Nicolai Hansen
Encyclopedia
Nicolai Hansen was a Norwegian
zoologist and Antarctic explorer. Nicolai Hansen was a member of the Southern Cross Expedition
lead by Carsten Borchgrevink to Antarctica and he became the first person to be buried in Antarctica.
Nicolai Hansen was born in Kristiansund
in Møre og Romsdal
county, Norway.
Nicolai Hansen was a graduate of the University of Christiana
where he studied zoology under Professor Robert Collett
. Hansen was a member of the 1899 Borchgrevink Expedition
to Antarctica. This was the first scientific foray to spend considerable time in the Antarctic and to study the region's unique marine life. Hanson had been seriously ill during the voyage from England. After having arrived at the expedition's winter camp at Cape Adare
, he was healthy enough to carry out parts of the planned scientific activities. Hansen died on 14 October 1899, apparently of an intestinal disorder, and became the first person to be buried on the Antarctic continent. Hansen had married shortly before he traveled to Antarctica. He left a wife and a baby daughter, Johanne Hanson Vogt (1898-1999) who born after he left on the expedition.
At his request was Hanson buried in the mountain section above Cape Adare, where a grave was excavated from the mountain. The grave is marked with white quartz stones and a wooden cross and plaque that is attached to a large stone. It is listed on the Antarctic Treaty's list of historic sites and monuments in Antarctica. More recent visitors to Antarctica have reconstructed the Norwegians' desolate and snow-damaged hut that represented the first permanent construction in the southern continent. This empty base camp also stands as a memorial to Nicolai Hansen.
The Antarctic Nototheniidae
fish Trematomus nicolai is named after Nicolai Hansen.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
zoologist and Antarctic explorer. Nicolai Hansen was a member of the Southern Cross Expedition
Southern Cross Expedition
The Southern Cross Expedition, officially known as the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton...
lead by Carsten Borchgrevink to Antarctica and he became the first person to be buried in Antarctica.
Nicolai Hansen was born in Kristiansund
Kristiansund
Kristiansund is a city and municipality on the western coast of Norway, in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. It was officially awarded township status in 1742, and it is still the major town for the region. The administrative center of the municipality is the city of Kristiansund...
in Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal
is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...
county, Norway.
Nicolai Hansen was a graduate of the University of Christiana
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
where he studied zoology under Professor Robert Collett
Robert Collett
Robert Collett was a Norwegian zoologist. He worked with vertebrates, primarily fishes. From 1864 he was curator at the Zoological Museum in Oslo. In 1882 he became its director and from 1884 was a professor there...
. Hansen was a member of the 1899 Borchgrevink Expedition
Southern Cross Expedition
The Southern Cross Expedition, officially known as the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton...
to Antarctica. This was the first scientific foray to spend considerable time in the Antarctic and to study the region's unique marine life. Hanson had been seriously ill during the voyage from England. After having arrived at the expedition's winter camp at Cape Adare
Cape Adare
Cape Adare is the northeastern most peninsula in Victoria Land, East Antarctica. The cape separates the Ross Sea to the east from the Southern Ocean to the west, and is backed by the high Admiralty Mountains...
, he was healthy enough to carry out parts of the planned scientific activities. Hansen died on 14 October 1899, apparently of an intestinal disorder, and became the first person to be buried on the Antarctic continent. Hansen had married shortly before he traveled to Antarctica. He left a wife and a baby daughter, Johanne Hanson Vogt (1898-1999) who born after he left on the expedition.
At his request was Hanson buried in the mountain section above Cape Adare, where a grave was excavated from the mountain. The grave is marked with white quartz stones and a wooden cross and plaque that is attached to a large stone. It is listed on the Antarctic Treaty's list of historic sites and monuments in Antarctica. More recent visitors to Antarctica have reconstructed the Norwegians' desolate and snow-damaged hut that represented the first permanent construction in the southern continent. This empty base camp also stands as a memorial to Nicolai Hansen.
The Antarctic Nototheniidae
Nototheniidae
The cod icefishes or nothothens are the family Nototheniidae of acanthopterygian fishes, containing about 50 species in 13 genera. They are traditionally placed in the perciform assemblage together with their relatives, but like every lineage in the "Perciformes" their actual relationships are not...
fish Trematomus nicolai is named after Nicolai Hansen.
Other sources
- Borchgrevink, C. E. (1980) First on the Antarctic continent: Being an account of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898-1900 (McGill-Queen's University Press) ISBN 978-0773505155
- Vogt, David (2008) Vår glemte polarhelt - Carsten Borchgrevink og Southern Cross-ekspedisjonen 1898-1900 (Oslo: Aschehoug) ISBN 9788203291388