Sven Hedin - Definition and Overview

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

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

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

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.

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 borggårdstalet (the speech at the royal castle) which was read during the peasant armament support march (bondetåget) arrival at the royal castle. In this speech the king denounced the government (headed by Karl Staaff) defence policy, which led to its resignation.

Sven Hedin supported and admired the Nazis and Adolf Hitler (who in turn admired him) before and during the Third Reich. He died in Stockholm.

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.

Publications

(this is an incomplete list)

• 1887 A Journey Through Persia and Mesopotamia
• 1891 Konung Oscars beskickning till Schahen af Persien, år 1890 (in Swedish)
• 1898 Through Asia
• 1903 In Asia
• 1904-1907 Co-author of Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia 1899-1902
• 1909 Transhimalaya
• 1925 My Life as an Explorer

External link

• Excellent biography also listing publications and further literature (http://www.silk-road.com/bibliography/hedinb3.html)