Gunnar Isachsen

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Gunnerius Ingvald Isachsen
Isachsen in 1921
Nickname(s)Gunnar Isachsen
Born(1868-10-03)3 October 1868
Drøbak, Norway
Died19 December 1939(1939-12-19) (aged 71)
Asker, Norway
AllegianceNorway
Service / branchCavalry
RankMajor
Other workPolar scientist;
First president of the Norwegian Maritime Museum

Gunnerius Ingvald Isachsen (3 October 1868 – 19 December 1939), was a

Norwegian military officer and polar scientist. From 1923, he was the first president of the Norwegian Maritime Museum
.

Early years

He was born in

shipmaster Nils Høgh Isachsen (1838–1913), and his mother was Marie Cecilie Sivertsen (1839–1909). His sister, Louise Isachsen, was a physician.[1]

After passing the matriculation exam in 1888, he entered the Norwegian Military Academy.

Career

Isachsen after the Fram expedition

Isachsen was made a first lieutenant in the Norwegian cavalry in 1891. Gymnastics and sports keenly interested Isachsen, and he graduated from the gymnasium Central School in 1898, also taking courses at the Marine Observatory in Wilhelmshaven and the marine research in Bergen.

From 1898 to 1902, Isachsen was

Rittmester in 1899, and mapped large areas of hitherto unknown islands in Northern Canada, mainly by long sledge journeys. These included Ellef Ringnes Island, King Christian Island.[3]

From 1903 to 1905, he participated in the French military service in

bathymetric research expeditions at Svalbard.[4] These expeditions were paid for by Prince Albert of Monaco
.

Isachsen led his own government-financed expeditions to

Paris Peace Conference in 1919
.

Isachsen visited the

East Greenland . He was promoted to Major in 1924, and participated in a special whaling mission to the Ross Sea in 1926–27. He was the government's whaling inspector in the Southern Ocean in 1929–30, and the leader of the fourth Norvegia expedition circumnavigating the South Pole in 1930–31.[6]

Personal life

Welcome sign at Canada's Isachsen research station, 1974

Isachsen married Signe Amalie Eide (1876–1911) in 1903. Signehamna harbour in Svalbard is named in her honour.[5] They had three children (Fridtjov, Nils, and Gerd). His second marriage, in 1916, was to Marie Sophie Louisa Steenstrup (1884–1958).[1] They had five children (Kjell, Inger, Karen, Odd, and Finn); Odd Isachsen is still living.[7] Through his second marriage, Gunnar Isachsen was a brother-in-law of Hjalmar Steenstrup.[8]

In 1903, he was knighted 1st Class of the

King's Medal of Merit
in gold (1912), as well as a number of foreign orders and medals.

From 1911, he lived on his farm Vardeborg, under the

heart attack
in Asker in 1939.

Honors

Partial works

  • Isachsen, G. (1907). Astronomical and geodetical observations. Report of the second Norwegian Arctic expedition in the 'Fram', no. 5 = vol. 2. Kristiania: A.W. Brøgger.
  • Isachsen, G. (1913). Exploration du Nord-Ouest du Spitsberg entreprise sous les ausp. de S.A.C. le Prince de Monaco par la mission Isachsen 2 Description du champ dóperation. Monaco: Impr. de Monaco.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Barr, Susan. "Gunnar Isachsen". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  2. ^ "Recent Norwegian Scientific Exploration in the Interior". Scientific American Monthly. 1 (Digitized Jun 3, 2009). Scientific American Pub. Co.: 234 March 1920.
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-57607-422-6
    .
  4. ISBN 1-897799-93-4
    .
  5. ^ a b Johansen, Bjørn Fossli; Jørn Henriksen; Øystein Overrein; Kristin Prestvold. "Signehamna [79° 16.4' N 11° 33' E]". Norwegian Polar Institute. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  6. ^ Mills, p. 145
  7. ^ "100 years of systematic Norwegian research in Svalbard". ssf.npolar.no. Svalbard Science Forum. 9 June 2006. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  8. ^ Døving, Inger. "Hjalmar Steenstrup". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  9. ^ "Isachsenfonna (Svalbard)". Norwegian Polar Institute. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  10. ^ "The Charles P. Daly" (PDF). amergeog.org. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-04. Retrieved 2009-11-15.

References

  • Solo on Spitsbergen in 1906 and 1907 (1908)
  • Ishavsfolk and trips I: The Norwegian geographical selskabs Aarbok 1916-1919 (1921) (new edition 1997)
  • Norwegian fangstmænds Færder to Greenland (1922) (offprint of geographic selskabs Yearbook 1919–21)
  • Greenland and the Greenland Ice (1925)
  • Around behind blue whale (1927)
  • A ishavsskippers saga (1928)
  • Thoresen, Ole R. "Gunnar Isachsen in memoriam". Norwegian Maritime Museum 1914-1939 (1940)
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