Édouard-Alfred Martel (1 July 1859,
Pontoise,
Val-d'Oise – 3 June 1938,
Montbrison), the 'father of modern
speleology', was a world pioneer of
cave exploration, study, and documentation. Martel explored thousands of caves in his native
France and many other countries, popularised the pursuit of cave exploration, introduced the concept of speleology as a distinct area of scientific study, maintained an extensive archive, and in 1895 founded , the first organisation devoted to cave science in the world.