Nansen #1

Fridtjof Nansen 1861–1930
Norwegian arctic explorer, scientist, statesman

Fridtof Nansen was an innovative scientist who made new discoveries in oceanography, meteorology, diet, and nutrition that laid the groundwork for future Polar expeditions. He made his first trip to the Arctic as a sealer in 1882. Six years later he traversed Greenland on skis. He chronicled this monumental journey in his book First Crossing of Greenland (1890).

In 1893, Nansen set out for the North Pole in the Fram, a round-hulled ship designed and built to withstand sea ice. The ship drifted northward for three years and although it never reached Nansen’s intended destination, the Fram was later enlisted for service with Roald Admunsen’s Antarctic expedition.

Later in his life Nansen became a diplomat and won the Nobel Prize.