Victor was born in Geneva, Switzerland to French Jewish parents of Bohemian and Polish descent.

Victor, Robert Gessain, Michel Perez, and Eigil Knuth completed the 825 km from Christianshåb in the west to Angmagssalik in the east in 44 days.

After the War, he initiated the Expéditions polaires françaises [fr] to organize French polar expeditions.

A survey led by Victor in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.

His son, Jean-Christophe Victor, stars in the weekly geopolitical show Le dessous des cartes on Arte until December 2016.