 Liv Arnesen of Norway is the first woman to ski alone to the South Pole. Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann with Lin Onus become the first Indigenous Australians to visit Antarctica. 1996 First year that women over-winter at the Halley Research Station. 1996-1997 Laurence de la Ferrière is the first French woman to cross the Antarctic solo. Dr. Aithne Rowseis the first South African woman to overwinter in Antarctica 1997 (see SANAE).
1997-1998 Four Ukrainian women overwintered in Antarctica at Ukrainian research station Vernadsky Research Base as part of the 2nd country's Antarctic expedition: geophysicist Maryna Orlova, meteorologists Svitlana Krakovska and Lyudmyla Mankivska, and cook Galyna Kolotnytska.
2000s
2000 Zhao Ping and Lin Qing are the first Chinese women to over-winter at Antarctica. Fiona Thornewill and Catharine Hartley become the first British women to walk to the South Pole on foot. Caroline Hamilton and four other women become the first British women to ski to the South Pole as an all-women expedition. 2001 Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen are the first women to ski across Antarctica. 2003 Lynne Cox swims more than a mile in Antarctic waters. US Coast Guard pilot Sidonie Bosin is the first female aviation officer in charge of air crews in the Antarctic. Physician Assistant Heidi Lim Rehm spends first winter at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. As of 2020 she holds the record for the most winters spent by a woman at the South Pole. She spent five winters total: 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. 2004 Fiona Thornewill became first British woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole in a record breaking 41 days. Linda Beilharz is the first Australian woman to ski to the South Pole. Jackie Ronne publishes her memoirs about her year in Antarctica called Antarctica's First Lady: Memoirs of the First American Woman to Set Foot on the Antarctic Continent and Winter-Over as a Member of a Pioneering Expedition. 2005 Merieme Chadid is the first Moroccan woman on Antarctica. Loretta Feris is the first black South African woman to work as a principal investigator for an Antarctic project. 2006 Hannah McKeand sets coast-to-pole solo/unsupported record of 39 days, 9 hours and 33 minutes. Bettine van Vuuren of South Africa is the first female scientist Chief Scientist in the South African National Antarctic Programme's annual relief voyage in 2006. 2007 Clare O'Leary is the first Irish woman to reach the South Pole. Sarah Ames of Germany is the first woman to complete a marathon on all seven continents. 2008 Sumiyo Tsuzuki is the first Japanese woman to reach the South Pole. 2009