Eric Georg Mjöberg (6 August 1882 – 8 July 1938) was a Swedish

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

and

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

who led the first Swedish scientific expeditions to Australia in the early 1900s, and worked in Indonesia. The plant ''

Vaccinium ''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (wh ...

mjoebergii'' J.J.Sm. was named after him, as were

Mjoberg's toadlet Mjoberg's toadlet (''Uperoleia mjobergii'') is a species of frog in the family Myobatrachidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland A ...

(''Uperoleia mjobergii'' ),Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2013). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians''. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing Ltd. xiii + 262 pp. ("Mjöberg", p. 145). the grasshopper ''

Goniaea mjoebergi ''Goniaea vocans'' is a species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae The AcrididaeMacLeay WS (1821) ''Horae Entomologicae or Essays on the Annulose Animals'' 2 are the predominant family of grasshoppers, comprising some 10,000 of the 11,000 ...

'', the crab '' Uca mjoebergi'', Mjöberg's forest dragon (''

Gonocephalus :Gonocephalus ''is also a synonym of the catfish genus'' Clarotes. ''Gonocephalus'' is a genus of agamid lizards endemic to southeast Asia. Taxonomy Species from Melanesia and Australia which were formerly included in ''Gonocephalus'' are now ...

mjobergi'' ),Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Mjöberg", pp. 180–181). the Atherton Tableland skink ('' Glaphyromorphus mjobergi'' ), Mjöberg's bush frog (''Philautus mjobergi'' ), '' Arthrorhabdus mjöbergi'' (a centipede which he collected), Mjöberg's dwarf litter frog (''Leptobrachella mjobergi'' ), and the water beetle ''

Neobidessodes mjobergi ''Neobidessodes mjobergi'' is a carnivorous subterranean water beetle, in the Bidessini tribe of the Dytiscidae family. It was first described in 1922 by Albrecht Zimmermann as ''Bidessus mjobergi,'' and reassigned to the genus of Ne ...

.''

Early life and education

Mjöberg was born in Ås,

Halland County Halland County ( sv, Hallands län, link=no, ) is a county ('' län'') on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland. The capital is Halmstad. It borders the counties of Västra G� ...

, Sweden. He gained a licentiate at the

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a 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, s ...

in 1908, and his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion North West Australia in 1910/11, and to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1912/13. He worked for the Deli Experimental Station at

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four ma ...

in Sumatra from 1919 to 1922, and was

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the Sarawak State Museum in Borneo from 1922 until 1924. He also worked in various museums in Sweden. He was employed by the State

Entomological Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Institution from 1903 to 1906 and at the National Museum at different times between 1903 and 1910 during which time he was a master at several higher schools in Stockholm from 1907 until 1909, and travelled in Sweden for study purposes through 1902 to 1909 before he led expeditions to Australia. A lecture tour in the USA lasted from 1916 to 1917 after which he was Swedish consul in Sumatra in 1920 among other postings and a study period in the US from 1921 to 1925.

Australian expeditions

In the early 1900s Mjöberg set off to the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of Western Australia in an attempt to prove his

Darwinian Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that ...

human evolution theory. What he did not know was that his expedition would have dire repercussions for years to follow for

indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

, and for himself. In Western Australia, Mjöberg became obsessed with the Aboriginal people, and what started off as collecting native flora and fauna for research, soon led to the desecration of sacred burial grounds and the smuggling of human remains back to Sweden. Historians have described Mjöberg as aggressive, arrogant and devious, a leader who made enemies with local Aboriginal people, pastoralists and even his own scientific team. After 1911, he made a second expedition to Australia's east coast: Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, removing one set of remains from each.

Controversy

The 1915 publication of his diaries about the 1910 expedition exposed his unethical and illegal collection of material from Australia. Most of the material kept in Sweden's Museum of Ethnography was brought there between 1910 and 1911. Swedish anthropologist Claes Hallgren of

Dalarna University Dalarna University College ( sv, Högskolan Dalarna) is a public university college (''högskola'') located in Falun and Borlänge, in Dalarna County, Sweden. Dalarna University is one of Sweden’s more recent institutions of higher education ...

wrote the book ''Two Travellers – Two Pictures of Australia'', examining Mjoberg's methods, prompting an ethical debate that led the Swedish Government to contact the Australian authorities. Ninety years after their removal, his great-niece Lotte Mjöberg, a journalist in Stockholm, initiated the return of skeletons to the Aboriginal people in September 2004."Stolen remains coming home"
by David King, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

'' 6 September 2004 Aboriginal elders travelled to Stockholm to receive the remains and start the process of spiritual healing. Spokesman for the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre, Neil Carter said: "The belief is that once a burial ground has been disturbed, the spirits and the country will not rest until the remains have been brought back." Aborigines believe that the spirit of the departed cannot go on into the afterlife if the bones are disturbed. Eighteen boxes containing bones, believed to include the skeletons of two small children, were sent to the

National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Mu ...

for identification before being interred at their traditional lands. Taking them without permission, Mjöberg passed them off as kangaroo bones to get them out of the country. His attitude was representative of the

Social Darwinism Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in W ...

of the times according to Dr Hallgren, who writes that the popular "Gothic Horror" presentation, and demonising Aborigines was the context and "justification" for Mjöberg's hunting for skeletons. It was designed to impress his audience of his work as an adventurer.

Decline

Mjöberg died in poverty in Stockholm after a long, undiagnosed illness during which he had constant nightmares reflecting his experiences in the Kimberleys, including a sense of being pursued by Aboriginal people and contact with the Wondjina – creation spirits of the

Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his col ...

. During this time he was forced to sell part of his collection. Despite his ill health he managed to write an account of this experience. In the Australian documentary ''Dark Science'', an elder explains that the spirits give intruders a hard time, making them sick, but that Aboriginal people know ways to forestall these effects, and that outsiders do not.

Publications

As well as numerous contributions to the scientific literature, he wrote: * ''Bland vilda djur och folk i Australien'', his travel account, Bonnier, Stockholm, 1915. Translated as ''Among Wild Animals and People in Australia'' by Margareta Luotsinen and Kim Akerman, Hesperland Press, 2012 * Mjöberg, E. G. (1930). ''Forest Life and Adventures in the Malay Archipelago''. Allen & Unwin: London.

Early life and education

Australian expeditions

Controversy

Decline

Publications

References

Further reading