Sverre Hassel

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Sverre Hassel
Sverre Hassel (right) with Gunnar Isachsen during the Second Fram Expedition
Amundsen, Hanssen, Hassel and Wisting at the South Pole. Photographer: Bjaaland

Sverre Helge Hassel (born July 30, 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo), † June 6, 1928 in Oppegård ) was a Norwegian customs officer and polar explorer. He took part in Otto Sverdrup and Roald Amundsen's expeditions with the Fram and was part of the Amundsen group that was the first to reach the geographic South Pole in 1911 .

Life

Sverre Hassel was born in Christiania as the son of the innkeeper Martinius Pedersen Hassel (1851–?) And Elise Mathea Pedersen (1855–?). As soon as he was old enough, he was trained on the training ship Christiania and then went to sea. He obtained the helmsman's and captain's license. From 1898 to 1902 he participated in the Second Norwegian Fram Expedition led by Otto Sverdrup , which led to the discovery and mapping of the Sverdrup Islands . Hassel became an excellent dog sled driver during this period . On April 20, 1900, he and Gunnar Isachsen were the first to set foot on Amund Ringnes Island . In May of the following year they discovered Ellef Ringnes Island . After the expedition returned, Hassel served as a constable in the naval forces in Horten until 1904 . Then he was employed in Kristiansand as an assistant in the customs office.

When Roald Amundsen asked him in 1909 to take part in his North Pole expedition with the Fram , Hassel said yes. Only on the way did he learn that Amundsen had changed his plan and that the new destination was the South Pole. As a good skier, sailor and experienced dog sled driver, Hassel, along with Helmer Hanssen, was of particular value for the South Pole expedition , which lasted from 1910 to 1912. On December 14, 1911, Amundsen, Hassel, Hanssen, Olav Bjaaland and Oscar Wisting were the first to reach the pole. The strenuous skiing with five sleds and at the beginning 52 and after 99 days on the return to the base camp 11 Greenlandic dogs led over around 3000 km to the South Pole and back.

After returning from the expedition, Hassel withdrew from polar research. In the winter of 1913, however, he gave over 100 lectures on his trip to the South Pole. He lived in Kristiansand and from 1922 in Grimstad and worked as a senior customs officer. His suggestion from 1916 to turn the Fram into a museum was implemented by Otto Sverdrup from 1925 onwards. Hassel maintained a good relationship with Amundsen. When he was a guest at Amundsen's house in Uranienborg in 1928, he suddenly died of heart failure. Amundsen himself had an accident twelve days later while searching for the missing Italia expedition near Bear Island by plane.

The Mount Hassel in the Antarctic Queen Maud Mountains , the Hassel Sound in the Canadian Arctic and Cape Sverre, the North Cape of Amund Ringnes Iceland, wearing Hassels name.

Sverre Hassel was married to Helene Topper (1885–?). The couple had two sons and a daughter.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William James Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers - A Historical Encyclopedia . tape 1 . ABC-CLIO, 2003, ISBN 1-57607-422-6 , pp. 12 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ^ William James Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers - A Historical Encyclopedia . tape 1 . ABC-CLIO, 2003, ISBN 1-57607-422-6 , pp. 209 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hassel, Sverre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hassel, Sverre Helge
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian customs officer and polar explorer
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Oslo
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1928
Place of death Oppegård