Anders Kristian Orvin (24 October 1889 – 2 October 1980) was a Norwegian geologist and explorer.

Biography

He was born at

Hattfjelldal Hattfjelldal ( sma, Aarborte) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hattfjelldal. Other villages include Grubben, Svens ...

in Nordland, Norway. He was a son of Ole Tobias Olsen (1830–1924) and Christine Bernhardine Dahl (1855–1910). His father was a parish pastor in Nordland. Orvin

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1909 and graduated cand.min. from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(now University of Oslo) in mineralogy in 1912. He mostly explored and worked at Spitsbergen, but had tenures in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

in 1914. As well as Spitsbergen his expeditions went to

East Greenland Tunu, originally Østgrønland ("East Greenland"), was one of the three counties (''amter'') of Greenland until 31 December 2008. The county seat was at the main settlement, Tasiilaq. The county's population in 2005 was around 3,800. The county ...

and Bear Island. He served as operating manager of the

molybdenite Molybdenite is a mineral of molybdenum disulfide, Mo S2. Similar in appearance and feel to graphite, molybdenite has a lubricating effect that is a consequence of its layered structure. The atomic structure consists of a sheet of molybdenum ato ...

mines ''Ornehommen Molybdengruber'' 1915 to 1916 and at ''Dalen Gruber'' in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

from 1918 to 1921. He was hired in the Norwegian Polar Institute in 1928. He was acting managing director from 1945 to 1948. He served as sub-director until being managing director from 1958 to 1961. He took his dr.philos. degree in 1934 on the thesi
''Geology of the Kings Bay Region, Spitsbergen''
Among his other writings ar
''Geology of Bear Island''
(1928, with Gunnar Horn) an
''Outline of the Geological History of Spitsbergen''
(1940). After the war he wrot
''The place-names of Jan Mayen''
(1960). He was a fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Unive ...

from 1952, was made a Knight, First Class of Order of St. Olav in 1960 and a Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

. He died during 1980 and was buried in the cemetery at Vestre Aker Church in Oslo. The

Orvin Mountains The Orvin Mountains ( no, Orvinfjella) constitute a major group of mountain ranges, extending for about between the Wohlthat Mountains and the Mühlig-Hofmann Mountains in Queen Maud Land. With its summit at , the massive Sandeggtind Peak forms ...

Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land ( no, Dronning Maud Land) is a roughly region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addi ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

and Orvin Land in Svalbard are named after him.''Orvin Mountains'' (Norwegian Polar Institute – Stadnamn på Svalbard og Jan Mayen)

References

1889 births 1980 deaths People from Hattfjelldal University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian geologists Norwegian polar explorers Explorers of Svalbard Explorers of the Arctic Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal {{Norway-academic-bio-stub