Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld

Baron (Nils) Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, also known as A. E. Nordenskioeld (November 18, 1832, Helsinki, Finland (then the Grand Duchy of Finland) — August 12, 1901, (Dalby, Skåne, Sweden) was a geologist, mineralogist and arctic explorer of Finland-Swedish extraction. Born in Finland, he was later forced to live in political exile in Sweden. He is most remembered for the Vega expedition along the northern coast of Europe and Asia. He was also the uncle of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.

Education

Nordenskiöld's father, Nils Gustav Nordenskiöld, was a mineralogist and traveller. Nordenskiöld entered the Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki in 1849 where he applied himself specially to chemistry and mineralogy. In 1853 he accompanied his father to the Ural Mountains and studied the iron and copper mines at Tagilsk; on his return he received minor appointments both at the university and the mining office.

Related Topics:
Nils Gustav Nordenskiöld - Mineralogist - Imperial Alexander University - 1849 - Chemistry - Mineralogy - 1853 - Ural Mountains - Iron - Copper - Tagilsk

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Having studied for Runeberg he belonged to Liberal, anti-tsarist circles that agitated for Finland's liberation from Russia by the Swedes during the Crimean War; and an unguarded speech at a convivial entertainment in 1855 drew the attention of the Imperial Russian authorities to his political views, and led to a dismissal from the university.

Related Topics:
Runeberg - Liberal - Tsar - Crimean War - 1855 - Imperial Russia

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He then visited Berlin, continuing his mineralogical studies, and in 1856 obtained a travelling stipend from the university in Helsinki and planned to expend it in geological research in Siberia and Kamchatka. Upon returning he took his master's and doctor's degree in 1857 as a scholar of chemistry and geology, specializing in iron and copper-mining. He then aroused the suspicion of the authorities again, so that he was forced to leave Finland, practically as a political refugee, and was deprived of the right of ever holding office in the university of Finland.

Related Topics:
Berlin - 1856 - Siberia - Kamchatka - 1857 - Refugee

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