Fridtjof Nansen has been named "Norwegian of the 20th century". Nansen is a formidable figure in Norwegian history, as a polar explorer, public figure and diplomat, especially in the period leading up to Norway's independece in 1905, and thereafter.
Nansen also played a crucial role in alleviating much suffering after World War I, including the repatriation of prisoners of war by use of the so-called "Nansen passports". Nansen contributed to the alleviation of the humanitarian situation with regard to Armenia, Turkey and Greece. He is called the first High Commissioner for Refugees. In the Soviet Union, the effort of the "Nansen Mission" in 1922-23 under a mandate of the International Red Cross Committee is well known. Relief efforts were concentrated on the Volga region in Russia and Eastern Ukraine. The Mission had its Ukraine headquarters in Kharkiv.
Photo: The Press Photographic Agency
The Ukrainian-Norwegian
Fridtjof Nansen Friendship Association in Kharkiv has established a Ukrainian-Norwegian Center of Culture and Cooperation which carries Nansen's name. Important events are planned in Kharkiv and elsewhere in Ukraine in 2011.
Read more about Nansen: