NANSEN, FRIDTJOF

born Oct. 10, 1861, Store-Fren, near Kristiania [now Oslo], Nor. died May 13, 1930, Lysaker, near Oslo Nansen Norwegian explorer, oceanographer, statesman, and humanitarian who led a number of expeditions to the Arctic (1888, 1893, 189596) and oceanographic expeditions in the North Atlantic (1900, 191014). For his relief work after World War I he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace (1922). Additional reading Jon Srensen, The Saga of Fridtjof Nansen (1932), is a good, relatively brief biography. Liv Nansen Hyer, Nansen: A Family Portrait (1957), was written by his daughter.