Mauritz Björnström-Steffansson

Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmaɵrɪʈs hoːkan bjœrsʈrœːm-sʈe:ffanssɔn']; 9 November 1883 – 21 May 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.

Early life

Mauritz Håkan was born to Erik Samuel Steffansson and Berta Maria Björnström on 9 November 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, D.C. He became a reserve underlöjtnant in the Svea Artillery Regiment in 1904.

Titanic survivor

Hugh Woolner’s testimony

On 10 April 1912, Steffansson bought a first class ticket and boarded the Titanic at Southampton (ticket number 110564, £26 11s). 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 fill the lifeboats with women and children, in what they initially believed was a precautionary exercise.

Once the seriousness of the situation was understood, Woolner recounted, he and Steffansson helped the crew 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 bow of collapsible lifeboat D, the last lifeboat to leave the ship.