Amundsen, Roald (1872–1928)

Amundsen, Roald (1872–1928) – was a Norwegian explorer of the Polar regions, traveller and circumnavigator, and the pioneer of the South Pole travel. In 1890–1892, he studied at the medicine faculty in Christiania (present Oslo, Norway). In 1894, A. sailed on different ships as a sailor and first mate. In 1897–1899 as the first mate on the ship RV Belgica he joined the Belgian Antarctic expedition under command of Adrien de Gerlache, during which they discovered the Danko coast and a strait, which was later named after de Gerlache. In 1903–1906, with a crew on a fishing vessel Gjøa A. made the first ever travel through the Northeast Passage from the east to the west, from Greenland to Alaska, spending three winters on the way. He observed coasts of several islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In 1909, he planned the longer drift on the ship Fram in the Arctic, then changed his mind and decided to reach the South Pole but revealed his new plan to the crew only in January 1911.

Amu...