Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen | |
Birth Date: | 8 October 1913 |
Birth Place: | Grytviken, South Georgia Island |
Death Place: | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Nationality: | Norwegian |
Known For: | First person born and raised in the Antarctic |
Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen (8 October 1913 - 25 October 1996)[1] was a Norwegian who was the first person born and raised south of the Antarctic Convergence, in Grytviken, South Georgia in 1913.[2]
Her father, Fridthjof Jacobsen (1874–1953), settled in South Georgia in 1904 to become assistant manager, and from 1914 to 1921 manager of the Grytviken whaling station.[2] Jacobsen and his wife Klara Olette Jacobsen had two other daughters born on the island, Signe Fon (Jacobsen) and Åse Jacobsen. Solveig's birth was registered by the resident British Stipendiary Magistrate of South Georgia, James Wilson.[2]
Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen was the first person born and raised south of the Antarctic Convergence, and South Georgia is usually classified as an Antarctic island and part of the Antarctic for that reason. The first human born south of the Convergence was the Australian James Kerguelen Robinson, born in Kerguelen Islands on 11 March 1859.[3] [4]
The Antarctic Treaty defines Antarctica as any territory located South of the 60th parallel, which excludes both South Georgia and Kerguelen. The first person born in the Antarctic Treaty area (also first on the Antarctic mainland) was Emilio Palma, born at the Argentine Esperanza Base in 1978.
She died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, aged 83, and was buried in Molde, Norway.
Jacobsen Valley in Vinson Massif, Antarctica is named after Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen.