Fridtjof Nansen

Nansen studied zoology at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania and earned a doctorate researching the nervous systems of marine creatures - work that helped establish neuron doctrine years before Santiago Ramón y Cajal won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Medicine for similar research. In 1888 he led the first crossing of Greenland's interior on skis, then reached 86°14′ north during his Fram expedition of 1893-1896, a record latitude that made him an international figure. After 1896 he turned to oceanography, making scientific cruises in the North Atlantic and advancing modern equipment. In 1905 he campaigned to end Norway's union with Sweden and persuaded Prince Carl of Denmark to take the throne; between 1906 and 1908 he served as Norwegian representative in London, negotiating the Integrity Treaty. In 1921 the League of Nations appointed him High Commissioner for Refugees, and the following year he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with displaced victims of World War I - most notably the "Nansen passport" for stateless persons, recognized by more than fifty countries. He died suddenly in 1930; the League established the Nansen International Office for R