Sverdrup
OTTO, a Norwegian explorer, born in the District of Helgeland, in 1855. At the age of 17 he began his career at sea, and for a time commanded a merchant vessel. In 1888 he joined Nansen's expedition to Greenland, and in 1893 started with that explorer to the North Pole as commander of the Fram.
He remained with this ship when it was abandoned by Nansen in 1895, and reached Norway by drifting through the ice in the years following. From 1898 to 1902 he led another expedition in the Fram in an attempt to circumnavigate Greenland. This he found impossible, but continued his explorations, and made discoveries of great value. These included Heiberg and Ringnes Land. In 1914 and 1915 he commanded an expedition for the relief of missing Arctic explorers. He wrote "New Land: Four Years in the Arctic Regions" (1904).