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Travelling Passions: The Hidden Life of Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Vilhjalmur Stefansson has long been known for his groundbreaking work as an anthropologist and expert on Arctic peoples. His three expeditions to the Canadian Arctic in the early 1900s, as well as his expertise in northern anthropology, helped create his public image as an heroic, Hemingway-esque figure in the annals of twentieth-century exploration. But the emotional and private life of Stefansson the man have remained hidden, until now.
New evidence of this other life has recently been a collection of love letters between Stefansson and his fiance Orpha Cecil Smith were found in a New Hampshire flea market; Stefansson's field diaries have revealed elegant essays and insightful commentary on Inupiat society; baptismal records have revealed that Stefansson had a son, Alex, with his informant and guide, Fanny Pannigabluk; and through Web searches and a private detective, Palsson found and conducted interviews with the descendents of both Cecil Smith and Alex Stefansson.
Travelling Passions sheds new light on Stefanssonís life and work, focussing on the tension between his private life and the theories that brought his name to the halls of fame. Palsson draws a clear, vivid, and in many ways unexpected picture of the mythical figure of Stefansson.
New evidence of this other life has recently been a collection of love letters between Stefansson and his fiance Orpha Cecil Smith were found in a New Hampshire flea market; Stefansson's field diaries have revealed elegant essays and insightful commentary on Inupiat society; baptismal records have revealed that Stefansson had a son, Alex, with his informant and guide, Fanny Pannigabluk; and through Web searches and a private detective, Palsson found and conducted interviews with the descendents of both Cecil Smith and Alex Stefansson.
Travelling Passions sheds new light on Stefanssonís life and work, focussing on the tension between his private life and the theories that brought his name to the halls of fame. Palsson draws a clear, vivid, and in many ways unexpected picture of the mythical figure of Stefansson.
- GenresBiography
374 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2005
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About the author
Gísli Pálsson
39 books4 followersGísli Pálsson is a professor of anthropology at the University of Iceland.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 2, 2024
I'll declare at the start of this review that I am not a fan of Vilhjalmur Stephansson, a Canadian explorer of Icelandic descent, who ventured into the Arctic from advance bases in Alaska and NW Canada.
He organized and started two expeditions into the arctic that each ended in disaster with many but not all lives lost in the early 20th century. Both scatterbrained expeditions were dispatched on shoestring budgets with only minimal provisions in creaky ships completely inappropriate for the crushing in the massive ice flows they soon encountered.
However brilliant this man is made out to be, the fact remains that he sent the missions off and then absented himself after each departed. A signal characteristic of bad, even cowardly, leadership!
Still if you desire an over complete biography of this interesting person, here's your book. I applaud the author's tireless and exhaustive research in writing this capable book. Her addition of rare photographs adds much to her text.
He organized and started two expeditions into the arctic that each ended in disaster with many but not all lives lost in the early 20th century. Both scatterbrained expeditions were dispatched on shoestring budgets with only minimal provisions in creaky ships completely inappropriate for the crushing in the massive ice flows they soon encountered.
However brilliant this man is made out to be, the fact remains that he sent the missions off and then absented himself after each departed. A signal characteristic of bad, even cowardly, leadership!
Still if you desire an over complete biography of this interesting person, here's your book. I applaud the author's tireless and exhaustive research in writing this capable book. Her addition of rare photographs adds much to her text.
Displaying 1 of 1 review