Sven Hedin

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

Expeditions

• 1885-1886 First journey to Russia, the Caucasus, Persia, Iraq, and Turkey.
• 1890-1891 Second journey to Persia and Central Asia
• 1893-1897 Central Asia. Whilst crossing the Taklamakan Desert only he and another member of his team survived. Tibet and finally Beijing.
• 1899-1902 Central Asia. Mapping of Tibet. He also unsuccessfully tried to reach Lhasa.
• 1905-1909 Third expedition to Central Asia, particularly the Himalayas, where he spent significant time in Tibet, where he probably was the first European to discover the Trans-Himalaya mountain system.
• 1926-1935 The so-called Sino-Swedish Expedition (partly sponsored by the German government and the airline Lufthansa) to the Gobi Desert and Mongolia. During this time, he also met Chiang Kai-shek, whom he found to be an impressing personality.