Maurice Krafft

Katia and Maurice Krafft set up numerous expeditions around the world: Italy, Iceland, Indonesia, Africa, America, Reunion, Hawaii, New Zealand, collecting numerous documents on volcanoes in eruption or that could wake up, at most eight per year, 175 during their entire career, except those of the USSR for political reasons. They are more than photographers and filmmakers. He, as a geologist, and she, as a chemist and physicist, are real scientists whose images, samples and detailed descriptions of eruptive phenomena provide essential elements for understanding them. In twenty-five years of activity, Katia and Maurice Krafft have built up a truly exceptional iconographic heritage: more than 300,000 photos, 300 hours of film, 20,000 books dealing with geology, some 6,000 lithographs and old paintings.

On June 3, 1991, at approximately 4:00 p.m. local time, Mount Unzen erupted, sending pyroclastic flows hurtling down its slopes, killing 37 people, including the Kraffts and fellow volcanologist Harry Glicken. On June 5, local authorities and Shimabara police reported that military search teams had recovered the bodies of Glicken, Katia, and Maurice Krafft. The Kraffts were found near their car, lying side by side under a thin layer of ash.

Katia and Maurice Krafft's remains were cremated in Japan in a Catholic funeral service, and their ashes were placed in Katia Krafft's family grave in Alsace.