Fridtjof Nansen
1861–1930 · Norwegian (near Oslo) · Late Victorian / Edwardian Era
Known for: Polar explorer, neuroscientist, diplomat, and Nobel Peace Prize winner who also saved hundreds of thousands of refugees
Nansen was the complete Renaissance man—champion skier, neuroscientist, polar explorer, diplomat, and humanitarian. He skied across Greenland, deliberately froze his ship Fram into Arctic ice to drift toward the North Pole (reaching farther north than anyone before), and served as Norway's first ambassador to Britain.
After World War I, he organized refugee relief, created the 'Nansen passport' for stateless persons, and won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was tall, blond, physically magnificent, and intellectually brilliant—the ideal Norwegian, and possibly the most accomplished human being of the 19th century.
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