Sten Bergman (20 October 1895 – 19 February 1975) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used b ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

and

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...

who visited

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, Japan and many other places.

Career

Bergman was born in

Ransäter Ransäter () is a smaller locality in Munkfors Municipality, Sweden. In 2010, it had a population of 114. Ransäter is the birthplace of Erik Gustaf Geijer, Sten Bergman, and Tage Erlander Tage Fritjof Erlander (; 13 June 1901 – 21 June ...

, Sweden and was the son of professor Johan Bergman and Kerstin Henriksson. He passed his ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in 1914 and obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1917, Licentiate of Philosophy degree in 1925 and became an honorary doctor in Stockholm in 1952. He was acting assistance and acting director of the Swedish Museum of Natural History during different periods from 1923. Bergman was a popular science lecturer from 1923 and conducted tours in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ...

in 1926, 1933 and 1955, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1955 as well as in Japan in 1960 and 1962. He was explorer in the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...

from 1920 to 1923, in the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

from 1929 to 1930, in

from 1935 to 1936 and in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

from 1948 to 1949, 1952 to 1953 and from 1956 to 1959. Bergman was an honorary member of the

Royal Danish Geographical Society The Royal Danish Geographical Society (RDGS, da, Det Kongelige Danske Geografiske Selskab) is a scientific society aimed at furthering the knowledge of the Earth and its inhabitants and to disseminate interest in the science of geography. It w ...

and corresponding member of the Geographische Gesellschaft i

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Travels to Japan

Bergman visited Japan on several occasions during his expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s during his explorations of the

(1920-1923),

(1929-1930) and

(1935-1936). He would later return to the Japanese islands in 1960-1962 which resulted in his travel book ''Det Fagra Landet'' (1962). During his travels in the country he travelled extensively and visited such places as

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highes ...

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

, Yamagata,

Matsushima is a group of islands in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There are some 260 tiny islands (''shima'') covered in pines (''matsu'') – hence the name – and it is considered to be one of the Three Views of Japan. Nearby cultural properti ...

, Kinkazan and

Izu Oshima Izu may refer to: Places *Izu Province, a part of modern-day Shizuoka prefecture in Japan **Izu, Shizuoka, a city in Shizuoka prefecture **Izu Peninsula, near Tokyo **Izu Islands The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east fr ...

. As during his earlier visits in the 1920s and 30s Bergman spent time with the

Ainu people The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the ...

. His travels in Japan resulted in the ornithological study of several Japanese species and breeds of birds such as

Red-crowned crane The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis''), also called the Manchurian crane or Japanese crane (; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian Crane (bird), crane among th ...

, the famous

Onagadori The Onagadori ( ja, 尾長鶏, "long-tailed chicken") is a historic Japanese breed of chicken, characterised by an exceptionally long tail. It was bred in the seventeenth century in Kōchi Prefecture, on Shikoku island in southern Japan, and w ...

Great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...

Little grebe The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Lat ...

, White-cheeked starling and the Siberian rubythroat.

Expedition to Korea

Bergman's 1938 book ''In Korean Wilds And Villages'' recounts an expedition to study the birds found in the North of

.www.RareOrientalBooks.com Author: BERGMAN, Sten
/ref> Traveling with a taxidermist, Bergman also collected specimens for the Swedish Natural History and Ethnographical museums. The book also provides commentaries on various aspects of Korean culture and wildlife.

Cannibalism In New Guinea

In his 1962 book ''My father is a

cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

'', Bergman relates the experiences of two years spent with his wife in

from 1956 to 1958.My Father Is A Cannibal – By Sten Bergman – OZtion Auction Item 1682785
/ref> He describes his adoption by the Papuan Chief Pinim, and his wife, Akintjes, and the festivals, ceremonies and cannibalistic practises of the native Papuans. The book also includes his observations of interesting plants and animals, including the

tree kangaroos Tree-kangaroos are marsupials of the genus ''Dendrolagus'', adapted for arboreal locomotion. They inhabit the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and far northeastern Queensland, along with some of the islands in the region. All tree-kangaroos a ...

, forest turkeys, flame-coloured

lianas A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ...

Bauhinia ''Bauhinia'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae, in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and ...

and flying

beetles Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, Elytron, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, wit ...

Personal life

In 1920, Bergman married Dagny Lindhé (born 1890), the daughter of major Nils Lindhé and Ida Arnell. He was the father of the nature photographer and writer Astrid Bergman (1927–2015). Bergman died in 1975 and was buried at Salem cemetery in

Salem Municipality Salem Municipality (''Salems kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name traces its origins from ''Slæm'' in the 13th century, but was changed to Salem in the 17th century, inspired by the Biblical name of Jer ...

on the cape closest to

Bornsjön Bornsjön is a lake at Södertörn in Salem Municipality in Södermanland, Sweden. It is part of Norrström's main catchment area. The lake is 17 metres deep, has an area of , and is 11 metres above sea level. In test fishing, a large number o ...

Awards and decorations

Bergman's awards: * Commander of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of ...

* Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was ...

* Officer of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

Anders Retzius Anders Adolph Retzius (13 October 1796 – 18 April 1860), was a Swedish professor of anatomy and a supervisor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Biography Retzius was born in Lund, Sweden, in 1796. He enrolled at Lund University in 1 ...

medal in silver * Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' Linné Medal in gold * Travellers Club's medal in silver *

Johan August Wahlberg Johan August Wahlberg (9 October 1810, in Lackarebäck, Sweden – 6 March 1856, in Lake Ngami, Bechuanaland) was a Swedish naturalist and explorer. Wahlberg started studying chemistry at the University of Uppsala in 1829, and later forestry, ...

's medal in silver

Bibliography

*''Through Kamchatka by Dog-Sled and Skis'' by Sten Bergman ( Seeley, Service & Co., Ltd., 1927), . *''Sport and exploration in the far east'' by Sten Bergman (Methuen & Co. 1933) *''In Korean Wilds And Villages'' by Sten Bergman (1938), translated by Frederic Whyte. *''My Father Is A Cannibal'' by Sten Bergman (Robert Hale, 1961) *''Blåhake, Tiger, Pungbjörn Och Andra Djur'' by Sten Bergman, Albert Bonniers Förlag (1947) *''Det Fagra Landet (''Albert Bonniers Förlag, 1962'')''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Sten 1895 births 1975 deaths People from Munkfors Municipality Swedish explorers Swedish expatriates in the Soviet Union Swedish expatriates in Papua New Guinea 20th-century Swedish zoologists Cannibalism in Oceania Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star Knights of the Order of Vasa Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau