Misplaced Pages

#828171

83-793: Sverdrup Island is named after Norwegian polar explorer and ship Captain Otto Sverdrup who sighted it on 18 August 1893 during the Fram Expedition led by Fridtjof Nansen . It belongs to the Taymyr Autonomous Okrug of the Krasnoyarsk Krai administrative division of the Russian Federation . The island is located 120 km north of Dikson on the Siberian coast . The nearest land mass

166-404: A sextant observation indicated they averaged nine nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) per day, which put them ahead of schedule. However, uneven surfaces made skiing more difficult, and their speeds slowed. They also realised they were marching against a southerly drift, and that distances travelled did not necessarily equate to distance progressed. On 3 April, Nansen began to doubt whether

249-514: A centre of scientific research and education. Nansen's chosen area of study was the then relatively unexplored field of neuroanatomy , specifically the central nervous system of lower marine creatures. Before leaving for his sabbatical in February 1886 he published a paper summarising his research to date, in which he stated that "anastomoses or unions between the different ganglion cells" could not be demonstrated with certainty. This unorthodox view

332-470: A detailed plan for a polar venture after his triumphant return from Greenland. He made his idea public in February 1890, at a meeting of the newly formed Norwegian Geographical Society. Previous expeditions, he argued, approached the North Pole from the west and failed because they were working against the prevailing east–west current; the secret was to work with the current. A workable plan would require

415-732: A few mammals, such as the lemming and arctic fox ; among the birds the dunlin and some species of Charadriiformes deserve mention. The island is part of the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve – the largest nature reserve of Russia and one of the biggest in the world. This Krasnoyarsk Krai location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Otto Sverdrup Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup (31 October 1854, in Bindal Municipality in Helgeland – 26 November 1930)

498-456: A few minutes later saw the figure of a man approaching. It was the British explorer Frederick Jackson , who was leading an expedition to Franz Josef Land and was camped at Cape Flora on nearby Northbrook Island . The two were equally astonished by their encounter; after some awkward hesitation Jackson asked: "You are Nansen, aren't you?", and received the reply "Yes, I am Nansen." Johansen

581-514: A formal examination at the university, which had agreed to receive his doctoral thesis. In accordance with custom, he was required to defend his work before appointed examiners acting as "devil's advocates" . He left before knowing the outcome of this process. The sealer Jason picked up Nansen's party on 3 June 1888 from the Icelandic port of Ísafjörður . They sighted the Greenland coast

664-484: A fundraising effort organised by students at the university. Despite the adverse publicity, Nansen received numerous applications from would-be adventurers. He wanted expert skiers, and attempted to recruit from the skiers of the Telemark region, but his approaches were rebuffed. Nordenskiöld had advised Nansen that Sami people , from Finnmark in the far north of Norway, were expert snow travellers, so Nansen recruited

747-778: A generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. He was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1897. Nansen studied zoology at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania and later worked as a curator at the University Museum of Bergen where his research on the central nervous system of lower marine creatures earned him a doctorate and helped establish neuron doctrine . Later, neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal won

830-443: A headland as Cape Felder on the western edge of Franz Josef Land. Towards the end of August, as the weather grew colder and travel became increasingly difficult, Nansen decided to camp for the winter. In a sheltered cove, with stones and moss for building materials, the pair erected a hut which was to be their home for the next eight months. With ready supplies of bear, walrus and seal to keep their larder stocked, their principal enemy

913-481: A marked degree of self-reliance. He became an accomplished skier and a highly proficient skater . Life was disrupted when, in the summer of 1877, Adelaide Nansen died suddenly. Distressed, Baldur Nansen sold the Store Frøen property and moved with his two sons to Christiania. Nansen's sporting prowess continued to develop; at 18 he broke the world one-mile (1.6 km) skating record, and in the following year won

