Sven Hedin

Sven Hedin (February 19, 1865 - November 26, 1952) was a Swedish explorer.

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Hedin was born in Stockholm. Between 1886 and 1892 he studied geology, mineralogy, zoology, and Latin in Stockholm, Uppsala, Berlin, and Halle. Student of Ferdinand von Richthofen.

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Between his graduation in 1892 and 1935 he led several expeditions to Central Asia. In 1902 he was the last Swede ever to be ennobled with a hereditary title. He became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1913.

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His achievements include the production of the first detailed maps of vast parts of Pamir, Taklamakan, Tibet, the ancient Silk Road, and the Himalayas. He seems to be the first European to realise that the Himalayas are a single mountain range.

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He was a personal friend of Gustav V of Sweden (and his queen Victoria of Baden) and paid them regular visits. He was the co-author (together with Carl Bennedich) of the so-called borgg?rdstalet (the speech at the royal castle) which was read during the peasant armament support march (bondet?get) arrival at the royal castle. In this speech the king denounced the government (headed by Karl Staaff) defence policy, which led to its resignation.

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Being a Germanophile since his days of study in Berlin, Hedin was together with Queen Victoria of Sweden a strong advocate for a Swedish alliance with Germany during WWI, and he wrote several books about his experiences from journeys along the front lines, in west, east and south-east. This caused him to lose several influencial friends in England and the US, among them Lord Kitchener.

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Sven Hedin felt that Russia was a dangerous threat to the West, and this may be part of the reason why he supported and admired Adolf Hitler (who in turn admired him) before and during the Third Reich. Still, Hedin was not a Nazi and he was rather deceived by the Nazis. Hedin wrote in his book Tyskland och v?rldsfreden (Germany and world peace), a magnificent effort originally funded by the German government:

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:In my blood, every sixteenth drop is of Jewish origin. I cherish this sixteenth drop and I do not want to lose it. (Wallstr?m 1983:265)

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The book was banned in Germany.

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February 19: February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 315 days remaining, 316 in leap years....

1865: 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday....

1952: 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar)....

Sven Hedin related Images and Photos (experimental)

Portrait of Sven Anders Hedin 1909