Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson
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Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson () (also referred to as Hokan B. Steffanson), (9 November 1883 – 21 May 1962) was a Swedish businessman who survived the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912. In early 1913, Steffansson filed by far the largest claim for financial compensation made against the
White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...
, for the loss of a single item of luggage or cargo as a result of the disaster.New York Times, Thursday 16 January 1913,
Titanic Survivors Asking $6,000,000
'.


Early life

Mauritz Håkan was born to Erik Samuel Steffansson and Berta Maria Björnström on 9 November 1883 in Österfärnebo, Sweden. His father was a pioneer in the Swedish wood pulp industry. After studying chemical engineering at the Stockholm Institute of Technology, Steffansson was awarded a Swedish government scholarship to continue his studies in Washington, D.C.New York Times, Wednesday 23 May 1962, Obituary He became a reserve ''
underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word '' Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 19 ...
'' in the
Svea Artillery Regiment The Svea Artillery Regiment (), designation A 1, was a Swedish Army artillery regiment that traced its origins back to the 17th century. It was disbanded in 1997. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from Svealand, and it was also gar ...
in 1904.


''Titanic'' survivor


Hugh Woolner’s testimony

On 10 April 1912, Steffansson bought a first class ticket and boarded the ''Titanic'' at
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
(ticket number 110564, £26 11s). According to the testimony of Hugh Woolner at the United States Senate Inquiry into the disaster, he and Steffansson were in the first class smoking room at the moment of impact with the iceberg. After putting on their lifebelts, the two men went on deck and began helping crew members fill the lifeboats with women and children, in what they initially believed was a precautionary exercise. Once the seriousness of the situation was understood, Woolner recounted, he and Steffansson helped the crew physically remove a number of men who had forced their way into lifeboat C, ahead of women and children. Woolner confirmed that when all the lifeboats were launched, moments before the ship finally went under, he and Steffansson took the opportunity to jump from the rails of the flooding A deck into an empty space at the bow of collapsible lifeboat D, the last lifeboat to leave the ship. Woolner and Steffansson pulled another man from the water and together, they helped to row the lifeboat away from the ship.


Awards committee

After the disaster, Steffansson joined a survivors' committee which formed to award medals and a cup to the Captain, officers, and crew of the rescue ship RMS ''Carpathia''.New York Times, Thursday 30 May 1912,
Titanic survivors honour Captain Rostron
'


Claim for lost painting

Compensation claims submitted to US commissioner Gilchrist in New York, in January 1913, included a submission from Björnström-Steffansson demanding $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) in compensation for the loss of '' La Circassienne au Bain'', a large neoclassical oil painting by French painter Merry-Joseph Blondel. The compensation claim was the largest submitted for a single item of either passenger luggage or cargo.


Later life

In 1917, Steffansson married Mary Pinchot Eno, whom he was introduced to by fellow ''Titanic'' survivor
Helen Churchill Candee Helen Churchill Candee (October 5, 1858 – August 23, 1949) was an American author, journalist, interior decorator, feminist, and geographer. She is best remembered as a survivor of the sinking of RMS Titanic, RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912, and for ...
. In the 1920s, Steffansson made a large fortune by acquiring significant interests in Canadian paper and
pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...
industries, and in real estate. He was also responsible for developing significant real estate holdings in the
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...
area of New York into apartments and hotels. He retired in 1930. Mary Björnström-Steffansson died in 1953, Mauritz Håkan in May 1962. At the time of his death, the couple's residence on East 57th Street was one of the few remaining private houses on
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
island. As the Björnström-Steffanssons were childless, the bulk of their fortune was left to Mauritz Håkan's nephew Thord Steffansson.


References


External links


Bjornstrom-Steffansson's biography at Encyclopedia TitanicaHugh Woolner's Testimony to Senator Smith at the US Senate Inquiry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjornstrom-Steffansson, Mauritz Hakan RMS Titanic survivors 1883 births 1962 deaths People from Österfärnebo 20th-century Swedish businesspeople