Johan Gunnar Andersson was born on 3 July 1874. After training as a geologist he participated in two expeditions to the Arctic. Appointed second in command of the Swedish South Polar Expedition, 1901-1903 (leader Nils Otto Nordenskjld) during its second year, Andersson was picked up by Antarctic in South Georgia and landed with two companions at Hope Bay in 1902, hoping to sledge to the expedition base on Snow Hill Island. They failed to reach the island so were forced to winter at Hope Bay in a makeshift stone hut with minimal supplies. They joined the Snow Hill Island party in October 1903. Despite the difficulties of the expedition, the Swedish scientists produced exceptional results, publishing a series of reports that set a pattern for later expeditions to follow.
In 1906, Andersson became professor of geography at Uppsala University and head of the Geological Survey of Sweden. He held the chair of geology at Stockholm University from 1925 to 1926. He also had a distinguished career in Chinese studies. He died in Stockholm on 29 October 1960.
Published works, Kineser och pingviner. En naturforskares minnen fran jordens fyra horn (Swedish) by Johan Gunnar Andersson, Saxon & Lindstoms Forlag A.B. Stockholm (1933) SPRI Library Shelf 92[Andersson, J.G.] Mitt liv och min tro (Swedish) by Johan Gunnar Andersson, Saxon & Lindstom Stockholm (1956) SPRI Library Shelf 92[Andersson, J.G.] Antarctica, or two years amongst the ice of the South Pole by Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjld and Johan Gunnar Andersson, C.Hurst and Co. London (1977) SPRI Library Shelf (7)91(08)[1901-1904 Nordenskjld]
From the guide to the Johan Andersson collection, 1902-1904, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
