Swedish geologist, mineralogist, geographer, and explorer who sailed from Norway to the Pacific across the Asiatic Arctic, completing the first successful navigation of the Northeast Passage.

In 1858 Nordenskiöld settled in Stockholm, joined an expedition to the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, between Norway and Greenland, and became professor and curator of mineralogy at the Swedish State Museum. He returned to Spitsbergen again in 1861 and led his own expeditions there in 1864, 1868, and 1872–73, adding to geologic knowledge of the area. In 1870 he also led an expedition to western Greenland to study the inland ice.

Before attempting to cross the Northeast Passage, Nordenskiöld made preliminary voyages in 1875 and 1876, on which he penetrated the Kara Sea, north of Siberia, to the mouth of the Yenisey River. Sailing from Tromsø, Nor., aboard the steam vessel Vega on July 21, 1878, he reached Cape Chelyushkin, Siberia, roughly the midpoint of his journey, on August 19. From the end of September until July 18, 1879, the ship was frozen in near the Bering Strait. Resuming its course, the Vega reached Port Clarence, Alaska, on July 22 and returned to Europe by way of Canton (China), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and the Suez Canal. When Nordenskiöld reached Stockholm on April 24, 1880, he was created a baron by King Oscar. In 1883, while returning from western Greenland, where he penetrated far into the inland ice, he became the first to break through the great sea ice barrier of the southeast Greenland coast.

Nordenskiöld also made notable contributions in the field of cartography.