Axel Heiberg
Axel Heiberg (born March 16, 1848 in Christiania , † September 4, 1932 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian businessman and patron . He is best known for his financial support to polar explorers Fridtjof Nansen , Otto Sverdrup and Roald Amundsen .
Life
Axel Heiberg was born in 1848 as the son of General Surgeon Johan Fritznersgate Heiberg (1805-1883) and his wife Emma Wilhelmine Munch (1818-1888). He was a nephew of Christian Heiberg (1799–1872), a professor of medicine at the Royal Friedrichs University Christiania .
Heiberg began his professional career in 1867 at the cotton company Wm. M. Tunne & Co. in Savannah in the US state of Georgia , went to Russell & Company in Hong Kong and was Norwegian-Swedish Vice Consul and Consulate Secretary in Shanghai from 1870 to 1872 . In autumn 1872 he returned to Norway and became a co-owner of several industrial companies. In 1877 he founded the Ringnes brewery with the brothers Amund Ringnes and Ellef Ringnes . Even an active rower , sailor and skier , he promoted Norwegian sport through donations. He was chairman of the rowing club in Christiania from 1882 to 1884 and founded the first Norwegian kennel club .
When Fridtjof Nansen crossed Greenland on skis, Heiberg was deeply impressed. Together with Ellef Ringnes and the shipowner Thomas Fearnley (1841-1927) he collected private donations for Nansen's Fram expedition from 1893 to 1896. Heiberg himself gave 17,000 crowns . After Nansen's return, in 1897 Heiberg contributed 50,000 crowns to the Fridtjof Nansen Foundation to promote science. Together with the Ringnes brothers, he financed the Second Fram Expedition 1898-1902 under Otto Sverdrup, which led to extensive geographical discoveries in the Canadian Arctic . He also supported Roald Amundsen in his conquest of the Northwest Passage with the Gjøa 1903-1906 and in his South Pole expedition 1910-1912. The polar explorers thanked him by naming some of their geographic discoveries after the patron, such as the Heiberg Islands in the Kara Sea (Nansen), the Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian Arctic (Sverdrup) and the Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica (Amundsen).
Heiberg is also known as a promoter of the Norwegian art and intellectual life. In 1899 he donated the statues by the sculptor Stephan Sinding , which today stand in front of the entrance to the Norwegian National Theater , depicting Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson . In 1898, on his initiative, the Norwegian Forest Society ( Norwegian Det norske Skogselskap ) was founded, of which he was chairman for 25 years.
For his services, Heiberg was decorated with the Saint Olav Order ( Knight's Cross 1896, Commander 1900, Grand Cross 1908). In 1923 he received Norway's highest civilian award, the Borgerdåds medal in gold.
Axel Heiberg was married to Ragnhild Meyer (1849–1937), the daughter of the merchant Thorvald Meyer (1818–1909) and his wife Annichen Mathea (“Thea”) Tofte (1820–1900) since October 28, 1873 .
literature
- Susan Barr: Axel Heiberg . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon (Norwegian)
- Article by Axel Heiberg . In: Store norske leksikon (Norwegian)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Heiberg, Axel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Norwegian businessman and patron |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 16, 1848 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Christiania |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 4, 1932 |
| Place of death | Oslo |