Biography

American geologist and cartographer. Charles Hitchcock was born in Boston and studied geology at Harvard University. After graduating he was offered the opportunity to visit the 'Lost World' of southern Venezuela with the American Museum of Natural History Tyler-Duida Expedition. The party was led by G.H.H. Tate and for his part Hitchcock produced vegetation maps of the lowlands of the Orinoco Valley and Mount Duida rising to the river's north.

The 1928-1929 expedition party were the first scientists to reach the summit of Mount Duida and discovered that the area contained a unique endemic flora, not the same plants found on Mount Roraima, as some had predicted would be the case. The trip sparked a lifelong interest in Latin America for Hitchcock and in 1930 he joined the staff of the American Geographical Society as editor of the society's Map of Hispanic America, completed in 1947.

In 1933 he gained his master's degree from Columbia University and in the following years returned to Venezuelan Guiana as a field scientist with William and Katherine Phelps. In 1943 he became Assistant Director of the Geographical Society and a decade later Director (1953-1966). He also served as president of the Explorers Club from 1959-1961. Many honours were conferred on him for his services to geography, especially of Latin America.

Sources:
Wilma B. Fairchild, 1969, "Obituary: Charles Baker Hitchcock", The Geographical Journal, 135(2): 322
H.A. Gleason, 1931, "Botanical Results of the Tyler-Duida Expedition", Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 58(5): 277, 279
O. Huber and J.J. Wurdack, 1984, "History of Botanical Exploration in Territorio Federal Amazonas, Venezuela", Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, 56: 38.