SECTION 10

#1732765190829

996-461: A matter that "could not have been more remote from [Nansen's] thoughts at that moment." The team accomplished their crossing in 49 days. Throughout the journey, they maintained meteorological and geographical and other records relating to the previously unexplored interior. The rest of the team arrived in Godthaab on 12 October. Nansen soon learned no ship was likely to call at Godthaab until

1079-580: A niece of Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg who had helped frame the Norwegian constitution of 1814 and was later the Swedish king's Norwegian Viceroy . Baldur and Adelaide settled at Store Frøen, an estate at Aker, a few kilometres north of Norway's capital city, Christiania (since renamed Oslo). The couple had three children; the first died in infancy, the second, born 10 October 1861, was Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen. Store Frøen's rural surroundings shaped

1162-403: A pair, Samuel Balto and Ole Nielsen Ravna . The remaining places went to Otto Sverdrup , a former sea-captain who had more recently worked as a forester; Oluf Christian Dietrichson , an army officer, and Kristian Kristiansen , an acquaintance of Sverdrup's. All had experience of outdoor life in extreme conditions, and were experienced skiers. Just before the party's departure, Nansen attended

1245-463: A post as curator in the zoological department of the Bergen Museum . He was to spend the next six years of his life there—apart from a six-month sabbatical tour of Europe—working and studying with leading figures such as Gerhard Armauer Hansen , the discoverer of the leprosy bacillus, and Daniel Cornelius Danielssen , the museum's director who had turned it from a backwater collection into

1328-541: A sovereignty dispute with Canada , which claimed sovereignty over all land, discovered or undiscovered in what is now the Canadian Arctic. The dispute was not settled until 1930 when Norway ceded the islands to Canada. In that year Sverdrup signed a deal with the Canadian Government, who would buy the records of Sverdrup's expeditions for $ 67,000 Canadian dollars. Sverdrup died just two weeks after

1411-493: A stubby appearance, justified by Archer: "A ship that is built with exclusive regard to its suitability for [Nansen's] object must differ essentially from any known vessel." It was christened Fram and launched on 6 October 1892. Nansen selected a party of twelve from thousands of applicants. Otto Sverdrup , who took part in Nansen's earlier Greenland expedition was appointed as the expedition's second-in-command. Competition

1494-401: A sturdy and manoeuvrable small ship, capable of carrying fuel and provisions for twelve men for five years. This ship would enter the ice pack close to the approximate location of Jeannette's sinking, drifting west with the current towards the pole and beyond it—eventually reaching the sea between Greenland and Spitsbergen. Experienced polar explorers were dismissive: Adolphus Greely called

1577-474: A week later, but thick pack ice hindered progress. With the coast still 20 kilometres (12 mi) away, Nansen decided to launch the small boats. They were within sight of Sermilik Fjord on 17 July; Nansen believed it would offer a route up the icecap. The expedition left Jason "in good spirits and with the highest hopes of a fortunate result." Days of extreme frustration followed as they drifted south. Weather and sea conditions prevented them from reaching

1660-486: Is the Arkticheskiy Institut Islands , about 90 km to the northeast. The island has a wide bay opening towards the west. Its length is 15 km and its maximum width 10 km. The sea surrounding Sverdrup Island is covered with pack ice with some polynias in the long winter and there are many ice floes even in the summer. Sverdrup Island is covered with tundra vegetation. There are

1743-586: The Jeannette expedition . In June 1881, USS  Jeannette was crushed and sunk off the Siberian coast—the opposite side of the Arctic Ocean. Mohn surmised the location of the artefacts indicated the existence of an ocean current from east to west, all the way across the polar sea and possibly over the pole itself. The idea remained fixated in Nansen's mind for the next couple of years. He developed

SECTION 20

#1732765190829

1826-772: The St. Anna and that of Vladimir Rusanov on the Gerkules . Sverdrup's fourth and last expedition in Arctic Siberian waters was in 1921, when, from the bridge of the Soviet Icebreaker Lenin , he commanded a convoy of five cargo ships on an experimental run through the Kara Sea to the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei . The ships reached their destinations and returned safely. This was considered an important step in

