Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson
Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson | |
|---|---|
 Bjornstrom-Steffansson was in lifeboat D | |
| Born | 9 November 1883 Österfärnebo, Sweden |
| Died | 21 May 1962, aged 78 New York |
| Nationality | Swedish American |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Titanic Survivor |
Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson (also referred to as Hokan B. Steffanson), (November 9, 1883 – May 21, 1962) was a Swedish businessman who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. In early 1913, Steffansson filed by far the largest claim for financial compensation made against the White Star Line, for the loss of a single item of luggage or cargo as a result of the disaster.[1]
Early life
Mauritz Håkan was born to Erik Samuel Steffansson and Berta Maria Björnström on November 9, 1883 in Österfärnebo, Sweden. His father was a pioneer in the Swedish wood pulp industry. After studying Chemical Engineering at the Stockholm Institute of Technology, Steffansson was awarded a Swedish government scholarship to continue his studies in Washington, US.[2]
Titanic survivor
Hugh Woolner’s testimony
- On the 10th April 1912, Steffansson bought a first class ticket and boarded the Titanic at Southampton (ticket number 110564, £26 11s).[3] According to the testimony of Hugh Woolner at the United States Senate Inquiry into the disaster, he and Steffansson were in the first class smoking room at the moment of impact with the iceberg. After putting on their lifebelts, the two men went on deck and began helping crew members to fill the lifeboats with women and children, in what they initially believed to be a precautionary exercise.
- Once the seriousness of the situation was understood, Woolner recounted an incident during which he and Steffansson helped the crew to physically remove a number of men, who had forced their way into lifeboat C, ahead of women and children. Woolner confirmed that when all the lifeboats were launched, moments before the ship finally went under, he and Steffansson took the opportunity to jump from the rails of the flooding A deck, into an empty space at the bows of collapsible lifeboat D, the last lifeboat to leave the ship. Woolner and Steffansson pulled another man from the water and together, they helped to row the lifeboat away from the ship.[4]
Awards committee
- After the disaster, Steffansson was a member of the survivor’s committee which formed to award medals and a cup to the Captain, officers and crew of the rescue ship RMS Carpathia.[5]
Claim for lost painting
(main article: La Circassienne au Bain)
- Compensation claims submitted to US commissioner Gilchrist in New York in January 1913, included a submission from Björnström-Steffansson demanding $100,000 ($2.4 million equivalent in 2014) in compensation for the loss of La Circassienne au Bain, a large neoclassical oil painting by French painter Merry-Joseph Blondel. The compensation claim was the largest submitted for a single item of either passenger luggage or cargo.[6]
Later life
In 1917 Steffansson married Mary Pinchot Eno, whom he was introduced to by fellow Titanic survivor Helen Churchill Candee. Steffansson made a large fortune in the paper and pulp industries and in real estate. In the 1920s he acquired significant interests in Canadian paper and pulp industries. He was also responsible for developing significant real estate holdings in the Park Avenue area of New York into apartments and hotels. He retired in 1930.
Mary Björnström-Steffansson died in 1953 and at the time of Mauritz Håkan’s death in May 1962, their house on East 57th street was one of the few remaining private houses on Manhattan island. As they were childless, the bulk of the Steffansson’s fortune was left to Mauritz Håkan’s nephew Thord Steffansson.[7]
References
- ^ New York Times, Thursday January 16th, 1913, Titanic Survivors Asking $6,000,000.
- ^ New York Times, Wednesday 23rd May, 1962, Obituary
- ^ Contract Ticket Office, White Star Line, 1912 ( National Archives, New York, NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55(27a)
- ^ United States Senate Inquiry Into the Sinking of the RMS Titanic, Hugh Woolner's testimony, Day 10, Monday 29th April 1912.
- ^ New York Times, Thursday 30th May 1912, Titanic survivors honour Captain Rostron
- ^ New York Times, Thursday January 16th, 1913, Titanic Survivors Asking $6,000,000.
- ^ New York Times, Wednesday 23rd May, 1962, Obituary