New pictures on old explorer

New light on old photos

Who was Otto Nordenskjöld? A recent book tries to answer that question with the help of photographs, taken by himself or other expedition members, during the spectacular research trip to Antarctica in 1901–1903. Most of the approximately 300 photographs have never been published before.

It started four years ago with Sofia Thorsson, Professor of Physical Geography, looking for material for a lecture on the history of geography in Gothenburg. Mats Olvmo, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, suggested photographs from Otto Nordenskjöld's various research expeditions to Tierra del Fuego in Patagonia, the Klondike, Antarctica, Greenland, as well as Peru and Chile. He knew that a number of them were stored in a cupboard at the Department of Earth Sciences. Through Margit Werner, retired senior lecturer in geography, Sofia later came in contact with Claes-Göran Alvstam, Professor of Economic Geography who knew that there were additional photographs at the School of Business, Economics and Law. – When we went through the material, we found up to 700 photographs, most of them sciopticon images, i.e. a kind of early slide, says Mats Olvmo. The photographs were of very good quality, despite being taken 120 years ago and in extremely difficult conditions. Some of them were even very skilfully hand-coloured.

Sofia Thorsson formed a small team to look after the material. In addition to Mats Olvmo, Claes-Göran Alvstam and herself, the team consisted of Björn Holmer, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, and Anders Larsson, responsible for the manuscript department at the University Library, who also contributed to the University Library’s Polar Portal. – We had the pictures cleaned and digitized. When the Geographical Association in Gothenburg, which was founded

by Otto Nordenskjöld on November 8, 1908, celebrated its 110th anniversary, we took the opportunity to arrange a viewing, says Sofia Thorsson.

That was also when the idea was born to produce a picture book of a selection of the photographs.

– Soon we realised that the pictures needed to be put in a context in order to come into their own, says Anders Larsson. Together with a number of documents and a few more photographs from the Otto Nordenskjöld Archive at the University Library, we compiled a book that tells the story of the great explorer based on the photographs both he and his expedition members took.

No project has been easier to get funding for, says Claes-Göran Alvstam. – We have received support from the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg, the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, Geografiska Föreningen i Göteborg and the Department of Earth Sciences. However, it was completely different for Otto Nordenskjöld himself. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences would not fund his research trip to Antarctica, which resulted in other sponsors also dropping out. In the end, he had to resort to a kind of crowd sourcing – no contribution was too small – and when the ship was ready to sail, he had a list of financiers that was seven pages long.

It was easier, however, to find skilled employees, both in terms of the crew and those with scientific ability. – The captain, Carl Anton Larsen, had extensive experience and had already been to Antarctica, the botanist Carl Skottsberg would later create the Botanical Garden in Gothenburg, and the geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson eventually became world famous for his discovery of Peking Man.

Otto had also prepared well, on account of his previous trips to Terra del Fuego in Patagonia and the Klondike. From a purely research perspective, the expedition was therefore extremely successful, says Björn Holmer. – Researchers had previously discovered similar fossils of plants that were hundreds of millions of years old

in South America, Africa, India and Australia, which led them to suspect that there must have been a land connection between the continents. During Nordenskjöld's expedition to Antarctica, plant fossils were discovered that confirmed that Antarctica had had a similar tropical climate. They could also show that South America and Antarctica were geologically connected. Something which Alfred Wegener did not include in his book on the theories of continental drift. This was despite the fact that Wegener actually visited Gothenburg and gave lectures at Geografiska föreningen and the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences. Furthermore, Nordenskjöld showed that the ice cover in West Antarctica was 300 metres thick. The previous expedition to Terra del Fuego in Patagonia had shown that the ice age in the southern hemisphere, which Nordenskjöld was the first to prove, had occurred in several stages. It is worth mentioning that at that time, the accepted wisdom was that the ice age had only occurred in Europe and North America.

Several white spots were also mapped during the research trip to Antarctica, says Mats Olvmo. – The expedition's cartographer, Samuel August Duse, also corrected inaccuracies in previous maps. It is really impressive to see how he and his two assistants, using the instruments of that time, in the freezing cold and in strong winds, managed to take measurements that were so accurate that they can still be used today.

Despite its scientific success, the expedition is perhaps best known for its dramatic and spectacular circumstances. Together with five other men, Nordenskjöld was put ashore on Snow Hill Island to carry out explorations further south during the winter. Thereupon their ship, Antarctic, sailed on to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia for the winter. However, the return trip, when the Antarctic was to pick up the expedition members once again, was beset with problems. Some men were dropped off at Hope Bay in order to reach Nordenskjöld's group by land, while the ship continued on a new route to the Weddel Sea. In February 1903, the Antarctic sank while the crew managed to get to Paulet Island.

– The expedition members hunkered down for the winter and all but one survived, says Claes-Göran Alvstam. Also on Snow Hill at the time was the Argentinian José Sobral, and it was because of him that an Argentine ship eventually came to the rescue. The story is like a tale from a children's adventure book, but there are romantic elements to it as well. José Sobral eventually came to Uppsala where he married a Swede, and Otto Nordenskjöld married a Norwegian he had met in Iceland five years earlier, and who had faithfully waited for him.

The expedition was ultimately a difficult financial ordeal, resulting in debts that Nordenskjöld had to pay off for the rest of his life. – After the expedition, he settled in Gothenburg, says Sofia Thorsson. He was extremely successful here too. In 1905, he took over the August Röhss professorship in geography and ethnography at the University of Gothenburg, and later became pro-vice chancellor of the university. He was also instrumental in the formation of the School of Business, Economics and Law and was its first vice-chancellor, and he was a member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg, as well as of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Nordenskjöld also had ecumenical leanings and tried to mediate peace during the First World War.

Nordenskjöld held several popular lectures for the public about his adventures. – A lot has been written about Otto Nordenskjöld's adventures, including his own writings, says Anders Larsson. But strangely enough, until now there has been nothing more than a short book about him and no comprehensive biography. Therefore, we hope that this book will contribute to increasing people's knowledge of him, told with the help of pictures taken by himself and his expedition members. For his fascinating story is really worth recounting again.

All photos are from the trip to Antarctica except the one at the bottom of this page which is from the southern tip of Chile.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Otto Nordenskiölds expedition

Facts

The book, Otto Nordenskjöld genom kameran – forskningsresorna i bilder (Otto Nordenskjöld through the camera lens – the research trips in photographs) was written by Claes G. Alvstam, Professor of International Economic Geography, Björn Holmer, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, Anders Larsson, First Librarian at the University Library, Mats Olvmo, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, and Sofia Thorsson, Professor of Physical Geography. The publisher is Votum. Are you interested in polar research? You can find more information at: http://www2.ub.gu.se/portaler/ polarportalen/.