This cache is one in an ongoing series highlighting important figures in the history of the academic discipline of geography. If you complete this series, you might be ready to pass your qualifiying exams for a PhD in Geography!
Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) was a Belgian cartographer whose Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is often considered the first modern atlas. The Theatrum went through 25 editions during his lifetime. The world map he drew is famous for showing a huge southern continent (Terra Australis Incognita) connecting areas from Tierra del Fuego to New Guinea. His later Thesaurus Geographicus was the first work to suggest the idea of continental drift based on the shapes of Africa and South America (though it wasn't until centuries later that the mechanism for such changes was understoood).
He traveled widely around western Europe, but never married and had no children.