A Seven-year search for Nicolas Oliver Lawson
In this article the story is told of a fifteen year old Norwegian boy who went to sea and became, with the adopted English name Lawson, a captain in several countries: in the North-American Navy during the English-American war (1812-1814), in the Chilean Navy as a hero in the liberation of Chile from the Spanish yoke (1818-1823) as well as in Ecuadorean service for several years.
As interim governor of the Ecuadorean Galápagos-Archipelago he told Charles Darwin on 25-9-1835 of a remarkable observation he had made with regard to the shells of the tortoises. Nine months later this “casual remark” led Darwin to the first step in the development of his theory of evolution. Since 1835 Lawson remained completely unknown in this respect until his Norwegian origin could be detected.