Pavy, Octave P., 1844-1884

Octave P. Pavy, Arctic explorer, physician, and surgeon, was born on June 26, 1844, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He died as Cape Sabine on Ellsmere Island, on June 6, 1884, one of the lost members of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition under the leadership of Adolphus W. Greely.

While Octave Pavy, a surgeon, lacked any formal military training, he had extensive experience in the Arctic region. After the first relief ship failed to arrive at Fort Conger, Pavy volunteered to make an advance trip with Lt. Frederick Kislingbury to Cape Sabine in the summer of 1883, where, had Greely allowed it, Pavy would have left detailed instructions for the second relief ship. His relationship with Greely became strained, ultimately leading to Pavy's resignation and "arrest," in July 1883, after which he was not allowed to leave camp.