The Early Life of Maurice and Katia Krafft

Introduction

Maurice

Maurice was born on March 25, 1946 and became interested in volcanoes at an early age. His father showed him the active volcano Stromboli when he was seven years old. He brought him very close to the eruption, possibly too close. Maurice became very interested in volcanoes and by the time he was 15 he had seen three or four eruptions.

At the age of 14 he became a member of Geological society of France. Afterwards he became a student at the University of Strasbourg, studying geology. Maurice states that he likes volcanic eruptions because they are "bigger than us" and "very mysterious". He says that humans are nothings compared to volcanoes.

He created his own Center of Volcanology so he could study active volcanoes because it was hard to study active volcanoes at the university. He states that in 20 years he has seen 150 eruptions.

Maurice said that the most interesting volcano he worked on would be Mt. St. Helens, or Mauna Loa, which erupted on his birthday. He said it was a wonderful birthday present.

Katia

Katia was born on April 17, 1942, and like Maurice, also became interested in volcanoes at an early age. Her interest was sparked by watching numerous documentary videos about volcanoes. She later visited the Sicilian volcanoes with her parents.

Katia enrolled in the University of Strasbourg, and there she met Maurice at the end of her chemistry studies. They got married in August of 1970.

Maurice said that he and Katia are more interested in the explosive volcanoes, because he can film them and show the footage to people. It can be very useful to show the footage of an active volcano and the risk of eruptions. He believes people die on volcanoes for two reasons:

Governments and the public don't trust the volcanologists.
Volcanologists aren't making themselves understood to the general public.

This website was prepared as an assignment for Geosciences 211 (Physical Geology) taught in the spring of 2005 at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana.

The Early Life of Maurice and Katia Krafft

Introduction

Maurice

Katia

Literature Cited