1909-554: The Fatherland League . He led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, traversing the island on cross-country skis . He won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his Fram expedition of 1893–1896. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced

1992-835: The Royal Geographical Society in 1903, and received an honorary degree at the University of St Andrews . Sverdrup had also been made a Knight 1st Class of the Prussian Order of the Crown in 1902, but in an open letter to the German legation in Oslo on 25 October 1917 declared that he was returning the order in protest against the unrestricted warfare then being waged by the German U-boats in

2075-784: The Sverdrup Islands . In adopting Inuit methods, Sverdrup and his crew were able to chart a total of 260,000 square kilometers - more than any other polar exploration. The area was famously mapped by his topographer, Gunnar Isachsen , and 35 academic publications were penned as a result of the expedition. Upon Sverdrup's return in Norway, he was treated as a national hero. However, he remains relatively unknown in North America, and relatively unknown for his Canadian exploration in Norway. Sverdrup officially claimed all three islands he discovered for Norway in 1902, setting off

2158-540: The 1906 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research on the same subject. After 1896 his main scientific interest switched to oceanography ; in the course of his research he made many scientific cruises, mainly in the North Atlantic, and contributed to the development of modern oceanographic equipment. As one of his country's leading citizens, in 1905 Nansen spoke out for ending Norway's union with Sweden , and

2241-578: The First World War, causing the deaths of hundreds of Norwegian sailors. The day before Sverdrup's return of his order, fellow explorer Roald Amundsen had also returned his German awards. Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen ( Norwegian: [ˈfrɪ̂tːjɔf ˈnɑ̀nsn̩] ; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded

2324-602: The Greenland icecap grew in Nansen's mind throughout his Bergen years. In 1887, after the submission of his doctoral thesis , he finally began organising this project. Before then, the two most significant penetrations of the Greenland interior had been those of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld in 1883, and Robert Peary in 1886. Both had set out from Disko Bay on the western coast, and had travelled about 160 kilometres (100 mi) eastward before turning back. By contrast, Nansen proposed to travel from east to west, ending rather than beginning his trek at Disko Bay. A party setting out from

2407-769: The League established the Nansen International Office for Refugees to ensure that his work continued. This office received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1938. His name is commemorated in numerous geographical features, particularly in the polar regions. The Nansen family originated from Denmark . Hans Nansen (1598–1667), a trader, was an early explorer of the White Sea region of the Arctic Ocean. In later life he settled in Copenhagen, becoming

2490-438: The League's High Commissioner for Refugees . In 1922 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of the displaced victims of World War I and related conflicts. Among the initiatives he introduced was the " Nansen passport " for stateless persons, a certificate that used to be recognized by more than 50 countries. He worked on behalf of refugees alongside Vidkun Quisling until his sudden death in 1930, after which

2573-639: The Norwegian names, such as Hoved Island ("main island") and Prince Gustav Adolf Sea (after the Swedish king Gustav VI Adolf ) in the Canadian Arctic . Between 1899 and 1902, he overwintered three more times on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic with the Fram , continuing to explore and map, culminating in the discovery of the islands to the west of Ellesmere Island, namely Axel Heiberg , Amund Ringnes and Ellef Ringnes , collectively known as

Sverdrup Island (Kara Sea) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-551: The Norwegian naval engineer Colin Archer to design and build a ship. Archer designed an extraordinarily sturdy vessel with an intricate system of crossbeams and braces of the toughest oak timbers. Its rounded hull was designed to push the ship upwards when beset by pack ice. Speed and manoeuvrability were to be secondary to its ability as a safe and warm shelter during their predicted confinement. The length-to-beam ratio—39-metre-long (128 ft) and 11-metre-wide (36 ft)—gave it

