Roald Amundsen | |
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Born |
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen 16 July 1872 Borge, Østfold, Norway |
Disappeared | 18 June 1928 (aged 55) Barents Sea |
Nationality | Norwegian |
Occupation | Explorer |
Known for | First expedition to the South Pole and flyover of the North Pole, First to navigate the Northwest Passage |
Parent(s) | Jens Amundsen, Hanna Sahlqvist |
Awards |
Hubbard Medal (1907) Charles P. Daly Medal (1912) Vega Medal (1913) |
Signature | |
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (Norwegian: [ˈɾuːɑl ˈɑmʉnsən]; 16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the Antarctic expedition of 1910–12 which was the first to reach the South Pole, on 14 December 1911. In 1926, he was the first expedition leader for the air expedition to the North Pole.
Amundsen is recognized as the first person, without dispute, as having reached both poles. He is also known as having the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage (1903–06) in the Arctic.
In June 1928, while taking part in a rescue mission for the airship Italia, the plane he was in disappeared. Amundsen was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, in the class of Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton.
Amundsen was born to a family of Norwegian shipowners and captains in Borge, between the towns Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg. His parents were Jens Amundsen and Hanna Sahlqvist. Roald was the fourth son in the family. His mother wanted him to avoid the family maritime trade and encouraged him to become a doctor, a promise that Amundsen kept until his mother died when he was aged 21. He promptly quit university for a life at sea.