Roald Amundsen
1872-1928
Heroes-polar explorers and explorers of the North are an example for each of us. Risking their health and lives, they made amazing discoveries, thanks to which humanity learned more about the world around us. Many streets of Moscow are named after famous polar explorers, including Amundsen Street, named after the famous explorer Roald Amundsen.
Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian polar explorer. He was born on July 16, 1872 in the city of Borge in the family of a captain. For two years he studied medicine at Christian University (Oslo). Then, yielding to an old dream, he took up the development of maritime affairs. After which he took part in an expedition on the ship “Belgica”, which for the first time in history carried out wintering in Antarctica. In 1903, with a team of six people, Amundsen was the first man to cross the Northwest Passage. He circumnavigated the northern coast of Canada and fixed the Earth’s North Magnetic Pole. In 1905, the expedition ended on Yukon Island. In June 1910 Amundsen set off on a new expedition, intending to reach the South Pole on Fridtjof Nansen’s ship called «Fram». On October 19, 1911 a traveller with four companions and 52 dogs began his advance. On December 14, with favorable weather, they reached the South Pole of the Earth for the first time in history, 33 days ahead of the detachment of the English traveller Robert Scott. On December 17, 1911, the Amundsen expedition was on its way back, and on January 25 the «Fram» set off on its return journey. August 20, 1912 Amundsen presented the Norwegian king with a flag that had been to the Pole. On May 11, 1926 the researcher on the airship Norway, together with General Umberto Nobile (he was the designer of the airship) and a team of 12 people left Svalbard (Spitsbergen) and headed for the North Pole. After 16 hours, Norwegian, American and Italian flags were dropped at the Pole, and on May 14 Norway landed in Alaska, covering 5,465 kilometers in 72 hours and becoming the first aircraft to overcome the Europe –America route. The triumph was overshadowed by the enmity that broke out between Amundsen and Nobile: the Italian was inclined to downplay Amundsen’s share in the expedition, while Amundsen criticized the design of Norway. Nevertheless, having learnt in May 1928 that the new airship Nobile «Italy» crashed in the Arctic during another attempt to reach the pole, Amundsen and five volunteers flew out of Tromso to search. On June 18, his plane crashed, and on June 22, when the Nobile expedition was already discovered and rescued (largely thanks to the Soviet icebreaker «Krasin» and pilot Boris Grigoryevich Chukhnovsky), the last signal came from Amundsen’s plane. Roald Amundsen has been reported missing. The sea, a mountain, as well as a bay and a basin in the Arctic Ocean are named after the traveller.
Address: Moscow, Amundsen St.
