August Nordenskiöld

{{Short description|Finnish-Swedish alchemist and slavery critic}}

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August Nordenskiöld or Nordenskjöld (6 February 1754 in Sipoo, Finland – 10 December 1792 in Sierra Leone, Africa) was a Finnish-Swedish alchemist and Swedenborgian critic of slavery.

Nordenskiöld was the son of {{Interlanguage link|Carl Fredric Nordenskiöld|sv|Carl Fredric Nordenskiöld den äldre}} and Märta Nordenskiöld, born Ramsay, and brother of Swedish Admiral {{Interlanguage link|Otto Henrik Nordenskiöld|sv|Otto Henrik Nordenskjöld}} (1747–1842). He was educated at Turku before moving to Stockholm where he was influenced by Swedenborgianism.The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought, ed. Mark Goldie and Robert Wokler, Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 764 He was supported by the king of Sweden, Gustav III, in his efforts to find the Philosopher's Stone, in order to create gold.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} In 1782 he led Sweden's mining operations in Finland.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} He was also involved in an attempt, supported by Gustav III, to found an anti-slavery colony on the west coast of Africa. Nordenskiöld died in a violent clash between locals in Sierra Leone, where he had moved.{{cite web |url=http://www.uusikaupunki.fi/~ihana/ukikullantekija.htm |title=Kullantekijät Uudessakaupungissa |website=Uusikaupunki.fi |access-date=January 16, 2017 |language=Finnish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116214459/http://www.uusikaupunki.fi/~ihana/ukikullantekija.htm |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |url-status = dead|df=mdy-all }}

His nephew, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, was an Arctic explorer.