Erich Dagobert von Drygalski (February 9, 1865 – January 10, 1949) was a German geographer, geophysicist and polar scientist, born in Königsberg, then under the Province of Prussia. Between 1882 and 1887, Drygalski studied mathematics and natural science at the University of Königsberg, Bonn, Berlin and Leipzig. He graduated with a doctorate thesis about ice shields in Nordic areas. Between 1888 and 1891, he was an assistant at the Geodetic Institute and the Central Office of International Geodetics in Berlin.