Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik, Frihere

Nordenskiöld, (Nils) Adolf Erik, Frihere (baron)

(born Nov. 18, 1832, Helsinki, Fin.—died Aug. 12, 1901, Dalbyö, Swed.) Finnish-born Swedish geologist, mineralogist, geographer, and explorer. In 1858 he settled in Stockholm and became professor and curator of mineralogy at the Swedish State Museum. He led several expeditions to the Arctic island of Spitsbergen between 1864 and 1873, and in 1870 he led an expedition to western Greenland. In 1878–79, on the steam vessel Vega, he sailed from Norway to Alaska on the first expedition to successfully navigate the Northeast Passage. He was created a baron on his return. In 1883 he became the first to break through the great sea ice barrier of the southeast Greenland coast.