Jonas Lied

Jonas Marius Lied
Born	Template:Birth date
Died	April 25, 1969(1969-04-25) (aged 87)
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, businessman, diplomat, writer, art collector
Known for	Founder of The Siberian Steamship, Manufacturing & Trading Company

Jonas Marius Lied (17 July 1881 – 25 April 1969) was a prominent Norwegian figure known for his roles as an entrepreneur, businessman, diplomat, writer, and art collector. Despite having only a brief formal business education, he mastered English, French, German, and Russian. In 1906, Lied and Erik Ole Bye earned the Lyle Cup in the double sculls competition.

In 1912, he established The Siberian Steamship, Manufacturing & Trading Company (commonly called the Siberian Company; Norwegian: Det siberiske kompani), with the goal of enhancing import-export activities via a novel northern maritime route along the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. Lied acquired Russian citizenship through the backing of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich but reverted to Norwegian citizenship in 1931 after departing from the Soviet Union. He frequently signed documents as "I.G. Lid," adopting Russian-style naming conventions.

The company’s inaugural expedition through the Kara Sea in 1913 featured notable participants such as explorer Fridtjof Nansen and Siberian industrialist Stephan Vostrotin. This successful voyage attracted widespread international media attention. Lied subsequently gave presentations in Russian at St. Petersburg, in French to the Société Nautique, and in German before the Hamburg geographical society. Nansen later authored Through Siberia, chronicling the expedition’s experiences.

In 1914, Lied was briefly detained under the Defence of the Realm Act for photographing British naval vessels in Newcastle but was released following intervention by Secretary of Trade Walter Runciman, according to Lied’s own memoirs.

The Siberian Company

Motivated by English entrepreneur Alfred Derry and inspired by Joseph Wiggins’ publication on the Northeast passage, Lied resigned from his role at Burroughs Adding Machine Company to launch The Siberian Steamship, Manufacturing & Trading Company in 1912. The firm’s headquarters were located in Krasnoyarsk, with additional branches established in St Petersburg, London, New York, Moscow, Novosibirsk, and Arkhangelsk. Starting with a capital of 142,000 NOK, the company’s equity grew to 8 million NOK by 1917. Lied’s business model centered on utilizing Siberia’s major rivers for cargo transport, transferring goods to West European ocean vessels docked at Arctic river mouths. The Yenisei River stretches approximately 2,500 km from Krasnoyarsk without any roads or railways at that time; navigation along this northern route was limited to July through September due to ice conditions.

During summer 1914, Lied coordinated the shipment of river steamships built in England and Germany destined for Siberia. The convoy gathered at Tromsø and included freight vessels carrying 30,000 barrels of cement intended for the Transsiberian railway. Although delays occurred while obtaining necessary permits and instruments, the fleet departed from Cuxhaven on 30 July under difficult weather conditions; shallow-draft riverboats struggled with open sea crossings. For this achievement, Lied was granted honorary Russian citizenship. Upon reaching Tromsø, wartime circumstances required replacing German crews with Norwegian sailors. At Murmansk, authorities mistakenly identified the convoy as German naval forces causing confusion. At Dikson Island, Lied aided explorer Otto Sverdrup, whose ship Eclipse had run aground during a rescue operation.

By 1916, Lied had installed a fully operational "Bolinder" sawmill imported from Sweden in Maklakovo (present-day Lesosibirsk) on the Yenisei River, employing around 200 workers. This facility remains one of Russia’s largest sawmills today. In 1917, one of Lied’s vessels was sunk by a submarine attack resulting in the death of his brother Hjalmar. Utilizing his Russian citizenship status, Lied acquired control over several Russian enterprises including majority ownership of private ships operating on the Yenisei River and possession of about 50 riverboats plus 140 barges on the Ob River. He also established a nearby fish canning plant.

During a visit to the United States in March 1917, Lied met with Theodore Roosevelt and proposed inviting him on a Siberian expedition akin to his earlier journey with Nansen; however, this initiative was halted due to the outbreak of the February Revolution.

Revolution

During the October Revolution, Lied was residing in Petrograd and had meetings with prominent figures such as Lenin and Trotsky at the Smolny Institute in 1917. His autobiography notes that Trotsky remained armed with a pistol throughout their discussion. Lied sought to establish a contract between his Siberian enterprise and the emerging regime but was unsuccessful. Subsequently, he attempted to liquidate the company's assets; however, hesitation from the Kristiania board delayed this process, prompting his resignation as CEO in February 1918. Following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk later that year, the Bolsheviks confiscated the company's holdings.