2739-515: The Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII ), and addressed a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). The RGS president, Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff , said that Nansen had claimed "the foremost place amongst northern travellers", and later awarded him the Society's prestigious Patron's Medal . This was one of many honours Nansen received from institutions all over Europe. He

2822-469: The chances are ten to one that he will ... uselessly throw his own and perhaps others' lives away". The Norwegian parliament refused to provide financial support, believing that such a potentially risky undertaking should not be encouraged. The project was eventually launched with a donation from a Danish businessman, Augustin Gamél; the rest came mainly from small contributions from Nansen's countrymen, through

2905-410: The change of plan with acclamation." They continued climbing until 11 September and reached a height of 2,719 metres (8,921 ft) above sea level. Temperatures on the summit of the icecap dropped to −45 °C (−49 °F) at night. From then on, the downward slope made travelling easier. Yet, the terrain was rugged and the weather remained hostile. Progress was slow: fresh snowfalls made dragging

2988-535: The city's borgmester in 1654. Later generations of the family lived in Copenhagen until the mid-18th century, when Ancher Antoni Nansen moved to Norway (then in a union with Denmark ). His son, Hans Leierdahl Nansen (1764–1821), was a magistrate first in the Trondheim district, later in Jæren . After Norway's separation from Denmark in 1814, he entered national political life as the representative for Stavanger in

3071-443: The coast through the ice floes for the next 12 days. They encountered a large Inuit encampment on the first day, near Cape Steen Bille. Occasional contacts with the nomadic native population continued as the journey progressed. The party reached Umivik Bay on 11 August, after covering 200 kilometres (120 mi). Nansen decided they needed to begin the crossing. Although they were still far south of his intended starting place,

3154-468: The complex organisation and heavy manpower of other Arctic ventures, and instead planned his expedition for a small party of six. Supplies would be manhauled on specially designed lightweight sledges. Much of the equipment, including sleeping bags, clothing and cooking stoves, also needed to be designed from scratch. These plans received a generally poor reception in the press; one critic had no doubt that "if [the] scheme be attempted in its present form ...

3237-486: The crossing had preceded its arrival, and Nansen and his companions were feted as heroes. This welcome, however, was dwarfed by the reception in Christiania a week later, when crowds of between thirty and forty thousand—a third of the city's population—thronged the streets as the party made its way to the first of a series of receptions. The interest and enthusiasm generated by the expedition's achievement led directly to

3320-619: The deal was signed, but the money secured the future of his family. The records were archived in the National Archives of Canada , but were later returned to the National Library of Norway . One of Sverdrup's lesser known exploits was a search-and-rescue expedition aboard ship Eklips in the Kara Sea in 1914–1915. His aim was to search for two missing Arctic expeditions, that of Captain Georgy Brusilov on

3403-823: The development of the Kara Sea sector of the Northern Sea Route . Sverdrup also has an unsuccessful business venture in Cuba , a plantation project in the Oriente Province in 1904. The last years of his life he lived in Sandvika , at the property Homewood on a hill overlooking the town. He died in November 1930. A statue of Sverdrup was erected in Steinkjer in 1957, and in 1999 a statue of Sverdrup

Sverdrup Island (Kara Sea) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-419: The end of April. It was the first trace of a living creature other than their dogs since they left Fram . They soon saw bear tracks and by the end of May saw evidence of nearby seals, gulls and whales. On 31 May, Nansen calculated they were only 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) from Cape Fligely , Franz Josef Land's northernmost point. Travel conditions worsened as increasingly warmer weather caused

3569-520: The farm Trana outside the town of Steinkjer . At this time O. T. Olsen, a teacher and employee in the bank at Kolvereid and a relative of his mother, had purchased the steamboat TRIO . Sverdrup was employed as captain. Around this time Sverdrup also met the lawyer Alexander Nansen who lived in the town of Namsos . He was the brother of Fridtjof Nansen and through him Sverdrup and Fridtjof Nansen learned to know each other. Sverdrup joined Fridtjof Nansen 's expedition of 1888 across Greenland . In 1892 he

