Vilhjalmur Stefansson (Icelandic: Vilhjálmur Stefánsson / Vilhjálms Stefánssonar) (November 3, 1879 – August 26, 1962) was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist. He was born at Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, of Icelandic descent. He was educated in the universities of North Dakota and of Iowa (A.B., 1903). He studied anthropology at the graduate school of Harvard University, and for two years was an instructor there. is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gimli is a rural municipality in south-central Manitoba, Canada. ... Official language(s) English Capital Bismarck Largest city Fargo Area  Ranked 19th  - Total 70,762 sq mi (183,272 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 340 miles (545 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Des Moines Largest city Des Moines Area  Ranked 26th  - Total 56,272 sq mi (145,743 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 199 miles (320 km)  - % water 0. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Anthropology (from Greek: ἀνθρωπος, anthropos, human being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study of humanity. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ...

Explorations

In 1904 and 1905, he made archæological researches in Iceland. He lived with the Eskimos (referred to now in Canada as the Inuit) of Mackenzie Delta during the winter of 1906-07, returning alone across country via the Porcupine and Yukon rivers. 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see Eskimo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Inuit (disambiguation). ... Mackenzie Delta is a territorial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories, Canada. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Porcupine River is a river in Alaska and in the Yukon. ... The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. ...

Under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, he and Dr. R. M. Anderson undertook the ethnological survey of the Central Arctic coasts of the shores of North America from 1908-12. He discovered a group of previously unknown Eskimos, the blond Eskimos, who had never before seen a white man in 1910. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... -1... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Blond Eskimos or White Eskimos is the popular name for a group of Eskimos residing on both sides of Coronation Gulf between mainland Canada and Victoria Island, whose first contact with Westerners came with the arrival of Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefánsson in 1910. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

From 1913-16, for the Government of Canada, he took command of an expedition to explore the regions west of Parry Archipelago. Three ships, the Karluk, the Mary Sachs, and the Alaska were employed. His main ship, the Karluk, was beset in ice, crushed, and sunk on January 11, 1914, with the loss of some men who disappeared in making their way to Herald Island. Stefánsson abandoned the Karluk when it became stuck in the ice in August/September of 1913, leaving the crew with Captain Robert Bartlett of Newfoundland stranded on the frozen Arctic Ocean. He resumed his explorations by sledge over the Arctic Ocean, here known as the Beaufort Sea, leaving Collinson Point, Alaska in April, 1914. A supporting sledge turned back 75 miles (121 km) offshore, but he and two men continued onward on one sledge, living largely by his rifle on polar game for 96 days until his party reached the Mary Sachs in the autumn. Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Bold text The Canada wordmark, used by most agencies of the Canadian federal government. ... The Karluk was a ship used for an expedition to the Arctic in 1913 led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson and captained by Robert Bartlett. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Herald Island, east of Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean is claimed by Russia and the United States. ... Captain Robert Bartlett Captain Robert Bartlett Captain Robert Abram Bartlett was a notable ice navigator and Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ... Approximate area of the Beaufort Sea, and the disputed waters The Beaufort Sea is a large body of water north of The Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska and west of Canadas arctic islands that is a part of the Arctic Ocean. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

In 1921, he encouraged and planned an expedition for four young men to colonize Wrangel Island north of Siberia, where the eleven survivors of the twenty-two men on the Karluk had lived from January to September 1914. Stefansson had designs for forming an exploration company that would be geared towards individuals interested in touring the Arctic Island.

Stefansson originally wanted to claim Wrangel Island for the Canadian government. However due to the dangerous outcome from his initial trip to the island the government refused to assist with the expedition. He then wanted to claim the land for Britain but the British government rejected this claim when it was made by the young men. The raising of the British flag on Wrangel Island, acknowledged Russian territory, caused an international incident.

The four young men, consisting of Fred Maurer from America, Allan Crawford, Lorne Knight and Milton Galle of Canada, were ill equipped, both materially and in experience for the trip. All perished on the island or in an attempt to get help from Siberia and the only survivor was an Inuk woman named Ada Blackjack whom the men had hired as a seamstress in Nome, Alaska and taken with them. Ada Blackjack, (1898-1983) was an Inuit woman who lived for two years as a castaway on uninhabited Wrangel Island in northern Siberia. ...

Blackjack had taught herself survivor skills and cared for the last man on the Island, E. Lorne Knight, until he died of scurvy. Ada Blackjack was rescued in 1923 after two years on Wrangel Island and Stefansson drew the ire of the public and the families for having sent such ill equipped young men to Wrangel. His reputation was largely destroyed by this disaster and that of the Karluk. Scurvy (N.Lat. ...

