Zdeněk Souček

Zdeněk "Frank" Souček (Brno, 9 September 1917 – Macquarie Island, 24 December 1967) was an Australian physician, polar and tropics explorer and traveler.

Zdeněk Souček in 1965

Souček gained his doctorate in 1947 at Charles University in Prague. He started to work in Prachatice where he got to know his future wife. He emigrated to the West Germany in 1949 and one year later to Australia where he joined Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions. He spent year 1952 on Macquarie Island, however he worked on New Ireland during 1953–1959. Besides tropical medicine he did an anthropology research here. After his return to ANARE, he participated in 12 Antarctic expeditions serving mostly as a physician. He studied influence of extreme conditions on human organism and bacteria in gastrointestinal tracts of polar birds and mammals. He worked mainly on Macquarie Island and at Wilkes Station.

He died of a heart attack on Macquarie Island. A cremation urn with his ashes is placed in Vodňany, Czech Republic.

Places named after Souček

Several places are named after Zdeněk Souček:

• Soucek Bay on Macquarie Island.
• Mount Soucek in Tula Mountains, Antarctica
• Soucek Ravine on Ardery Island