The Kraffts were innovators in filming, photographing and recording volcanoes.  This power couple, are known to be the first at an active volcano and went on to document more active volcanos than any other scientist in the world - often risking their own lives at the feet of lava flows.

From an early age, Katia was deeply fascinated by fire. She started her career by capturing and documenting gas samples of volcanoes on site. She wrote books and created a documentary “The Volcano Watchers” for the PBS Show “Nature” to fund her work. In January 1973, her expertise was called upon to study an extinct volcano in Southern Iceland, that erupted quite suddenly after thousands of years of inactivity.

Between the 1970s and 1980s, Katia documented volcanoes through photography, whilst Maurice captured them on film. Their observations of fire breathing volcanoes, led to a better understanding of volcanic eruptions worldwide. Their experience enabled them to work with local governments on safety protocols for volcanic evacuation procedures.

Katia was awarded a prize for her work on active volcanoes in 1969 and the couple have a volcanic crater named after them in Reunion Island - M. and K. Krafft Crater, of the volcano Piton de la Fournaise. 

In complete dedication to their work, on 3 June 1991, this heroic couple died in a pyroclastic flow on Mount Unzen, in Japan. 

Their legacy lives on and every 4 years, the Krafft Medal honours and awards someone who has made a substantial contribution to volcanology and the Maurice and Katia Krafft Memorial Fund continues to educate people on the hazards of volcanoes in countries of high volcanic risk.