“ Settling at Stockholm he thenceforward became practically a Swedish citizen. He soon received an offer from Otto Torell, the geologist, to accompany him on an expedition to Spitsbergen. To the observations of Torell on glacial phenomena Nordenskiöld added the discovery at Bell Sound of remains of Tertiary plants, and on the return of the expedition he received the appointment of professor and curator of the mineralogical department of the Swedish State Museum. In 1861 he took part in Torell's second Spitsbergen expedition, which yielded even more important geological results. ”

“ Of the further expedition to the same quarter promoted by the Swedish academy of science in 1864, Nordenskiöld was the leader. Three years later, chiefly through the support of the Swedish government and Oscar Dickson, who contributed largely towards the later expeditions of 1872 and 1875, he headed a well-organized expedition in the iron steamer “Sofia ” and reached the highest northern latitude (81° 42′) then attained in the eastern hemisphere. ”

“ NORDENSKIÖLD, NILS ADOLF ERIK, Baron (1832—1901) , geographer and Arctic explorer, was born at Helsingfors, 18th November 1832. His ancestors came originally from Sweden, but for some generations had been settled in Finland. His father, Nils Gustav Nordenskiöld, was both a mineralogist and a traveller. Nordenskiöld entered the university of Helsingfors in 1849, and applied himself specially to chemistry and mineralogy. In 1853 he accompanied his father to the Ural Mountains and studied the iron and copper mines at Tagilsk. ”