3652-441: The farm named Hårstad, where Otto Sverdrup was born. In 1872, at the age of 17, Otto Sverdrup returned to Nærøy Municipality , to Ottersøy where his uncle Søren worked in transportation with his own vessels. Here Sverdrup started his career as a seaman and after a while he was sailing abroad. In 1875, he passed his mate's examination, and some years later the shipmaster's examination. In 1877 Sverdrup's parents moved from Bindal to

3735-501: The first Storting , and became a strong advocate of union with Sweden. After suffering a paralytic stroke in 1821 Hans Leierdahl Nansen died, leaving a four-year-old son, Baldur Fridtjof Nansen, the explorer's father. Baldur was a lawyer without ambitions for public life, who became Reporter to the Supreme Court of Norway . He married twice, the second time to Adelaide Johanne Thekla Isidore Bølling Wedel-Jarlsberg from Bærum ,

3818-508: The following spring. Still, they were able to send letters back to Norway via a boat leaving Ivigtut at the end of October. He and his party spent the next seven months in Greenland. On 15 April 1889, the Danish ship Hvidbjørnen finally entered the harbour. Nansen recorded: "It was not without sorrow that we left this place and these people, among whom we had enjoyed ourselves so well." Hvidbjørnen reached Copenhagen on 21 May 1889. News of

3901-653: The formation that year of the Norwegian Geographical Society . Nansen accepted the position of curator of the Royal Frederick University's zoology collection, a post which carried a salary but involved no duties; the university was satisfied by the association with the explorer's name. Nansen's main task in the following weeks was writing his account of the expedition, but he found time late in June to visit London, where he met

3984-476: The ice close to an unexplored section of the Greenland coast; Nansen longed to go ashore, but this was impossible. However, he began to develop the idea that the Greenland icecap might be explored, or even crossed. On 17 July the ship broke free from the ice, and early in August was back in Norwegian waters. Nansen did not resume formal studies at the university. Instead, on Collett's recommendation, he accepted

4067-401: The ice to break up. On 22 June, the pair decided to rest on a stable ice floe while they repaired their equipment and gathered strength for the next stage of their journey. They remained on the floe for a month. The day after leaving this camp, Nansen recorded: "At last the marvel has come to pass—land, land, and after we had almost given up our belief in it!" Whether this still-distant land

4150-474: The ice were frustrating, as the drift moved unpredictably; sometimes north, sometimes south. By 19 November, Fram's latitude was south of that at which she had entered the ice. Only after the turn of the year, in January 1894, did the northerly direction become generally settled; the 80°N mark was finally passed on 22 March. Nansen calculated that, at this rate, it might take the ship five years to reach

4233-549: The idea "an illogical scheme of self-destruction". Equally dismissive were Sir Allen Young , a veteran of the searches for Franklin's lost expedition , and Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker , who had sailed to the Antarctic on the Ross expedition . Nansen still managed to secure a grant from the Norwegian parliament after an impassioned speech. Additional funding was secured through a national appeal for private donations. Nansen chose

SECTION 50

#1732765190829

4316-459: The inhabited west coast would, he reasoned, have to make a return trip, as no ship could be certain of reaching the dangerous east coast and picking them up. By starting from the east—assuming that a landing could be made there—Nansen's would be a one-way journey towards a populated area. The party would have no line of retreat to a safe base; the only way to go would be forward, a situation that fitted Nansen's philosophy completely. Nansen rejected

4399-402: The institution of marriage, Otto Sverdrup assumed he had read the message wrongly. The wedding took place on 6 September 1889, less than a month after the engagement. Nansen first began to consider the possibility of reaching the North Pole after reading meteorologist Henrik Mohn 's theory on transpolar drift in 1884. Artefacts found on the coast of Greenland were identified to have come from

