Sverdrup, Otto (1855–1930)

Norwegian explorer. He joined Fridtjof Nansen's expedition of 1888, which crossed the Greenland ice cap. In 1893 Nansen offered him command of the Fram, and in 1895 the ship was left with Sverdrup in the pack-ice while Nansen made his attempt to reach the North Pole. From 1898 to 1902 Sverdrup attempted to circumnavigate Greenland via Baffin Bay. When he found that the way was blocked he turned his attention to exploring Ellesmere Island, to the west of Greenland.

Among the islands he reached to the west of Ellesmere Island were Axel Heiberg and the Ringnes Islands. These have been known as the Sverdrup Islands since Canadian sovereignty was recognized in 1931.

He was born in Bindal, Norway. The manner in which Sverdrup navigated the Fram home through the sea ice was warmly praised in Nansen's Farthest North (1897).

In 1914–15 Sverdrup led an expedition to the Kara Sea for the relief of the Russian explorer Brusilov, and in 1920 he went to the rescue of the Russian icebreaker Solovei, which was icebound in the Kara Sea.