Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship
ABSTRACT Confusion has long existed on the subject of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship. A Canadian (that is, a British subject) by birth, Stefansson was brought up and educated in the United States. When his father became an American citizen in 1887, according to the laws of the time Stefans...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2009
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247408008140 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247408008140 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247408008140 2024-03-03T08:42:04+00:00 Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship Cavell, Janice Noakes, Jeff 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247408008140 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247408008140 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 45, issue 3, page 237-241 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 2009 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247408008140 2024-02-08T08:45:24Z ABSTRACT Confusion has long existed on the subject of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship. A Canadian (that is, a British subject) by birth, Stefansson was brought up and educated in the United States. When his father became an American citizen in 1887, according to the laws of the time Stefansson too became an American. Dual citizenship was not then permitted by either the British or the American laws. Therefore, Stefansson was no longer a British subject. After he took command of the government sponsored Canadian Arctic Expedition in 1913, Stefansson was careful to give the impression that his status had never changed. Although Stefansson swore an oath of allegiance to King George V in May 1913, he did not take the other steps that would have been required to restore him to being Canadian. But, by an American act passed in 1907, this oath meant the loss of Stefansson's American citizenship. In the 1930s American officials informed Stefansson that he must apply for naturalisation in order to regain it. From 1913 until he received his American citizenship papers in 1937, Stefansson was a man without a country. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Polar Record Cambridge University Press Arctic Stefansson ENVELOPE(-62.417,-62.417,-69.467,-69.467) Polar Record 45 3 237 241 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Cavell, Janice Noakes, Jeff Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
ABSTRACT Confusion has long existed on the subject of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship. A Canadian (that is, a British subject) by birth, Stefansson was brought up and educated in the United States. When his father became an American citizen in 1887, according to the laws of the time Stefansson too became an American. Dual citizenship was not then permitted by either the British or the American laws. Therefore, Stefansson was no longer a British subject. After he took command of the government sponsored Canadian Arctic Expedition in 1913, Stefansson was careful to give the impression that his status had never changed. Although Stefansson swore an oath of allegiance to King George V in May 1913, he did not take the other steps that would have been required to restore him to being Canadian. But, by an American act passed in 1907, this oath meant the loss of Stefansson's American citizenship. In the 1930s American officials informed Stefansson that he must apply for naturalisation in order to regain it. From 1913 until he received his American citizenship papers in 1937, Stefansson was a man without a country. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cavell, Janice Noakes, Jeff |
author_facet |
Cavell, Janice Noakes, Jeff |
author_sort |
Cavell, Janice |
title |
Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship |
title_short |
Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship |
title_full |
Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship |
title_fullStr |
Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship |
title_full_unstemmed |
Explorer without a country: the question of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship |
title_sort |
explorer without a country: the question of vilhjalmur stefansson's citizenship |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247408008140 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247408008140 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.417,-62.417,-69.467,-69.467) |
geographic |
Arctic Stefansson |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Stefansson |
genre |
Arctic Polar Record |
genre_facet |
Arctic Polar Record |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 45, issue 3, page 237-241 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247408008140 |
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Polar Record |
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45 |
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237 |
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241 |
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