Fridtjof Nansen (born October 10, 1861 in Kristiania Oslo - died May 13, 1930 in Oslo) was a Norwegian explorer, scientist and international statesman. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner.
Arctic exploring
Nansen made his first voyage to Greenland waters in a sealing ship 1882, and in 1888 succeeded in crossing the Greenland
icefield on skis from East to West together with Otto Sverdrup, Olaf
Dietrichson, Kristian Kristiansen Trana, Samuel Balto and Ole Nielsen
Ravna. In 1893, he sailed to the Arctic in the
Fram (a purpose-built, round-hulled ship later used by Roald Amundsen to transport his expedition to the Antarctica,) which was deliberately allowed to drift north through the ice, a journey that took more than
three years. During this first crossing of the Arctic Ocean the expedition
became the first to discover the existence of a deep polar basin. When it after more than one year in the ice became apparent
that Fram would not reach the North Pole, Nansen, accompanied by
Hjalmar Johansen (1867-1923), continued north on foot and, in April 1895, reached 86° 14´ N, the highest latitude then attained. The two men were forced to spend the winter, surviving on
walrus blubber and polar bear meat, on Franz
Josef Land, where they eventually, in the summer of 1896, connected with a British
expedition led by Frederick George Jackson.
Academic career and scientific works
Nansen was a professor of zoology and later oceanography at the University of Kristiania
(now Oslo) and contributed with ground breaking works in the fields of neurology and fluid dynamics.
He was one of the founders of the neuron theory stating that the neural network consists of individual cells communicating with each other.
Nansen also did extensive research into the behavior and origin of ocean
currents, following his experiences from the Fram-expedition. He was, together with the Swedish mathematician V. Walfrid Ekman, deeply
involved in the discovery of how currents are generated from the planetary rotation and the formulation of the theory of the
Ekman spiral that explains the
phenomenom.
Diplomatic and political career
Before Norway's dissolving of its union with Sweden on June 7th 1905, Nansen had been a
devoted republican, together with other prominent Norwegians like the authors Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Arne Garborg.
However, after convincing argumenting by Sigurd Ibsen and others, Nansen
changed his position (as did Bjørnson and Garborg) and was therafter influential in convincing Prince Charles of Denmark that he should accept the position as
king of Norway. Prince Charles was eventually crowned after a referendum where the Norwegians voted for a monarchy. Nansen
campaigned for this result, certain it was the right thing for Norway, although the general view was that he would be elected
President in an alternative republic.
Following Norways independence Nansen was appointed as the Norwegian ambassador in London (1906-08) becoming a close friend
of King Edward and assuring support
from Britain in the campaign for an international guarantee of Norwegian territorial integrity.
In the period between the wars there was an unsuccessful effort on Nansen's behalf to make him the Prime Minister in a broad
government based on all the non-socialist parties to counter the growth of Arbeiderpartiet, the Norwegian labour party. In 1925 he co-founded
Fedrelandslaget (The Fatherland Society), an anti-socialist political organisation that folded at the outbreak of the Second World War.
The League of Nations
After World War I, Nansen became involved in the League of Nations as a High Commissioner for several initatives, including organisation of exchange of war prisoners and help to Russian refugees, in which campaign he originated the Nansen passport for refugees. For his work in service
of the League of Nations he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1922.
In honor of Fridtjof Nansen, the Royal Norwegian Navy
has named the Fridtjof Nansen
class of frigates, and the lead ship, HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen after him.
References
- Nansen, F. (1999). Farthest North. New York: Modern Library. (English translation of Nansen's own account of the Fram
journey.)
- Huntford, Roland. (1997). Nansen. London: Gerald Duckworth
& Co.
External links
|
