Vilhjalmur Stef - Explorations, Literature

Arctic explorer, born of immigrant Icelandic parents in Arnes, Manitoba, C Canada. He studied anthropology and archaeology before going to live among the Eskimo (1906–12). He led the Canadian Arctic Expedition which mapped the Beaufort Sea (1913–18), and later became a consultant on the use of Arctic resources. He wrote several popular books, including My Life with the Eskimo (1913) and The Friendly Arctic (1921).

Vilhjalmur Stefansson (November 3, 1879 – August 26, 1962) was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist.

Explorations

In 1904 and 1905, he made archæological researches in Iceland.

Under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, he and Dr. R.

From 1913-16, for the Government of Canada, he took command of an expedition to explore the regions west of Parry Archipelago. A supporting sledge turned back 75 miles (121 km) offshore, but he and two men continued onward on one sledge, living largely by his rifle on polar game for 96 days until his party reached the Mary Sachs in the autumn.

His discoveries included new land and the edge of the continental shelf.

Stefansson was an extremely well-known explorer in his lifetime. Late in life, through his affiliation with Dartmouth College (he was Director of Polar Studies), he became a major figure in the establishment of the US Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Stefansson is also a figure of considerable interest in dietary circles, especially those with an interest in very low-carbohydrate diets. Stefansson documented the fact that most Inuit lived on a diet of about 90% meat and fish, often going 6-9 months a year on nothing but meat and fish--essentially, a zero-carbohydrate diet. When medical authorities questioned him on this, he and a fellow explorer agreed to undertake a study under the auspices of the Journal of the American Medical Association to demonstrate that they could eat a 100% meat diet in a closely-observed laboratory setting for the first several weeks, with paid observers for the rest of an entire year. The results were published in the Journal of the AMA, and both men were perfectly healthy on such a diet, without vitamin supplementation or anything else in their diet except meat.

Stefansson's personal papers and collection of arctic artifacts are maintained and available to the public at the Dartmouth College Library.

Stefansson is also famous for saying that "adventure is a sign of incompetence."

Literature

My Life with the Eskimos, (New York, 1912) Stefánsson-Anderson Expedition, 1909-12, (Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, New York, 1914) Cancer: Disease of civilization?