Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's Voyage of the Vega - Kaivopuisto Park - Helsinki, Finland
N 60° 09.250 E 024° 57.384
35V E 386555 N 6670336
This bust of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöldin, the first to lead a voyage over the North-East Passage from the Arctic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, is located in Kaivopuisto Park, southeast of the city center of Helsinki, Finland.
Waymark Code: WMJ4HD
Location: Finland
Date Posted: 09/22/2013
Views: 18
"Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901) was an important Finnish scientist, an explorer and the first to sail the North-East Passage from the Arctic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Nordenskiöld was born in Finland but had to leave the country for Sweden in 1857 because of his views on Russian politics, which were considered too liberal.
In 1858, Nordenskiöld was appointed the director of mineralogy at the Swedish National Museum of Natural History and the Professor of Mineralogy of the Academy of Sciences. In the same year, he made his first exploration to Spitzbergen. This was followed by the North-East Passage journey in 1878-79 and journeys to Greenland by sail in 1870 and 1883. Because he sailed the North-East Passage, A.E. Nordenskiöld is considered one of the world's most important explorers.
The memorial, comprising three connected granite slabs, was designed by the sculptor Heikki Häiväoja and the architect Eric Adlercreutz. The bust of Nordenskiöld included in the memorial was made by Johanna Häiväoja. The work also includes a relief map showing the route Nordenskiöld sailed through the North-East Passage.
The granite slabs symbolize icebergs and pack ice, the principal obstacles to regular traffic through the North-East Passage. The memorial was placed close to the sea as a reminder of Nordenskiöld's voyages. The memorial is 3.5 metres high." SOURCE
"Freiherr Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, also known as A. E. Nordenskioeld (18 November 1832, Helsinki, Finland – 12 August 1901, Dalbyö,Södermanland, Sweden) was a Finnish baron, geologist, mineralogist and arctic explorer of Finnish-Swedish origin. He was a member of the prominent Finland-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists. Born in the Grand Duchy of Finland at the time it was a part of the Russian Empire, he was later, due to his political activity, forced to live in political exile in Sweden, where he later would become a member of the Parliament of Sweden and the Swedish Academy. He is most remembered for the Vega expedition along the northern coast of Eurasia, which he led in 1878-1879. This was the first complete crossing of the Northeast Passage.
In 1878 he sailed around the north coast of Asia, returning home by way of the Bering Strait, being the first to make the whole length of the Northeast passage. This he accomplished in the voyage of the Vega, navigating for the first time the northern coasts of Europe and Asia. Starting from Karlskrona on 22 June 1878, the Vega doubled Cape Chelyuskin in the following August, and after being frozen in at the end of September near the Bering Strait, completed the voyage successfully in the following summer." SOURCE