4482-488: The national cross-country skiing championship, a feat he would repeat on 11 subsequent occasions. In 1880 Nansen passed his university entrance examination, the examen artium . He decided to study zoology , claiming later that he chose the subject because he thought it offered the chance of a life in the open air. He began his studies at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania early in 1881. Early in 1882 Nansen took "...the first fatal step that led me astray from

4565-465: The nature of Nansen's childhood. In the short summers the main activities were swimming and fishing, while in the autumn the chief pastime was hunting for game in the forests. The long winter months were devoted mainly to skiing, which Nansen began to practice at the age of two, on improvised skis. At the age of 10 he defied his parents and attempted the ski jump at the nearby Huseby installation. This exploit had near-disastrous consequences, as on landing

4648-489: The northern coast of Siberia. Progress was impeded by fog and ice conditions in the mainly uncharted seas. The crew also experienced the dead water phenomenon, where a ship's forward progress is impeded by friction caused by a layer of fresh water lying on top of heavier salt water. Nevertheless, Cape Chelyuskin , the most northerly point of the Eurasian continental mass, was passed on 10 September. Heavy pack ice

4731-440: The pole was attainable. Unless their speed improved, their food would not last them to the pole and back to Franz Josef Land . He confided in his diary: "I have become more and more convinced we ought to turn before time." Four days later, after making camp, he observed the way ahead was "... a veritable chaos of iceblocks stretching as far as the horizon." Nansen recorded their latitude as 86°13′6″N—almost three degrees beyond

4814-411: The pole. As the ship's northerly progress continued at a rate rarely above a kilometre and a half per day, Nansen began privately to consider a new plan—a dog sledge journey towards the pole. With this in mind, he began to practice dog-driving, making many experimental journeys over the ice. In November, Nansen announced his plan: when the ship passed latitude 83°N, he and Hjalmar Johansen would leave

4897-534: The previous record—and decided to turn around and head back south. At first Nansen and Johansen made good progress south, but suffered a serious setback on 13 April, when in his eagerness to break camp, they had forgotten to wind their chronometers , which made it impossible to calculate their longitude and accurately navigate to Franz Josef Land. They restarted the watches based on Nansen's guess they were at 86°E. From then on they were uncertain of their true position. The tracks of an Arctic fox were observed towards

4980-498: The quiet life of science." Professor Robert Collett of the university's zoology department proposed that Nansen take a sea voyage, to study Arctic zoology at first hand. Nansen was enthusiastic, and made arrangements through a recent acquaintance, Captain Axel Krefting, commander of the sealer Viking . The voyage began on 11 March 1882 and extended over the following five months. In the weeks before sealing started, Nansen

5063-404: The rest of the winter of 1894 preparing clothing and equipment for the forthcoming sledge journey. Kayaks were built, to be carried on the sledges until needed for the crossing of open water. Preparations were interrupted early in January when violent tremors shook the ship. The crew disembarked, fearing the vessel would be crushed, but Fram proved herself equal to the danger. On 8 January 1895,

SECTION 60

#1732765190829

5146-412: The season was becoming too advanced. After they landed at Umivik, they spent the next four days preparing for their journey. They set out on the evening of 15 August, heading north-west towards Christianhaab on the western shore of Disko Bay—600 kilometres (370 mi) away. Over the next few days, the party struggled to ascend. The inland ice had a treacherous surface with many hidden crevasses and

5229-401: The ship with the dogs and make for the pole while Fram , under Sverdrup, continued its drift until it emerged from the ice in the North Atlantic. After reaching the pole, Nansen and Johansen would make for the nearest known land, the recently discovered and sketchily mapped Franz Josef Land . They would then cross to Spitzbergen where they would find a ship to take them home. The crew spent

