Interesting Trivia:

•  Won Nobel Peace Prize in 1922
• Buried outside Norway, with just his name of the grave stone
• He had, like his ancestors, a compelling urge to probe the unknown
• He was an explorer, author, athlete, oceanographer, and diplomat
• Had one brother (Alexander) and various half-brothers and sisters
• Was known for his insatiable curiosity and determinationS
• Saved thousands of lives through his humanitarian work after WWI
• Won the National cross-country skiing championship twelve times in succession and broke the world record for one-mile skating
• First voyage north was on the vessel “Viking”
• Was a curator of the Bergen Museum’s national history collection.  At the time he was just 20 years old
• His findings during the expedition on the “Fram” had created a new passion in him. Oceanography now became the focus of his research.
• In 1905 he was asked to act as Norway's prime minister, but declined as he saw himself as a scientist and explorer, not a politician
• In 1896 he was awarded the Grand Cross of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and was also awarded many other honors (some posthumously)
• The Norwegian Humanist Academy, Nansenkolen is named after him
• Craters on the Moon, Mars and an Asteroid carry his name 
• Various buildings, a research vessel, islands, mountains and streets around the world carry his name
• Married to: Eva Sars Nansen (died 1907), daughter Liv

His Story:

Fridtjof Nansen had a privileged childhood and as such he was able to do all the things he felt like doing in his childhood. In the then still a rural area, Christiania, his love for the outdoors was born.  Although his family was well-off, they liked the simple life and Fridtjof was taught the value of hard work and discipline. 

He was determined to see things trough, even at an early age, which made him stand out.  He was very active in various sports such as skiing and skating and this made him strong.

At the University of Christiania, he finally decided to study zoology, but his interests were wide spread; physics and mathematics were also favoured by him.

His first contact with the far north was in 1882.  A teacher had suggested he sails to the Arctic Ocean.  While on board, he did a number of studies and his scientific observations were very valuable.  He used to compliment his notes with his own beautifully sketched illustrations.

While he was onboard the “Viking”, he saw a piece of land which was the east coast of Greenland.  No one, outside the Inuit, had ever set foot on that side of the Island.  He made up his mind that he would undertake that journey.  Six years later he would.

The years in between were spent in Bergen, doing intense studies into the most difficult and exacting in zoology, the central nervous system.  In 1887, he got a doctorate writing a paper on it.

Then came the time he had been waiting and preparing for.  He wanted to land on the east coast of Greenland, then head west.  Many thought this was foolhardy. The east coast was a hazardous place, with a belt of drifting ice, overhanging glaciers and a powerful polar current. If he started from the east coast, he just HAD to reach the west coast, because that was where there would be ships, and there were none on the east coast.  Also, he would only have to go one distance, which meant half the distance.  He painstakingly prepared for the journey, devoting his attention to even the tiniest detail. Finally in June 1888, with problems to finance the expedition more or less solved, the six-man team head out.  It took them far more effort and weeks longer than planned to start the actual trek, far south of the route he had originally planned.  Finally, in late September, they reached the west coast.  There were no mishaps on the way and Nansen and his team could truly be proud of this achievement.  As they were stuck in Greenland until the following spring, Nansen used the time to do scientific research and also studies the Inuits. Later, he wrote a book about his findings. Called “Eskimo Life”.  Their return home to Norway in May 1889 was a triumph.

This success only spurred Nansen on.  He wanted to build a ship that would be strong enough to withstand the incredible pressure of the ice.  According to his studies and observations, he was sure that if he would sail the ship north from Siberia, let if freeze in the pack ice, the ship the currents would drift it west towards the Pole and to Greenland.  Again, he had to fight skeptics of the Norwegian Geographical Society and the Royal Geographical Society of London, who did not believe that such a ship could be built.   Luckily, he was able to raise the funds and three years later, his collaboration with the famous shipbuilder Colin Archer resulted in the “Fram”.

Finally, in 1893, Nansen and a team of twelve, including Otto Sverdrup, who was to captain the “Fram” left on their expedition.  Nansen took no chances with other peoples’ lives and had stocked the ship with provisions that would last them 6 years.  He really expected the expedition to last no more than 2 years.

The "Fram" proved fully adequate to its task. She stayed watertight and secure during her time stuck in the ice.  To make sure that the men were kept busy, Nansen assigned tasks and conducted scientific observation.  

To get the ship to float toward the North Pole took longer that expected and it looked as if they would not get as close as they had hoped.  This was a disappointment for Nansen and he decided he would make a dash for the Pole.  He and a companion Hjalmar Johansen left the “Fram” in Otto Sverdrup’s capable hands.  Unfortunately, due to the extreme conditions, they had to turn back at 86 degrees, 14 minutes north.  But they had come closer to the Pole than any man had come before.  On the way back, they met Frederick Jackson, leader of a British scientific and exploratory expedition working in Franz Josef Land who, two months later, on August 13th 1896 deposited Nansen and Johansen at the port of Vardø in north Norway.

Meanwhile, the Fram has drifted west with the currents and proved Nansen’s predictions correct.  A week after Nansen and Johansen arrived in Vardø, the “Fram” arrived in the far north port of Skjervøy.  The coming home of Nansen and his twelve man team was in triumph.

When in 1905, Norway chose for a total split with Sweden. It was a tense time and for a while it looked like war.  Nansen was to become an intermediate, traveling to Denmark and Britain to convince the countries of the justice of the Norwegian cause.  In October 1905, a treaty was signed releasing Norway from Swedish rule.  

From 1906 to 1908, he lived in London as the Ambassador of Norway.  He had wanted to go on an expedition to the South Pile, but had to forget about that when the young Roald Amundsen requested the use of the “Fram”. This showed what an unselfish man he was.

Then WWI broke out and Nansen was sent off on diplomatic journeys.  He hated war and was disgusted by the senselessness of it.  He was very dedicated and hoped to be able to make a difference for mankind.  He became an avid fighter for the success of the League of Nations. He was to help the half a million forgotten men who had been or still were prisoners of war. Many of the prisoners no longer had a homeland and were literally starving of hunger and disease.  The League of Nations felt that Nansen would be able to take on the enormous task of repatriating these men or giving them a new homeland and in 1920 he began, what was to become a whole series of unselfish acts.

His feelings for a fellow human being made him put aside one of his greatest loves, science.  He was enormously touched by the sufferings of those people he was now able to help. By 1922, more than 400,000 prisoners of war had been repatriated. But his job was far from over…..

A crop failure in Russia meant famine to 20 million people. Once again, Nansen, asked by the Red Cross, helped where he could. He did not receive financial help from the League of Nations, so through fund raising tours, he could save at least some of the people.  But this was not enough for him, it affected him deeply that he was not able to help them all. And to top it all, there were other problems looming… More than 2 million Russians had fled the revolutions and were basically pushed around from country to country, having no status whatsoever.  Again, it was Nansen’s efforts with many different governments that brought relief and governments recognized the “Nansen passports”, giving refugees the chance to settle in other countries.  His work for the refugees and the famine victims made the Nobel Committee in Oslo decide to honor Fridtjof Nansen with the 1922 Nobel Prize for Peace.  Typical for the man he is, he did not take the money attached to the prize, but donated it to international relief efforts.