Fridtjof Nansen Man of many facets Fridtjof Nansen; just the name. No eulogies adorn the simple grave in the quiet garden outside Oslo. No dates are inscribed upon it. Somehow this is fitting. For there is a timelessness about great men; and in Norway, and indeed the world, Nansen was among the greatest. The sheer range of his accomplishments was astonishing. He was explorer, author, athlete, oceanographer, statesman, and laureate of the Nobel Pece Prize. In addition, he saved the lives of countless thousands through his humanitarian work after the first World War. By Linn Ryne The world claimed Fridtjof Nansen, but he was firmly rooted in Norway. He was born into a family with a distinguished record of public service. The outstanding qualities of leadership and the compelling urge to probe the unknown had already been strongly evident in his ancestors. On the maternal side of his family was Count Wedel Jarlsberg, commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army at the time when Christian V was king of both Denmark and Norway. On his father's side was Hans Nansen, one-time mayor of Copenhagen, who also explored the White Sea. In character Fridtjof Nansen is said to have resembled most of all his mother; a capable, industrious woman, who ran the large household efficiently while still finding time to study and improve her mind. His gentler qualities, which came more to the forefront in later life, came perhaps from his quieter, more ascetic father, a lawyer of repute and a man of unswerving integrity. By most standards, and certainly by those of his times, Fridtjof Nansen had a privileged childhood, from his birth in October 1861. His family was never troubled by the spectre of poverty which haunted so many at that time. In his formative years he had many opportunities to pursue his innumerable interests. In the spacious farmhouse at Store Frøen, near Christiania (now Oslo), he spent a happy boyhood, together with his brother Alexander and a number of half-brothers and sisters. Though now urbanized, Store Frøen was at that time a rural paradise. Immediately behind it lay the expansive tracts of Nordmarka, the forest area north of Christiania. Here the young Nansen's love of the outdoors was born, among the solitude of the endless stands of stream-laced pine and spruce. Although his family was relatively wealthy, Nansen was taught the value of hard work and discipline at an early age. Plain food and simple living characterized the family at Store Frøen. A man of many talents Nansen's budding ability in many fields of activity soon became apparent. As a boy his insatiable curiosity and determination to see things through singled him out from his contemporaries. As a young man he was an outstanding skater and skier. He won the national cross-country skiing championship twelve times in succession, and at eighteen broke the world record for one-mile skating. His sporting activities gave him the physique, stamina and endurance that were to serve him so well during later trials. Fridtjof Nansen's interests and talents were so diverse that he was hard put to select a course of study when he entered the University of Christiania. Although he greatly preferred physics and mathematics, he believed that zoology studies would allow him to spend more time in the open air; so that was the course of study he selected. The subject he was later to probe so deeply, oceanography, was still in its infancy. The call of the north Nansen's lifelong passion for the far north was kindled during student days, when at a tutor's suggestion, in 1882, he took passage aboard a sealing vessel to the Arctic Ocean. On board the "Viking" he was to make notes on winds, ocean currents, ice movements, and animal life. Nansen did his job well. Second best was never good enough for his uncompromising nature. He made valuable scientific observations; copious notes that were illustrated by excellent sketches. At this time too he started to write the many diaries that have given posterity such fascinating glimpses into the inner recesses of his mind. Apart from the scientific aspects, a significant result of the voyage with the "Viking" was not just that it marked the beginning of Nansen's commitment to the north. It had also set his inquisitive mind on the track of fresh theories. A piece of driftwood on the ice sparked a train of thought that finally culminated in the voyage of the "Fram". Nansen was intrigued at the presence of the driftwood and was puzzled as to which direction it could have come from. His final theory that it could only have drifted from Siberia was later fully substantiated by the findings aboard the "Fram." Before this event, however, Nansen was to undertake the journey that first brought his name to public attention. Aboard the "Viking" he had caught tantalizing glimpses of the eastern coast of Greenland, a seaboard shrouded in mystery at that time. No one but the Inuit had set foot on the eastern coast. No European had penetrated far...