In collaboration with British intelligence services, Lied devised a plan to use his company's riverboats on Siberian waterways to liberate the Tsar and his family from their confinement in Tobolsk. This rescue mission was ultimately aborted by King George V. Entries in Lied’s diary detail meetings with influential British officials such as Arthur Balfour, Robert Cecil, MI6 chief Reginald Hall, and Michael Romanov, the exiled cousin of the Tsar. Whether Lied initiated this logistical support or was invited remains uncertain. Historians suggest that while Prime Minister Lloyd George hesitated due to diplomatic complexities, King George advocated for the rescue operation. In 1919, Lied traveled to Omsk to engage with anti-Bolshevik leader Alexander Kolchak, who tasked him with negotiating supply arrangements with UK Defence Minister Winston Churchill, though these negotiations did not come to fruition.

After the Revolution

Amidst the turmoil of the Russian Civil War in February 1920, Lied returned to Russia, where he met Grigory Zinoviev in Petrograd before visiting Moscow. There, Maxim Gorky invited him to assist in securing humanitarian aid from Nansen and H.G. Wells for Petrograd’s starving citizens. After the revolution, the Soviet government nationalized all properties belonging to the Siberian company. Under Lenin's New Economic Policy, Lied established himself as an independent entrepreneur based in Moscow, representing US aluminum giant Alcoa. He conducted explorations for bauxite reserves and potential hydroelectric projects, holding several meetings with Trotsky and traveling extensively alongside Soviet geologists, including site visits to development projects like Dneprostroi.

By 1930, increased surveillance by secret police and mounting Soviet pressure rendered business operations unsustainable for Lied. He faced demands to act as an informant on the global aluminum industry; after a short detention in February 1931, he secretly reclaimed Norwegian citizenship and departed the USSR in May 1931 using his Soviet passport. Having lost his personal fortune, Lied resumed his international career as senior vice president of Aluminium Union Limited.

Legacy

Lied retired from global business activities in 1946 and settled on his ancestral farm at Sølsnes. He maintained comprehensive diaries covering the years 1907 through 1966, documenting his extensive time living across Norway, England, Russia, France, and Germany. His autobiography, Return to Happiness, composed in London during World War II, was translated into eight languages and achieved international bestseller status; it was dedicated to «Norway by a loyal son».

He assembled a significant collection of Russian icons and artwork primarily dating from 1920 to 1924, including pieces originating from the Winter palace. Some items were lost following a burglary at his Petrograd residence after the revolution. Among his collection is a portrait by Yury Annenkov, whom Lied befriended in Moscow and encountered again in Paris in 1933. At Sølsnes, researcher Marit Werenskiold uncovered a previously unknown portrait of King Oscar painted by Konstantin Makovsky, as well as several portraits obtained from Count Sheremetev. The collection also contains a contested portrait of author Ivan Krylov.

Lied donated diaries and documents related to the Siberian company to the Norwegian Maritime Museum, while other archival materials are preserved at Romsdal Museum. He allocated one-third of his wealth towards restoring Old Veøy Church and was interred at its historic churchyard. Portions of his art collection were showcased at the Pushkin Museum and other venues in 2005. In 2008, Professor Marit Werenskiold edited Consul Jonas Lied and Russia. Collector, diplomat, industrial explorer 1910-1931.

Notable Publications

• Insights into Russia's Economic Landscape, Moscow, 1922.
• Journey Back to Joy (memoir, available in eight languages). London: Macmillan, 1943.
• Beyond the High Mountains (memoir). Oslo: Dybwad, 1946.
• Siberian Adventure (initially titled Prospector in Siberia, Oxford University Press). Copenhagen: Arnold Busck, 1955.
• A Maritime Path Emerges: The History of the Siberian Company. Oslo: Mortensen, 1958.

External links

• Photograph of Jonas Lied aboard a vessel in the Kara Sea, 1913, Nasjonalbiblioteket
• Image of Jonas Lied at Sølsnes, 1965, Digitalt museum
• Undated portrait of Jonas Lied at Sølsnes, Digitalt museum/Romsdal Museum
• Private study of Jonas Lied in St Petersburg, undated, Digitalt museum/Romsdal Museum
• Nautical chart depicting the sea passage to Siberia via the Kara Sea, undated, Digitalt museum/Romsdal Museum