Fridtjof Nansen

Fridtjof Nansen

Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (born October 10, 1861 in Store Frøen, near Christiania - died May 13, 1930 in Lysaker, outside Oslo) was a Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner.

Arctic exploration

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 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 Antarctica) which was deliberately allowed to drift north through the sea 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, after more than one year in the ice it became apparent that Fram would not reach the North Pole, Nansen, accompanied by Hjalmar Johansen (1867–1913), 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.

He was the first to note and describe dead water.

Academic career and scientific works

Nansen was a professor of zoology and later oceanography at the Royal Frederick University in Oslo and contributed with groundbreaking works in the fields of neurology and fluid dynamics.

Nansen was one of the founders of the neuron theory stating that the neural network consists of individual cells communicating with each other.

Nansen 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 phenomenon. He also invented a bottle for collection of water samples from various depths known as the Nansen bottle that, further developed by Shale Niskin, is still in use.

Diplomatic and political career

Before Norway's dissolution of its union with Sweden on 7 June 1905, Nansen had been a devoted republican, along with other prominent Norwegians like the authors Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Arne Garborg. However, after convincing argument by Sigurd Ibsen and others, Nansen changed his position (as did Bjørnson and Garborg) and was thereafter influential in convincing Prince Carl of Denmark that he should accept the position as king of Norway. In a referendum where the Norwegian electorate chose between a monarchy and a republic, Nansen campaigned for monarchy, certain it was the right thing for Norway, although the general view was that Nansen would be elected President if Norwegians chose republican rule. Carl was crowned as King Haakon VII after the referendum results indicated Norwegians' strong preference for monarchy.

Following Norway's 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 initiatives, including organisation of exchange of war prisoners and help to Russian refugees, in which campaign he originated the Nansen passport for refugees. He was aided by Vidkun Quisling in his work to help the Russian peasants. In 1917 and 1918 Nansen was in Washington D.C, he convinced the allies to allow essential food supplies to be brought through their blockade.In 1920 the League of Nations asked Nansen to send home many prisoners of war, most being in Russia. With limited funds Nansen sent home 450,000 with in a year and a half.In 1921 Nansen was asked by the League of Nations to administer the newly formed High Commission for Refugees. Nansen created the “Nansen passport” for refugees, it eventually became recognised by fifty-two governments.Red Cross then asked him in 1921 to organise a relief program for the millions of Russians dying in the Russian Famine of 1921-1922.In the west they were suspicious of the Russians and it was hard to gain funding, but still Nansen found enough supplies for between 7,000,000 and 22,000,000.For next few years Nansen did some more humanitarian work, and in 1922 won the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1896 he was awarded the Grand Cross of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and in 1925 he received the Collar as well.

Posthumous honors

Fridtjof Nansen has had many honors awarded posthumously among which are:

• The Nansen Refugee Award formerly known as the Nansen Medal has (since 1955) been given out yearly to a person or group for outstanding services in supporting refugee causes by the UNHCR.
• The Nansen International Office for Refugees, that existed from 1931 to 1939 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1938, was named after Nansen and was created to continue his work as a High Commissioner.
• The Royal Norwegian Navy has named the Fridtjof Nansen class of frigates, and the lead ship, HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen after him.
• The Norwegian Humanist Academy, Nansenskolen is named after Fridtjof Nansen.
• A crater on the Moon and another on Mars are named Nansen.
• The asteroid 853 Nansenia is named after Fridtjof Nansen.
• The Nansen Institute is named after Nansen, and is located in his old home.
• A school house at the Anglican Church Grammar School is named after him.
• The European Geophysical Society has since 1996 awarded a Fridtjof Nansen Medal for distinguished research in Oceanography.^[1]

References

External links

• Nobel Prize biography
• Nansen page w/pictures
• Fridtjof Nansen
• Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen
• The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Research Institution on natural resource and environmental policies

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