Axel Hamberg (17 January 1863 – 28 June 1933) was a Swedish mineralogist, geographer and explorer.

Biography

Hamberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of Nils Peter Hamberg (1815-1902) and Emma Augusta Christina Härnström (1833-1914). Hamberg became a student at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1881, philosophy candidate in 1888 and was awarded a Licentiate degree in 1893. He became an associate professor of mineralogy and crystallography in the same year at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

. In 1907, he received his philosophy doctor and was appointed as an extra ordinary professor at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

. He served as a professor in geography at Uppsala until 1928. In 1883, he attended the expedition of

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (; 18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the noble Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friherre (ba ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

and in 1898 accompanied on the expedition of Alfred Nathorst on the ship "Antarctic" to Svalbard and

Kong Karls Land Kong Karls Land or King Charles Land is an island group in the Svalbard archipelago, in the Arctic Ocean. The island group covers an area of and is made up of the islands of Kongsøya, Svenskøya, Abel Island, Helgoland Island, and Tirpitzø ...

. At the General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm of 1897, he received a gold medal for an exhibition of Scandinavian minerals. He was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in 1905. He was elected to membership by the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala in 1916 and by the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund in 1929. He held the presidency of the International Glacier Commission from 1913 until 1927.

Personal life

Hamberg was married in 1912 with Sigrid Charlotta Nordlund (1885-1959). His wife was a poet whose work appeared in such magazines as ''Idun'' and ''Svea''. Their son, Per Gustaf Hamberg (1913-1978), was a professor of art history and art theory at the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

Awards and honors

The

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

Hambergbreen is named after him. The Bjørnøya mountain of Hambergfjellet is named after him. The Hamberg Glacier of

South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

and the Hamberg Glacier of NE

are named after him. The mineral hambergite was named after him in 1890.

References

1863 births 1933 deaths Scientists from Stockholm Uppsala University alumni Academic staff of Uppsala University Swedish explorers Swedish mineralogists Swedish geographers Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala {{sweden-bio-stub