5312-402: The ship's position was 83°34′N, above Greely's previous record of 83°24′N. With the ship's latitude at 84°4′N and after two false starts, Nansen and Johansen began their journey on 14 March 1895. Nansen allowed 50 days to cover the 356 nautical miles (660 km; 410 mi) to the pole, an average daily journey of seven nautical miles (13 km; 8 mi). After a week of travel,

5395-512: The shipmaster of Lofoten , a passenger ship to and from Svalbard. In 1898 he embarked on another expedition with Fram . Sverdrup attempted to circumnavigate Greenland via Baffin Bay but failed to make it through the Nares Strait . Forced to overwinter on Ellesmere Island , he and his crew explored and named many uncharted fjords and peninsulas on the western shores of the island, explaining

5478-415: The shore. They spent most time camping on the ice itself—it was too dangerous to launch the boats. By 29 July, they found themselves 380 kilometres (240 mi) south of the point where they left the ship. That day they finally reached land but were too far south to begin the crossing. Nansen ordered the team back into the boats after a brief rest and to begin rowing north. The party battled northward along

5561-417: The skiers from the mountainous region of Telemark , where a new style of skiing was being developed. "I saw this was the only way", wrote Nansen later. At school, Nansen worked adequately without showing any particular aptitude. Studies took second place to sports, or to expeditions into the forests where he would live "like Robinson Crusoe " for weeks at a time. Through such experiences Nansen developed

5644-498: The skiing resort of Frognerseteren , where Nansen recalled seeing "two feet sticking out of the snow". Eva was three years older than Nansen, and despite the evidence of this first meeting, was an accomplished skier. She was also a celebrated classical singer who had been coached in Berlin by Désirée Artôt , one-time paramour of Tchaikovsky . The engagement surprised many; since Nansen had previously expressed himself forcefully against

5727-413: The skis dug deep into the snow, pitching the boy forward: "I, head first, described a fine arc in the air ... [W]hen I came down again I bored into the snow up to my waist. The boys thought I had broken my neck, but as soon as they saw there was life in me ... a shout of mocking laughter went up." Nansen's enthusiasm for skiing was undiminished, though as he records, his efforts were overshadowed by those of

5810-482: The sledges like pulling them through sand. On 26 September, they battled their way down the edge of a fjord westward towards Godthaab. Sverdrup constructed a makeshift boat out of parts of the sledges, willows, and their tent. Three days later, Nansen and Sverdrup began the last stage of the journey, rowing down the fjord. On 3 October, they reached Godthaab , where the Danish town representative greeted them. He first informed Nansen that he had secured his doctorate,

5893-418: The weather was bad. Progress stopped for three days because of violent storms and continuous rain one time. The last ship was due to leave Christianhaab by mid-September. They would not be able to reach it in time, Nansen concluded on 26 August. He ordered a change of course due west, towards Godthaab , a shorter journey by at least 150 kilometres (93 mi). The rest of the party, according to Nansen, "hailed

5976-477: Was Franz Josef Land or a new discovery they did not know—they had only a rough sketch map to guide them. The edge of the pack ice was reached on 6 August and they shot the last of their dogs—the weakest of which they killed regularly to feed the others since 24 April. The two kayaks were lashed together, a sail was raised, and they made for the land. It soon became clear this land was part of an archipelago. As they moved southwards, Nansen tentatively identified

6059-495: Was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer. He was born in Bindal Municipality as a son of farmer Ulrik Frederik Suhm Sverdrup (1833–1914) and his wife Petra Neumann Knoph (1831–1885). He was a great-grandnephew of Georg Sverdrup and Jacob Liv Borch Sverdrup , first cousin twice removed of Harald Ulrik and Johan Sverdrup , second cousin once removed of Jakob , Georg and Edvard Sverdrup , third cousin of Georg Johan , Jakob , Mimi , Leif and Harald Ulrik Sverdrup . He

