By Sharron Arksey
There is more than one famous Icelander with the name William Stephenson, although spellings differ.
There is, for example, the spymaster William Stephenson who was born William Samuel Clouston Sanger in Winnipeg, MB to an Icelandic mother and a father from the Orkney Islands. When his parents could no longer care for him, he was taken in by an Icelandic family and given their name Stephenson. His exploits were made famous in the book “A Man Called Intrepid”, written by a British-born Canadian author also named William Stevenson.
And then there’s William Stephenson (IR# I185068 ) who was born in Arnes, Manitoba on November 2 (some sources say November 3) 1879 and became an Arctic explorer and author. His parents Jóhann Stefánsson and Ingibjörg Jóhannesdóttir gave him an Anglicized version of his name, hoping, as many Icelandic settlers of the time did, to blend in with their new neighbours.
While in his early 20s, the young William had his name changed to Vilhjálmur Stefánsson. The March 11, 2022, issue of the magazine Canadian Geographic (updated June 15) stated that ‘he changed his name at university to the almost unspellable Vilhjálmur Stefánsson in order to give himself some faux-Viking street cred”, an unfair assertion since the change was a reversion to his authentic Icelandic name and there was nothing faux about his Viking street cred.
The family had come to Manitoba in 1876, but did not stay long. Following disastrous flooding and the loss of two children, they moved to the area around Mountain, ND. In 1891.
“Modern Sagas: The Story of the Icelanders in North America” by Thorstina Walters (1953) speaks favorably about the family and in particular the young Vilhjálmur who herded cattle and taught school to help the family fortunes.
Stefánsson distinguished himself early in his scholarly pursuits, eventually earning a PhD from Harvard in ethnology.
A family story, handed down through the generations and unfortunately not verifiable, said that although Vilhjálmur always did well academically, he was notoriously absent from the classroom. He would reappear in time for the final exam, which he would ace. In the story, he achieved a score of 99 per cent in the exam. His professor told him he would have done better if he had ever attended a class. “What, for one extra mark?” Vilhjálmur replied.
Scholarship aside, it was his interest in and passion for the Arctic that would shape Stefánsson’s career and legacy. All his life he was fascinated by Arctic cultures and indigenous peoples.
Stefánsson's extended knowledge of the geography and people of the Western Arctic, in major expeditions in 1906-1907, 1908-1912 and 1913-1918. He was an early exponent of the idea that experienced Arctic travellers could live off the land as the natives did. He was known for his extraordinary ability to adapt to the harsh Arctic environment, surviving for years with minimal supplies. His assertion that the Inuit meat-only diet was a healthy one raised some eyebrows in nutritionist circles and was never totally accepted.
He is credited with many contributions to knowledge of the Arctic and with the discovery of several islands. But his exploration activities were not without fatalities, which made it more difficult to secure funding for excursions.
In 1921, he encouraged and planned an expedition for four young men to colonize Wrangel Island north of Siberia. His original plan was to claim the island for the Canadian government, but when Canada refused to assist with the expedition, he turned to the British instead. The raising of the British flag without formal authorization to do so caused an international incident when it was discovered that the Russians had also claimed the island.
As an author and lecturer in subsequent years, he became a persuasive advocate of Arctic development. In that way, he was perhaps ahead of his time. In World War II he was an adviser to the U.S. government, surveyed defense conditions in Alaska, and prepared reports and manuals for the armed forces. He wrote a number of books, including My Life with the Eskimo (1913), The Friendly Arctic (1921), Unsolved Mysteries of the Arctic (1939), and Discovery (1964).
His storied and colourful career brought him awards and honours. In 1921, Stefánsson was awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his Arctic explorations. And in1986, the United States Postal Service issued a 22 cent postage stamp in his honour.
Stefánsson died August 26, 1962, at Hanover, New Hampshire.
Back in Arnes, the community remembers its son with a monument erected in 1964. A plaque detailing Stefánsson’s accomplishment is affixed to a white cube. The central structure bears the words (in English, French and Icelandic), “I know what I have experienced, and I know what it means to me”, words attributed to the explorer. The final component of the monument is a statue of Stefánsson clad in Inuit dress, the clothing he proudly wore on his expeditions.