Sven Hedin
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[[Image:Sven Hedin by Carl Emil Österman 1923.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Sven Hedin. Oil painting by Carl Emil Österman (1923).]]
'''Sven Anders Hedin''' ([[February 19]], [[1865]] - [[November 26]], [[1952]]) was a [[Sweden|Swedish]] explorer, [[geographer]] and [[Geopolitics|geopolitician]]. His achievements include the production of the first detailed maps of vast parts of [[Pamir]], the [[Taklamakan Desert]], [[Tibet]], the ancient [[Silk Road]], and the [[Himalaya]]s. He seems to have been the first explorer to realise that the [[Himalaya]]s are a single mountain range.
== Life ==
Hedin was born in [[Stockholm]]. Between [[1886]] and [[1892]] he studied [[geology]], [[mineralogy]], [[zoology]], and [[Latin]] in [[Stockholm University|Stockholm]], [[Uppsala University|Uppsala]], [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Berlin]], and [[University of Halle-Wittenberg|Halle]]. He was a student of [[Ferdinand von Richthofen]]. Of small stature, with a bookish, bespectacled appearance, Hedin nevertheless proved himself a determined explorer, surviving several brushes with death from hostile forces and the elements over his long career.
Between his graduation in [[1892]] and [[1935]] he led several expeditions to [[Central Asia]]. In [[1902]] he was the last Swede ever to be [[Swedish nobility|ennobled]] with a hereditary title. He was never married, and had no children, so the noble branch of his family is now extinct. He became a member of the [[Swedish Academy]] in [[1913]].
Although primarily an explorer, Hedin was also the first to unearth the ruins of ancient Buddhist cities in Chinese Central Asia. In 1899 he discovered the ancient Chinese garrison town of [[Loulan]] (Lou-lan) in the [[Takla-Makan]]. Many manuscripts unearthed by him at Loulan proved to be of great historical importance.
In his later expeditions he became the first to map large parts of the Tibetan highlands, and conducted mapping and meteorological research in Eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. Hedin was one of the first European scientific explorers to use native-born scientists and research assistants on his expeditions, treating them on an equal footing with his European colleagues according to their position and experience. Always full of curiosity, Hedin continued his Asian expeditions late into his retirement years, braving numerous wars and conflicts in China and Central Asia along the way. However, like [[Nikolai Przhevalsky]] before him, Hedin never reached his ultimate goal: the then forbidden city of [[Lhasa]].
== Political views ==
[[Image:Residence of Sven Hedin 1935 - 1952 in Stockholm Norr Maelarstrand 66.jpg|thumb| Residence of Sven Hedin in Stockholm, Norr Mälarstrand 66. Sven Hedin lived in this residence in the years 1935 - 1952.]]
Being a [[Germanophile]] since his days of study in [[Berlin]], Hedin was (together with [[Victoria of Baden|Queen Victoria of Sweden]]) a strong advocate for a Swedish alliance with [[Germany]] during [[World War I]], and he wrote several books about his experiences from journeys along the front lines. This attitude caused him to lose several influential friends in England and the USA, notably [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]].
Hedin was a personal friend of [[Gustav V of Sweden]] (and his spouse [[Victoria of Baden]]) and paid them regular visits. It was he who drafted (together with [[Carl Bennedich]]) the so-called ''borggårdstalet'' ("the speech at the royal castle") which was read after the [[bondetåget|peasant armament support march]] arrived in the royal castle. In this speech the king denounced [[Karl Staaff]]'s defence policy, which led to the latter's resignation.
Influenced by Imperial Russian and later, the Soviet Union's attempts to dominate and control territories outside its borders, especially in Central Asia and Turkestan, Hedin felt that Soviet [[Russia]] posed a great threat to the West, and this may be part of the reason why he supported Germany during both World Wars. Hedin received support from the German airline Lufthansa on at least one of his Central Asian mapping expeditions, and the original publication of his book "Germany and World Peace" was funded by the German government. However, the text included the following lines:
:''In my blood, every sixteenth drop is of Jewish origin. I cherish this sixteenth drop and I do not want to lose it.'' (Wallström 1983:265)
The book was banned in Nazi Germany. Although it has never been proved that Hedin supported the Nazis and National Socialism, it is known that he was in contact with Hitler and other prominent Nazi-politicians, and was well aware of the Nazi concentration camps (Danielsson 2005).
== Expeditions ==
[[Image:Exploring expeditions of Sven Hedin 1886-1935.jpg|thumb|470px|Exploring expeditions of Sven Hedin 1886-1935.]]
*[[1885]]-[[1886]] First journey to [[Russia]], the [[Caucasus]], [[Persian Empire|Persia]], [[Iraq]], and [[Turkey]].
*[[1890]]-[[1891]] Second journey to Persia and [[Central Asia]]
*[[1893]]-[[1897]] Central Asia. Whilst crossing the forbidding [[Taklamakan]] Desert only Hedin and two members of his four men crew survived.
*[[1899]]-[[1902]] Central Asia. Mapping of Tibet. He also unsuccessfully tried to reach [[Lhasa]].
*[[1905]]-[[1909]] Third expedition to Central Asia, particularly the [[Himalaya]]s, where he spent significant time in Tibet, where he probably was the first to discover the [[Trans-Himalaya]] mountain system. After traveling through western [[Tibet]], Hedin's party finally reached [[Shimla|Simla]] on the Indian frontier.
*[[1914]] Toured German military positions in Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg.
*[[1926]]-[[1935]] The so-called ''Sino-Swedish Expedition'' (partly sponsored by the German and Swedish governments and the airline [[Lufthansa]]) to the [[Gobi Desert]], [[Turkestan]], and [[Mongolia]]. This in reality was a series of expeditions. In 1934, when Hedin was nearly seventy years of age, he was held captive, robbed, and nearly executed by soldiers of the Muslim [[Dungan]] (or [[Hui]]) general [[Ma Chung-ying]], then after relief by [[White Russian]] and Soviet troops, was again held captive by them for another four months at the instruction of the Chinese military governor of Sinkiang province. Hedin also met [[Chiang Kai-shek]], whom he found to be an impressing personality.
==Selected Works by Hedin==
*[[1887]] ''A Journey Through Persia and Mesopotamia''
*[[1891]] ''Konung Oscars beskickning till Schahen af Persien, år 1890'' (in [[Swedish language|Swedish]])
*[[1898]] ''Through Asia''
*[[1903]] ''In Asia''
*[[1904]]-[[1907]] Co-author of ''Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia 1899-1902''
*[[1909]] ''Transhimalaya''
*[[1914]] ''With the German armies in the West'' (English translation published in England in 1915).
*[[1925]] ''My Life as an Explorer''
*[[1932]] ''Across the Gobi Desert''
*[[1934]] ''A Conquest of Tibet''
*[[1936]] ''Big Horse's Flight''
*[[1938]] ''The Silk Road''
*[[1940]] ''The Wandering Lake''
*[[1949]] ''Ohne Auftrag in Berlin'' (En: 'Without orders in Berlin'), [[Buenos Aires]]
==Bibliography==
{{Commons|Sven Hedin}}
*Wallström, T. 1983. ''Svenska upptäckare''. Bra böcker, Höganäs.
*Brennecke, Detlef. ''Sven Hedin''. rororo Bildmonographie, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1986 (ISBN 3-499-50355-7).
*Danielsson, S.K. 2005: ''The Intellectual Unmasked: Sven Hedin's Political Life from Pan-Germanism to National Socialism'', dissertation, Minnesota 2005.
== External links ==
*[http://www.silk-road.com/bibliography/hedinb3.html Excellent biography also listing publications and further literature]
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{{succession box|title=[[Swedish Academy]],<br>[[List of members of the Swedish Academy|Seat No 6]]|before=[[Hans Hildebrand]]|after=[[Sten Selander]]|years=1913-1952}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedin, Sven}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:Explorers of Asia]]
[[Category:Explorers of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Geopoliticians]][[Category:History of Tibet]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Swedish Academy]]
[[Category:People from Stockholm]]
[[Category:Swedish explorers]]
[[Category:Swedish geographers]]
[[Category:Swedish nobility]]
[[Category:Stockholm University alumni]]
[[Category:Uppsala University alumni]]
[[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]]
[[Category:University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni]]
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