Otto Sverdrup

Otto Sverdrup was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer who participated in several expeditions to the polar regions. He was a close friend and colleague of Fridtjof Nansen, and accompanied him on the first crossing of Greenland in 1888. He was also the captain of the ship Fram, which Nansen used for his attempt to reach the North Pole in 1893. Sverdrup stayed with the ship and managed to free it from the ice near Svalbard in 1896, four days after Nansen's return to Norway. In 1898, he embarked on another expedition with Fram, this time exploring the western coast of Ellesmere Island and discovering four new islands: Axel Heiberg Island and the Ringnes Islands. He also mapped and named many fjords and peninsulas on Ellesmere Island. He published his account of the expedition in New Land: Four Years in the Arctic Regions in 1903. He later tried to claim the lands he had discovered for Norway, but was met with resistance from Canada, which eventually asserted its sovereignty over the area. Sverdrup also worked as a shipmaster, a naval officer, and a business manager. He was involved in the development of the Norwegian merchant navy and the establishment of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association. He was also a member of the Norwegian Parliament for one term, representing the Conservative Party. He died of pneumonia in 1930, at the age of 76. He was buried at Uranienborg in Oslo, where a statue of him stands today. He is regarded as one of the greatest Norwegian explorers and a national hero.