Topic: Vilhjalmur Stefansson

Vilhjalmur Stefansson , 1879-1962, Arctic explorer, b. Canada, of Icelandic parents, educated at the Univ. of North Dakota, the State Univ. of Iowa, and Harvard. He led several expeditions of exploration and of ethnological and archaeological investigation in the Arctic. For supplies he relied heavily on local resources, and he adopted the Eskimo way of living, thus successfully demonstrating his theory that the rigors of existence in the Arctic are much reduced by the use of such techniques. He made two expeditions (1906-7, 1908-12) to the delta of the Mackenzie River. Later he undertook (1913-18)... Read more