RA Foreign Minister visits Fridtjof Nansen Institute
30.01.2010 13:27 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During a formal visit to Norway, Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian attended Fridtjof Nansen Institute. The
Institute administration briefed on the impending events dedicated to
the polar explorer’s 150th birth anniversary. Minister Nalbandian laid
a wreath to Fridtjof Nansen’s tomb and made a note in the
commemoration book, RA MFA press office reported.
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a
Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat. Nansen was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work as a League of Nations High
Commissioner.
Fridtjof Nansen was born at Store Frøen, near Oslo in 1861, the son of
a prosperous lawyer. As a young man, he was an expert skater, swimmer
and skier, excelling in drawing and sciences at school. He studied
Zoology at the University of Oslo. Nansen initially started out as a
pioneer sports skier, and soon became interested in Arctic
exploration. He led the first crossing of Greenland by ski, and
achieved great success with his Arctic expedition aboard Fram. He
later became noted as a zoologist and oceanographer, and was a pioneer
of the neuron theory. He was also a distinguished diplomat, eventually
becoming Commissioner of refugees for the League of Nations.