author
Algot Lange
1884–1904
An explorer-writer of the Amazon, his books turn dangerous river journeys and encounters with Indigenous communities into vivid early-20th-century adventure narratives.
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About the author
Born in Stockholm on May 10, 1884, Algot Lange was a Swedish-American explorer and author best known for writing about the Amazon. He was born Åke Mortimer Lange and later took his father’s name; his father was the opera singer Algot Lange, and his mother, Ina Forstén, was a pianist and author.
Lange emigrated to New York in 1904 and went on to build his reputation through expeditions in South America. His best-known books include In the Amazon Jungle and The Lower Amazon, works that introduced many readers to remote parts of the river basin through a mix of travel writing, adventure, and observation.
His life seems to have ranged well beyond writing alone: records connected to museum collections and archives show that he gathered material from the Amazon and maintained ties to scholarly institutions as well as popular audiences. He died in New York on February 21, 1961.