Fridtjof Nansen Monument

Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and Norwegian polymath. He rose to notoriety as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian at different stages in his life. In 1888, he led the party that undertook the first trip of Greenland’s interior on cross-country skis. During his Fram voyage from 1893 to 1896, he established a record northern latitude of 86°14′. Despite the fact that he resigned from exploration after returning to Norway, his polar travel skills and advancements in equipment and clothing impacted a generation of following Arctic and Antarctic missions.

Nansen studied biology at Christiania’s Royal Frederick University and afterwards worked as a curator at Bergen’s University Museum, where his study on the central nervous systems of lesser marine species earned him a PhD and helped develop neuron theory. Later, neurologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1906 for his work on the same issue. After 1896, his major scientific focus shifted to oceanography; as part of his studies, he went on several scientific excursions, mostly in the North Atlantic, and helped to build contemporary oceanographic equipment.

As one of his country’s foremost citizens, Nansen advocated for the dissolution of Norway’s union with Sweden in 1905, and was influential in convincing Prince Carl of Denmark to assume the crown of newly independent Norway. Between 1906 to 1908, he served as Norway’s envoy in London, where he assisted in the negotiation of the Integrity Treaty, which secured Norway’s independence.

Following his appointment as the League of Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees in 1921, Nansen spent the remaining decade of his life to the League of Nations. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his efforts on behalf of displaced victims of World War I and related conflicts. Among the projects he established was the “Nansen passport” for stateless people, a credential that was previously accepted by over 50 nations. He advocated for refugees until his untimely death in 1930, when the League founded the Nansen International Office for Refugees to carry on his work. In 1938, this office was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His name is remembered in a variety of geographical characteristics, notably in the arctic areas.