German zoologist and Arctic researcher
Emil Bessels
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Bessels in 1880
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Born
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1847-06-02
)
2 June 1847
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Died
| 30 March 1888
(1888-03-30)
(aged 40)
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Alma mater
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Scientific career
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Fields
| Medicine
,
entomology
,
zoology
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Institutions
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Expeditions
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Emil Bessels
(2 June 1847 ? 30 March 1888) was a German zoologist, entomologist, physician, and Arctic researcher who is best known for his controversial role in the attempted but ill-fated
Polaris
expedition
to the
North Pole
in 1871. Circumstantial evidence strongly points to Bessels as the most likely suspect in the death of the expedition's commander, American explorer
Charles Francis Hall
, by
arsenic poisoning
.
Bessels spent much of his scientific career at the
Smithsonian Institution
.
Career
[
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]
German North Polar expedition
[
edit
]
In 1869, on suggestion from
August Petermann
, Bessels joined the
German North Polar expedition
to the
Arctic Sea
with the aim of investigating the islands of
Spitsbergen
and
Novaya Zemlya
, and surveying the ocean in their vicinity.
Because of adverse ice conditions, only the first destination could be reached. During the expedition, hydrographical measurements were performed and the climatological influence of the
Gulf Stream
on the eastern coast of Spitsbergen was demonstrated.
Franco-Prussian War
[
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]
After his return to his home country in 1870, he joined the
Royal Prussian Army
in time for the
Franco-Prussian War
. He was called to the field as military surgeon and rendered service in the hospitals, for which he received a public commendation from
Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden
.
Polaris
expedition
[
edit
]
In 1871, Bessels joined the United States North Polar expedition, better known as the
Polaris
expedition
, commanded by eccentric American explorer
Charles Francis Hall
, who aimed to be the first to reach the
North Pole
. Bessels signed on as ship's physician and as head of the scientific team.
He and Hall soon came into conflict over control of scientific research on the expedition. When Hall became ill in October 1871, Bessels remained by his bedside for several days, ostensibly to administer medical treatment. However, Hall suspected that Bessels was poisoning him and refused further contact.
After Hall's death several weeks later, Bessels was among those who remained with the
Polaris
, when most of the crew became separated while trying to salvage supplies. Bessels and his party were eventually forced to abandon the ship, but were rescued and arrived back in the United States in 1873.
Bessels and the other surviving members of the expedition crew were questioned by a naval board of inquiry about the events leading to Hall's death. The official conclusion was that Hall had died of natural causes and had been treated by Bessels to the best of his ability. But in a forensic investigation of Hall's exhumed remains in 1969, lethal amounts of arsenic were found under his fingernails and toenails, fueling speculation and adding weight to Hall's accusations.
Later life
[
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]
Bessels stayed with the
Smithsonian Institution
for several years in the 1870s, where he worked preparing the publication of the expedition's scientific results.
The most important of these results was the proof that Greenland was an island, deduced from tidal observations and the discovery of walnut drift wood, indicating a connection between the
Greenland Sea
and the
Bering Sea
.
The publication was planned for a total of three volumes, the first two of which were written by Bessels. However, only the first volume,
Physical Observations
, was ever published, and this was later suppressed for errors and never reissued. He planned a work on the
Inuit
, but all his manuscripts were destroyed by fire in 1885.
Bessels later considered mounting his own Arctic expedition, but eventually decided against it. In 1875, he took part in another expedition to the American northwestern coast aboard the
USS
Saranac
, but the voyage had to be interrupted after the ship was wrecked in the
Seymour Narrows
, between
Vancouver Island
and the mainland. In 1879, he published
Die amerikanische Nordpol-expedition
, an account of the
Polaris
expedition. This work was translated by historian
William Barr
and released as
Polaris: The Chief Scientist's Recollections of the American North Pole Expedition
in 2016.
Bessels died of a stroke in
Stuttgart
in 1888, at the age of 40.
References
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]
Bibliography
[
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]
- Adler, C.
; et al., eds. (1906).
"Bessels, Emil"
.
The Jewish Encyclopedia
. Vol. 3. New York:
Funk & Wagnalls
. p. 113.
- Barr, W.
, ed. (2016).
The Chief Scientist's Recollections of the American North Pole Expedition
.
UCalgary Press
.
ISBN
9781552388754
.
- Gilman, D. C.
; et al., eds. (1905).
"Bessels, Emil"
.
The New International Encyclopedia
. Vol. 1. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
p. 808.
- Hantzsch, V., ed. (1902).
"Bessels, Emil"
.
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
(in German). Vol. 46. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 479?481.
- Henderson, B. B. (2001).
Fatal North: Adventure and Survival Aboard USS Polaris
. New York:
New American Library
.
ISBN
9780451409355
.
- Loomis, C. C.
(1971).
Weird and Tragic Shores: The Story of Charles Francis Hall
. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press
.
ISBN
9780375755255
.
- Moseley, H. N.
(June 1881).
"Dr. Bessels' Account of the "Polaris" Expedition"
.
Nature
.
24
(609): 194?197.
Bibcode
:
1881Natur..24..194M
.
doi
:
10.1038/024194a0
.
- Schroeder, K., ed. (1955).
"Bessels, Emil Israel"
.
Neue Deutsche Biographie
(in German). Vol. 2. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 181.
- Wilson, J. G.
; et al., eds. (1900).
"Bessels, Emil"
.
Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography
. Vol. 1. New York:
D. Appleton & Co.
p. 251.
External links
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