Emil Bessels
Encyclopedia
Dr. Emil Bessels was a German
Jewish physician
and Arctic
explorer. Born in Heidelberg
, Germany, he studied medicine and natural sciences in his home town and at the university of Jena
. Bessels spent much of his scientific career working for the Smithsonian Institution
. He took part in several Arctic expeditions, during the course of one of which he came under suspicion of murdering American explorer Charles Francis Hall
.
and Novaya Zemlya
and survey the ocean in their vicinity. Because of adverse ice conditions, only the first destination could be reached. During the course of the expedition, hydrographical measurements were performed and the climatological influence of the Gulf Stream
on the eastern coast of Spitsbergen was demonstrated. After returning to his home country in 1870, he joined the German army as a surgeon in time for the Franco-Prussian war
. For his military service he received a public commendation from the Grand Duke of Baden
.
as ship's physician and head of the scientific team. He and Hall soon came into conflict over control of the scientific research on the expedition. When Hall became ill in October 1871, Bessels remained by his bedside for several days, ostensibly in order to administer medical treatment. However, Hall suspected that Bessels was poisoning him, and consequently refused any further contact.
After Hall's death several weeks later, Bessels was among those who remained with the ship, 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 that Bessels had done his best in treating him. Nevertheless, following a forensic investigation in 1969 during which traces of arsenic were discovered on Hall's recovered body, today many scholars suspect that Bessels had in fact murdered Hall.
, 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 Volume 1, Physical Observations, was ever published, and this was later suppressed for errors and apparently never reissued. He planned a work on the Eskimo
, but all his manuscripts were destroyed by fire in 1885.
Bessels later considered mounting his own Arctic expedition, but eventually decided against it. He took part in another expedition to the northwest coast of America on the USS Saranac, but the voyage had to be interrupted after the ship was wrecked in Seymour Narrows
, British Columbia
. In 1878 Bessels published a book in German, Die amerikanische Nordpolexpedition, about the Polaris expedition.
Bessels died of a stroke in the German city of Stuttgart
at the age of 41.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Jewish physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and Arctic
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
explorer. Born in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Germany, he studied medicine and natural sciences in his home town and at the university of Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
. Bessels spent much of his scientific career working for the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. He took part in several Arctic expeditions, during the course of one of which he came under suspicion of murdering American explorer Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall was an American Arctic explorer. Little is known of Hall's early life. He was born in the state of Vermont, but while he was still a child his family moved to Rochester, New Hampshire, where, as a boy, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. In the 1840s he married and drifted...
.
First Arctic Expedition
In 1869, on suggestion from August Petermann, he joined an expedition to the Arctic Sea with the aim to investigate the islands of SpitsbergenSpitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
and Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
and survey the ocean in their vicinity. Because of adverse ice conditions, only the first destination could be reached. During the course of the expedition, hydrographical measurements were performed and the climatological influence of the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...
on the eastern coast of Spitsbergen was demonstrated. After returning to his home country in 1870, he joined the German army as a surgeon in time for the Franco-Prussian war
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
. For his military service he received a public commendation from the Grand Duke of Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
.
Polaris Expedition
In 1871, Bessels joined the crew of American Arctic explorer C. F. Hall on the Polaris expeditionPolaris expedition
The Polaris expedition was led by the American Charles Francis Hall, who intended it to be the first expedition to reach the North Pole. Sponsored by the United States government, it was one of the first serious attempts at the Pole, after that of British naval officer William Edward Parry, who in...
as ship's physician and head of the scientific team. He and Hall soon came into conflict over control of the scientific research on the expedition. When Hall became ill in October 1871, Bessels remained by his bedside for several days, ostensibly in order to administer medical treatment. However, Hall suspected that Bessels was poisoning him, and consequently refused any further contact.
After Hall's death several weeks later, Bessels was among those who remained with the ship, 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 that Bessels had done his best in treating him. Nevertheless, following a forensic investigation in 1969 during which traces of arsenic were discovered on Hall's recovered body, today many scholars suspect that Bessels had in fact murdered Hall.
Later life
In the 1870s, Bessels stayed several years at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he worked preparing the publication of the expedition's scientific results. The most important of these results was the proof that Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
was an island, deduced from tidal observations and the discovery of walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
drift wood, indicating a connection between the Greenland Sea
Greenland Sea
The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as part of the Arctic Ocean, sometimes as part of the...
and the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
. The publication was planned for a total of three volumes, the first two of which were written by Bessels. However, only Volume 1, Physical Observations, was ever published, and this was later suppressed for errors and apparently never reissued. He planned a work on the Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
, but all his manuscripts were destroyed by fire in 1885.
Bessels later considered mounting his own Arctic expedition, but eventually decided against it. He took part in another expedition to the northwest coast of America on the USS Saranac, but the voyage had to be interrupted after the ship was wrecked in Seymour Narrows
Seymour Narrows
Seymour Narrows is a section of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia known for strong tidal currents. Discovery Passage lies between Vancouver Island at Menzies Bay, British Columbia and Quadra Island except at its northern end where the eastern shoreline is Sonora Island...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. In 1878 Bessels published a book in German, Die amerikanische Nordpolexpedition, about the Polaris expedition.
Bessels died of a stroke in the German city of Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
at the age of 41.