Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen

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Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen

Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen (born May 15, 1867 in Skien , † January 4, 1913 in Christiania (Oslo)) was a Norwegian polar explorer .

Life as a polar explorer

Johansen is considered to be one of the best gymnasts and skiers of his time. From 1893 to 1896 he was a member of the Fram expedition under Fridtjof Nansen . The attempt to reach the North Pole on skis with Nansen during this research trip failed. After the advance was aborted, both men retreated to Franz-Joseph-Land on a grueling and privation-rich tour . There they met Frederick George Jackson , who made it possible for them to return to Norway. In recognition of his services, Johansen was promoted to captain at the instigation of King Haakon VII in 1899 . In 1907 he took part in a polar expedition to Spitsbergen financed by Prince Albert I of Monaco . In the winter of 1907 to 1908 he wintered with Theodor Lerner on the island of West Spitsbergen .

Through Nansen's mediation, Roald Amundsen took him on the Fram expedition 1910–1913 , which aimed to reach the South Pole for the first time . In a competition with the British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott , Amundsen's group set out too early for the season on the first attempt at the Pole in September 1911 and had to return to base camp prematurely due to a storm and freezing temperatures. Amundsen claimed the best sled dog team for himself and on the way back did not consider the progress of the rest of the group. Johansen and his sled companion Kristian Prestrud were temporarily forced to get along without a tent and stove at temperatures of -50 ° C and only reached the Framheim camp with a lot of luck. As a result, there was an argument between Johansen and Amundsen before the other expedition participants. Amundsen saw this as undermining his authority as the expedition leader, obliged all expedition participants to keep quiet about the process and excluded Johansen from the pole group. Instead, Amundsen ordered him, Prestrud and Jørgen Stubberud on a reconnaissance march to the Edward VII Peninsula . Amundsen also determined that not Johansen, but the far less experienced Prestrud, should lead this group. On the triumphant return of the expedition, Johansen was also not allowed to disembark with the other participants in Norway. In his expedition report, The Conquest of the South Pole , Amundsen hid Johansen's contributions to the success of the research trip. As a result of these humiliations, Johansen fell into deep depression and finally committed suicide in a park in the Norwegian capital Christiania in 1913 with a shot in the head. Nansen and Amundsen were not present at the funeral service. A year later, Nansen wrote an obituary for Johansen in the Norwegian Geographical Society's yearbook: “May Hjalmar Johansen live on in memory as the loyal man he was, the image of a fearless Norwegian sportsman. He never made promises he couldn't keep and always did exactly what he said. A brave, sociable man, a good comrade, loyal friend, so sincere and natural, humble and silent, a soul that knew no betrayal. "

Hjalmar Johansen's achievements in polar research were not taken into account for a long time after his death. The 1997 book Den tredje mann (German title: In the shadow. The story of Hjalmar Johansen ) by the Norwegian author Ragnar Kvam Jr. (* 1942) contributed significantly to increasing his awareness . Today Johansen is counted among the most important polar explorers in Norway alongside Amundsen, Nansen and Sverdrup . The Johansen Peak in the Transantarctic Mountains are named after him.

Private life

Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen was born in Skien, the second of five children of caretaker Jens Johansen (1835–1888) and his wife Maren (nee Pedersdatter, 1834–1906).

Daughter Margit (1900–1980) and sons Tryggve (1899–1970), Hjalmar (1901–1977) and Per (1903–1970) came from the marriage with Hilda Øvrum (1868–1956) in 1898.

literature

  • Hjalmar Johansen: Nansen and I at 86 ° 14 ′ , Leipzig 1898. ( Online )
  • Hjalmar Johansen: Dagboken from Spitzbergen 1907/1908 , Oslo 2002.
  • Ragnar Kvam Jr .: In the shade. The story of Hjalmar Johansen . Berlin Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 978-3-8270-0321-8 (Norwegian: Den tredje mann .).
  • Theodor Lerner: polar driver. Under the spell of the ice . Ed .: Frank Berger. Oesch-Verlag, Zurich 2005, ISBN 978-3-0350-2014-4 .
  • Reinhold Messner : Pol. Hjalmar Johansen's Dog Years , Malik, Munich 2011. ISBN 978-3-89029-376-9

Web links

Commons : Hjalmar Johansen  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hjalmar Johansen can be found on nrk.no
  2. ↑ Ragnar Kvam jr .: In the shade . Berliner Taschenbuch Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-442-76018-6 , pp. 63, 64, 273 .
personal data
SURNAME Johansen, Fredrik Hjalmar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian polar explorer
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1867
PLACE OF BIRTH Skien
DATE OF DEATH January 4, 1913
Place of death Oslo