John Bicknell Auden

John Bicknell Auden (14 December 1903 - 1991), was an English geologist and explorer, and an official with the World Health Organization.

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Auden was born in York, the second son of George Augustus Auden and older brother of W. H. Auden. He was educated at St Edmund's School, Hindhead, Surrey, then at Marlborough and at Cambridge University. In 1926 he joined the Geological Survey of India, where he remained until he retired in the early 1950s.

His exploration and mapping (with three other climbers) high Karakoram region of the Himalayas was the subject of Eric Shipton's Blank on the Map (1938). In 1940 he was elected president of the Geological Institute of Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1945-51, he was engaged in investigating all the major dam sites, hydro electric projects, irrigation works and water supply schemes of India.

In 1960 he joined the World Health Organization, where he worked until 1970. After retiring he lived in London, where he served for two years as vice-president of the Geological Society of London.

He was married twice, first to Margaret Marshall (the marriage ended in divorce), then, in 1940, to Sheila Bonnerjee, a granddaughter of W. C. Bonnerjee, first president and founder of the Indian National Congress; they had two daughters. He was a convert to Roman Catholicism.

References

• Dr. J.B. Auden commemorative volume: Symposium on the Geological and Engineering Problems of River Valley Projects, by John Bicknell Auden, V. S. Krishnaswamy, P. N. Mehta, G. Pant, S. N. Sondhi, and G. N. Jaitle (Calcutta,1972)
• (Unsigned), "Dr John Auden", The Times, 24 January 1991
• Boris Berkhoff, "Obituary: John Auden", The Independent, 26 January 1991
• W. L. Webb, "The brothers Auden", The Guardian, 26 January 1991