His discoveries included new land and the edge of the continental shelf. Stefansson's journey and successes are among the marvels of polar exploration. He extended the discoveries of McClintock. From April, 1914 to June, 1915, he lived on the ice pack. Stefánsson continued his explorations, leaving from Herschel Island on August 23, 1915. Sir Francis as depicted in 1856 Sir Francis Leopold McClintock (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British Navy who is known for his discoveries in the Canadian arctic islands. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Herschel Island is an island in the Beaufort Sea, which is considered part of the Arctic Ocean. ...

Stefansson was an extremely well-known explorer in his lifetime. Late in life, through his affiliation with Dartmouth College (he was Director of Polar Studies), he became a major figure in the establishment of the US Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire. CRREL-supported research, often conducted in winter on the forbidding summit of Mount Washington, has been key to developing matériel and doctrine to support alpine conflict. Dartmouth College is a private, coeducational university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers research facility located in Hanover, New Hampshire, specializing in scientific and engineering research regarding cold regions of the world. ... Hanover is a town located on the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,359 sq mi (24,239 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 3. ... The Summit Mount Washington is the highest peak in the American Northeast at 6,288 ft. ...

Mr. Stefansson joined The Explorers Club (New York City) in 1908, four years after its founding. He later served as Club President twice: 1919-1922 and 1937-1939. In the all-male Club the Board made quite a splash under Stefansson's reign when it put forth an amendment to its Bylaws that read (Minutes, Jan. 4, 1938), "A Woman's Roll of Honor shall be instituted to which the Board of Directors may name women of the United States and Canada in recognition of the noteworthy achievements and writings in the field of the Club's interests, primarily exploration." Perhaps to comfort fellow members, the article added, "This Woman's Roll of Honor shall be quite outside the Club's organization but shall correspond in dignity to the Honorary Class of (male) members within it."

Stefansson's personal papers and collection of arctic artifacts are maintained and available to the public at the Dartmouth College Library. Dartmouth College is a private, coeducational university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. ...

Stefansson is frequently quoted as saying that "adventure is a sign of incompetence."

Low-carb diet of meat and fish

Stefansson is also a figure of considerable interest in dietary circles, especially those with an interest in very low-carbohydrate diets. Stefansson documented the fact that most Inuit lived on a diet of about 90% meat and fish, often going 6-9 months a year on nothing but meat and fish--essentially, a zero-carb diet. He found that he and his fellow European-descent explorers were also perfectly healthy on such a diet. When medical authorities questioned him on this, he and a fellow explorer agreed to undertake a study under the auspices of the Journal of the American Medical Association to demonstrate that they could eat a 100% meat diet in a closely-observed laboratory setting for the first several weeks, with paid observers for the rest of an entire year. The results were published in the Journal of the AMA, and both men were perfectly healthy on such a diet, without vitamin supplementation or anything else in their diet except meat.^[1] Low-carbohydrate diets or low-carb diets are nutritional programs that advocate restricted carbohydrate consumption, based on research that ties consumption of certain carbohydrates with increased blood insulin levels, and overexposure to insulin with metabolic syndrome (the most recognized symptom of which is obesity). ... The Zero-Carb diet has recently gained popularity as a more extreme version of the famous low-carb diet. ...

See also

• Paleolithic diet

The Paleolithic diet, also known as the caveman diet, paleo diet, prehistoric diet, Stone Age diet, or hunter-gatherer diet, is the diet of wild plants and animals that various human species (see Homo (genus)) habitually consumed during the Paleolithic period (the Old Stone Age), a period of about 2...

References

1. ^ Lieb, Clarence W.: "The Effects on Human Beings of a Twelve Months' Exclusive Meat Diet," Journal of the American Medical Association, July 6, 1929.

Literature

Inscription

• Vilhjalmur Stefansson: My Life with the Eskimo; The Macmillan Company, New York, 1912
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson: Stefánsson-Anderson Expedition, 1909-12; Anthropological Papers, AMNH, vol. XIV., New York, 1914
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson: Not by Bread Alone; The Macmillan Company, New York, 1946
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson: Discovery - the autobiography of Vilhjalmur Stefansson; McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1964
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson: Cancer: Disease of civilization? An anthropological and historical study; Hill and Wang, Inc., New York, 1960
• William R. Hunt: Stef: A Biography of Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Canadian Arctic explorer; University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 1986, ISBN 077480247-2
• Jennifer Niven: Ada Blackjack: A True Story Of Survival In The Arctic, Hyperion Books, 2003
• Gísli Pálsson: Writing on Ice: The Ethnographic Notebooks of Vilhjalmur Stefansson; Dartmouth College Press, University Press of New England, Hanover, 2001, ISBN 158465119-9
• Gísli Pálsson: The legacy of Vilhjálmur Stefansson, the Stefansson Arctic Institute (and individual authors), 2000
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson(ed): Great Adventures and Explorations; The Dial Press, 1947

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External links

• "Adventures in Diet", Harper's Monthly Magazine, November 1935
• Biography of Vilhjalmur Stefansson
• Stefansson on enchantedlearning.com