1861-1930. Norwegian explorer and scientist.
In 1893, he sailed to the Arctic in the Fram,
which was deliberately allowed to drift north
with an iceflow. Nansen, accompanied by F
Hjalmar Johansen (1867-1923), continued north
on foot and reached 86 degrees 14' N, the
highest latitude then attained. After World
War I, Nansen became League of Nations high
commissioner for refugees. Nobel Peace Prize
1923. He made his first voyage to Greenland
waters in a sealing ship 1882, and in 1888-89
attempted to cross the Greenland icefield. He
was professor of zoology and oceanography at
the University of Christiania (now Oslo).
Norwegian ambassador in London 1906-08.