Oscar wisting

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oscar Wisting (left of the dog) with Gennadi Olonkin
Amundsen, Hanssen, Hassel and Wisting at the South Pole. Photographer: Bjaaland

Oscar Adolf Wisting (born June 6, 1871 in Larvik , † December 5, 1936 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian polar explorer . Together with Roald Amundsen , he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles .

Life

Wisting was a naval gunner when Roald Amundsen asked him in 1909 if he would like to accompany him on his upcoming expedition. Amundsen later secretly changed his plans. Wisting and the entire rest of the crew of the sailing ship Fram , which was specially built for polar conditions , set out to sea believing that they were moving towards the North Pole. In reality, however, Amundsen targeted the South Pole to take on the race with Robert Falcon Scott . To be first at the Pole was Amundsen's well-guarded, secret goal. Wisting became his most loyal follower.

On December 14, 1911, Wisting hoisted the Norwegian flag at the geographic south pole together with Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen , Olav Bjaaland and Sverre Hassel . This made them the first people to ever reach this extremely remote place. On October 21, 1911, the five men set out on skis, initially with five sledges drawn by 52 Greenlandic dogs, from their “ Framheim ” wintering station on the Antarctic ice edge; 99 days later, all five men, but only two sledges and eleven dogs, got there again: they had about 3000 km of skiing through the icy Antarctic mountains behind them.

From 1918 to 1925 Wisting was the first officer on board the sailor Maud , while Roald Amundsen tried to cross the Northeast Passage . From 1923 he acted more or less as an expedition leader after Amundsen had set out to fly to the pole.

In 1926 Wisting took part in Amundsen's first successful attempt to fly over the North Pole. In the airship Norge they reached the pole on May 12, 1926. The three claims to have previously been to the North Pole (by Frederick Cook in 1908, Robert Peary in 1909 and Richard E. Byrd in 1926, a few days before the Norge ) are controversial; Ultimately, it remains unclear whether the three “predecessors” acted out of error or with fraudulent intent. This means that the crew members of the Norge are considered to be the first certified researchers to reach the North Pole.

Later (1930) he wrote a book about his time with Amundsen: 16 aar med Roald Amundsen (16 years with Roald Amundsen). It can be said that Wisting was one of the very few steadfast friends of Amundsen, whose difficult personality otherwise made lasting friendships very difficult.

In later years Oscar Wisting was the driving force behind the planning and construction of the Framuseum in Oslo, which was built to house the Fram and present it to the public. On December 5, 1936, Wisting died of a heart attack in his old bunk on board the Fram , just a few days before the 25th anniversary of the successful South Pole expedition. The Mount Wisting in the Antarctic Queen Maud Mountains bears his name.

See also

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wisting, Oscar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wisting, Oscar Adolf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian polar explorer
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Larvik
DATE OF DEATH December 5, 1936
Place of death Oslo