Profile of the Day: Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen

Do you have Norwegian ancestry? On this day in 1872, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was born in Borge, Østfold, Norway.

Amundsen was born into a family of shipowners and captains and had a lifelong desire for polar exploration. One of the key figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, Amundsen was the first explorer to reach the South Pole. He gained invaluable knowledge for his journey in the Antarctic from his earlier expedition traversing the Northwest Passage. The first to ever do so, Amundsen learned Arctic survival skills from the local Netsilik Inuit people, including the use of dogs to transport goods and the use of animal skins instead of heavy, woolen parkas.

In 1928, Amundsen and a crew of five disappeared while flying on a rescue mission in the Arctic. It is believed their plane crashed in the fog in the Arctic Ocean. Their bodies were never found.

Roald Amundsen is connected to over 120 million people in Geni’s World Family Tree. How are you related?
 

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Image: National Library of Norway