Mauritz Hokan Björnström-Steffansson (November 9th, 1883 - May 21st, 1962) was a First Class passenger and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Early life
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Mauritz was born on November 9th, 1883, son of Erik Samuel Steffansson and Berta Maria Björnström. Erik was one of the pioneers of the Swedish pulp industry. He lived in Washington DC since 1909 as a holder of Swedish government scholarship. There were rumors that Mauritz was working as a Swedish military attaché, which he denied.
RMS TitanicEdit
He boarded on the RMS Titanic in Southampton on April 10th, 1912. He is believed to have shared cabin C-52 with Hugh Woolner.
On the night of April 14th, 1912; Mauritz was in the First Class Smoking Room drinking a hot lemonade when he felt a slight jar at 11:40 PM. While most of the men went to see the iceberg pass by, Mauritz stayed in the Smoking Room thinking nothing of the incident. He also didn't believe the Titanic was in danger, until an officer entered the room and told the men to get into their lifejackets.
Both he and Hugh Woolner were on the boat deck helping women and children into the lifeboats and helped pull men out of Collapsible C when Purser Hugh McElroy fired his gun into the air. At 2:00 AM, Mauritz and Hugh were on A-deck when they saw Collapsible D being lowered down the davits. Both men seeing the water ready to swamp A-deck decided to jump into the boat, Mauritz made it in but Hugh landed on the side of the collapsible and was helped into the boat.
After the survivors had been rescued by the RMS Carpathia, he and his fellow First Class survivors formed a committee to honor Captain Rostron and his crewmembers for their efforts in helping them.
After the TitanicEdit
In 1917, Mauritz married Mary Pinchot Eno, she had been introduced to Mauritz by fellow Titanic survivor Helen Churchill Candee. Mary died in 1953 after thirty-six years of marriage, they had no children.
Mauritz Hokan Björnström-Steffansson died on May 21st, 1962.