6142-749: Was a brother-in-law of Johan Vaaler , and Otto himself married his own first cousin, Gretha Andrea Engelschiøn (1866–1937), in October 1891 in Kristiania . Their daughter Audhild Sverdrup (1893–1932) married Carl Johan Sverdrup Marstrander . His father was born on Buøy in Kolvereid Municipality . As oldest son Otto was heir to the Sverdrup properties at Buøy. However, he left it all to his younger brothers and went to Åbygda in Bindal, to

6225-584: Was able to concentrate on scientific studies. From water samples he showed that, contrary to previous assumption, sea ice forms on the surface of the water rather than below. His readings also demonstrated that the Gulf Stream flows beneath a cold layer of surface water. Through the spring and early summer Viking roamed between Greenland and Spitsbergen in search of seal herds. Nansen became an expert marksman, and on one day proudly recorded that his team had shot 200 seals. In July, Viking became trapped in

6308-467: Was an advisor to Fridtjof Nansen when the ship Fram was built. In 1893 Sverdrup was given command of the ship, and in 1895 he was left in charge of it while Nansen attempted to reach the North Pole . Sverdrup managed to free the ship from the ice near Svalbard in August 1896 and sailed to Skjervøy , arriving just 4 days after Nansen had reached Norway. In the summer of 1897 Sverdrup worked as

6391-502: Was confirmed by the simultaneous research of the embryologist Wilhelm His and the psychiatrist August Forel . Nansen is considered the first Norwegian defender of the neuron theory, originally proposed by Santiago Ramón y Cajal . His subsequent paper, The Structure and Combination of Histological Elements of the Central Nervous System , published in 1887, became his doctoral thesis. The idea of an expedition across

6474-708: Was erected in Sandvika, in the square named after him, Otto Sverdrups plass . In 2008, the Royal Norwegian Navy commissioned the HNoMS Otto Sverdrup , a Nansen class frigate, in honor of the mariner and explorer. He was made a Commander 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1896, and promoted to Grand Cross in 1902. In addition, he was awarded gold medals from the Norwegian Geographical Society in 1889 and

6557-582: Was instrumental in persuading Prince Carl of Denmark to accept the throne of the newly independent Norway. Between 1906 and 1908, he served as the Norwegian representative in London, where he helped negotiate the Integrity Treaty that guaranteed Norway's independent status. In the final decade of his life, Nansen devoted himself primarily to the League of Nations , following his appointment in 1921 as

6640-461: Was invited by a group of Australians to lead an expedition to Antarctica, but declined, believing that Norway's interests would be better served by a North Pole conquest. On 11 August 1889 Nansen announced his engagement to Eva Sars , celebrated mezzo-soprano singer, a pioneer of women's skiing and the daughter of Michael Sars , a theologian and zoology professor who had died when Eva was 11 years old. The couple had met some years previously, at

6723-406: Was not hunger but inactivity. After muted Christmas and New Year celebrations, in slowly improving weather, they began to prepare to leave their refuge, but it was 19 May 1896 before they were able to resume their journey. On 17 June, during a stop for repairs after the kayaks had been attacked by a walrus , Nansen thought he heard a dog barking as well as human voices. He went to investigate, and

6806-414: Was sighted ten days later at around latitude 78°N, as Fram approached the area in which USS  Jeannette was crushed. Nansen followed the line of the pack northwards to a position recorded as 78°49′N 132°53′E  /  78.817°N 132.883°E  / 78.817; 132.883 , before ordering engines stopped and the rudder raised. From this point Fram's drift began. The first weeks in

6889-529: Was so fierce that army lieutenant and dog-driving expert Hjalmar Johansen signed on as ship's stoker, the only position still available. Fram left Christiania on 24 June 1893, cheered on by thousands of well-wishers. After a slow journey around the coast, the final port of call was Vardø , in the far north-east of Norway. Fram left Vardø on 21 July, following the North-East Passage route pioneered by Nordenskiöld in 1878–1879, along

#828171