# Max Cosyns > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Max_Cosyns > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Max_Cosyns.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Cosyns > Source revision: 1342217383 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Belgian physicist, caver, and explorer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Max Cosyns |image = File:Professeur Cosijns vers 1935 - FNRS et la sphère de Piccard (cropped).jpg |caption = 1935 |birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1906|5|29}} |birth_place = [Belgium](/source/Belgium) |death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1998|3|30|1906|5|29}} |field = [physics](/source/physics), inventor, [explorer](/source/explorer) |work_institution =[Free University of Brussels](/source/Free_University_of_Brussels_(1834%E2%80%931969)) (now [Université libre de Bruxelles](/source/Universit%C3%A9_libre_de_Bruxelles) and [Vrije Universiteit Brussel](/source/Vrije_Universiteit_Brussel)) |signature = Solvay1933Signature Cosyns.jpg }} '''Max Cosyns''' (29 May 1906 – 30 March 1998) was a [Belgian](/source/Belgium) [physicist](/source/physicist), inventor, [explorer](/source/explorer) and [speleologist](/source/Speleology). == Early life and education == Max Cosyns was [Auguste Piccard](/source/Auguste_Piccard)'s assistant at the [Université libre de Bruxelles](/source/Universit%C3%A9_libre_de_Bruxelles) and on 18 August 1932 participated in the record-breaking ascent into the [stratosphere](/source/stratosphere) to 16,200 m (53,152 ft), launched from [Dübendorf](/source/D%C3%BCbendorf), [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland). For this he was awarded the [Cross of Knight of the Order of Leopold](/source/Order_of_Leopold_(Belgium)) by the [Belgian King](/source/Leopold_III_of_Belgium) in 1932.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1932/1932%20-%200942.html 16 September 1932]. ''[Flightglobal](/source/Flightglobal)'', [PDF](/source/Portable_Document_Format). Retrieved 30 September 2009. == Career == On 18 August 1934, Cosyns together with his student Nérée van der Elst piloted a balloon to an altitude of 52,952 feet. Following a take-off from Hour-Havenne in Belgium, they flew over Germany and [Austria](/source/Austria) before landing near the village of [Ženavlje](/source/%C5%BDenavlje) (now in [Slovenia](/source/Slovenia)). They were unsuccessful in maintaining satisfactory radio communication with ground, but were able to make observations of the [currents](/source/Air_current) in the stratosphere as well as investigate the nature of the [cosmic ray](/source/cosmic_ray)s. They failed to beat the height record, but stated on landing that they were fully satisfied with their discoveries.Gregory P. Kennedy, [http://www.ispyspace.com/1900_to_1950.html Chronology of Human Space Exploration Part 1: 1900 – 1950]. Retrieved 30 September 2009.[https://web.archive.org/web/20101125090509/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,747787,00.html ''Aeronautics: Up, Drift, Down''] ''[Time Magazine](/source/Time_(magazine))'' Monday, 27 August 1934. Retrieved 30 September 2009.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.lookandlearn.com/childrens-newspaper/CN340901-002.pdf|title=The Explorers of the Sky, Investigating the Cosmic Rays|magazine=[Look and Learn](/source/Look_and_Learn)|year=2007}} A large [bronze](/source/bronze) monument in the shape of a balloon was erected in 1997 on the spot of their landing in [Ženavlje](/source/%C5%BDenavlje) to commemorate the event.[http://rkd.situla.org/ Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage] reference number 17195 == Second World War resistance == In the Second World War, he joined the [Resistance](/source/Belgian_Resistance) and was imprisoned in [Dachau concentration camp](/source/Dachau_concentration_camp). After the war he was co-director of the [FNRS-2](/source/FNRS-2) [bathyscaphe](/source/bathyscaphe) expedition in [Dakar](/source/Dakar) in 1948. In 1952, he was in charge of the [speleological](/source/speleology) expedition to the [Gouffre de La Pierre Saint-Martin](/source/Gouffre_de_La_Pierre_Saint-Martin) cave system in the [Pyrenees](/source/Pyrenees). The French speleologist [Marcel Loubens](/source/Marcel_Loubens), died in an accident with an [electric hoist](/source/Hoist_(device)) during the ascent after spending four days in the cave when the steel cable snapped. Cosyns as head of the expedition and due to his involvement in the design of the [winch](/source/winch) was considered responsible for the accident.[http://juraspeleo.ffspeleo.fr/docu/presse/1952_psm/19520818_01.htm] ''[Le Progrès](/source/Le_Progr%C3%A8s)''. 18 August 1952[https://books.google.com/books?id=WVYEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Cosyns%20Loubens&pg=PA14] ''[Life Magazine](/source/Life_(magazine))'' 1 September 1952Occhialini and the Università Libre de Bruxelles. An interview by L. Gariboldi in ''The Scientific Legacy of Beppo Occhialini'', Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2006, {{ISBN|978-3-540-37353-7}} == Personal life == Cosyns married fellow Belgian resistance member and lawyer [Andrée Grandjean](/source/Andr%C3%A9e_Grandjean).{{Cite book |last=Gubin (historica.) |first=Éliane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIPj8NRvuNAC&q=grandjean |title=Dictionnaire des femmes belges: XIXe et XXe siècles |date=2006 |publisher=Lannoo Uitgeverij |isbn=978-2-87386-434-7 |language=fr}} ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.ballong.org/peter/jesper/cia/report.php?period=06&title=Part%206,%201926-1950 CIA notable flights and achievements Part 6, 1926–1950] * {{PM20|FID=pe/003499}} {{Authority control}} {{S-start}} {{Succession box | title = Human altitude record | years = 1932–1933 | with = [Auguste Piccard](/source/Auguste_Piccard) | before = [Auguste Piccard](/source/Auguste_Piccard) and Paul Kipfer | after = [USSR-1](/source/USSR-1) }} {{S-end}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosyns, Max}} Category:Belgian balloonists Category:Belgian explorers Category:Belgian physicists Category:1906 births Category:1998 deaths Category:Flight altitude record holders Category:Belgian aviation record holders --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Max Cosyns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Cosyns) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Cosyns?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.