Photo, Fridtjof Nansen

Objectnumber: RA 0332

Width frame: 33.0 cm

Height frame: 45.0 cm

Depth frame: 2.2 cm
Materials: glass, wood, paper

Portrait of Fridtjof Nansen that Amundsen took with him on the Gjøa expedition and later hung on the wall of his home at Uranienborg.

Fridtjof Nansen was one of Amundsen’s great sources of inspiration. He had high status as a polar explorer after his expeditions across Greenland in 1888 and over the Arctic Ocean in 1893–96.

The photo hung onboard in the lounge of the Gjøa during the journey through the Northwest Passage. When the expedition had safely sailed through, Amundsen stood and looked at the portrait.

“It seemed as if the picture had come to life, as if he winked at me, nodding, ‘Just what I thought, my boy!’ I nodded back, smiling and happy, and went on deck.”

Nansen signed the picture, ʺTo Captain Roald Amundsen with wishes of good luck and progress on the journey from his friend Fridtjof Nansen, June 16, 1903.ʺ

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Click on the logo to explore the photograph.
1872
Roald Amundsen born July 16
1880
Starts at Otto Andersen’s School
1886
Jens Engebreth Amundsen dies
1887 – 1889
Polar interest aroused
1890
Starting university
1893
Gustava Amundsen (née. Sahlqvist) dies
1893
Mountain ski tour with Urdahl and Holst
1894
Hunting in Arctic waters with the Magdalena
1895
Ship’s Officer’s exam
1896
Hardangervidda with Leon
1897 – 1899
Belgica expedition
1899
Cycling from Christiania to Paris
1900
Studying geomagnetism in Hamburg
1903 – 1906
Gjøa expedition
1903
Photo, Fridtjof Nansen
1907
Polar bears as draft animals
1908
Amundsen buys Uranienborg
1909
The North Pole reached?
1910 – 1912
Fram expedition
1914
Amundsen becomes a pilot
1916 – 1917
The polar ship Maud is being built
1918
Maud expedition
1922
Nita and Camilla move in
1923
Uranienborg for sale
1924
Amundsen goes bankrupt
1925
To 88 degrees north
1926
Norge expedition
1927
Lecture tour in Japan
1928
Latham flight
1934 – 1935
Uranienborg becomes a museum
1938
Betty’s house burns down
2015
A chest full of photographs is discovered
2020
Roald Amundsen’s home goes digital