John Munro Longyear Sr. (April 15, 1850 – May 28, 1922) was an American businessman and noted developer of timber and mineral lands in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan[1] and Minnesota who became the central figure behind the Arctic Coal Company, which surveyed and mined coalfields on Spitsbergen, from 1905 to 1916.

This company developed a settlement on Spitsbergen able to accommodate up to around 500 people which became known as Longyear City, now Longyearbyen, adjacent Advent Bay.

[7] In 1873, when he was 23, Longyear moved to Marquette, Michigan, and for over 20 years established himself as an expert in identifying iron ore properties for mines.

[16] For some years, the family was accompanied by a nurse, a young German woman named Angela Nerling, who both lived and traveled with them.

[11] In the early 20th century, Longyear made the decision to move from Michigan, where his family lived in a stone mansion on the shores of Lake Superior, to Massachusetts.