Fridtjof Nansen
Man Of Many Facets
1861-1930
By Linn Ryne

	"Fridtjof Nansen; just the name. No eulogies adorn the simple grave in the quiet garden outside Oslo. No dates are inscribed upon it. Somehow this is fitting. For there is a timelessness about great men: and in Norway, and indeed the world, Nansen was among the greatest." "The sheer range of his accomplishments was astonishing. He was explorer, author, athlete, oceanographer, statesman, and laureate of the Noble Peace Prize. In addition, he saved the lives of countless thousands thought his humanitarian work after the first world war..." "World War I aroused in Fridtjof Nansen an abhorrence for the senseless slaughter of warfare. When the League of Nations began to take shape after the war he worked tirelessly for its success, and was for many years Norway's delegate at its assemblies. In the negotiations prior to its establishment, the small, neutral nations has been virtually forgotten. The major nations dictated the terms. The small ones
The High Commissioner F. Nansen is watching unloading of the train with grain for the students of Saratov University. Near him is M. L. Webster, who manages the whole operation for the Save The Children Fund in Saratov Region.	looked on. Nevertheless, Nansen saw in the League a new hope for mankind and he persuaded not only Norway, but also the other Scandinavian countries to apply for membership as soon as this was permitted; and Norway duly joined."

"His work in this field completed, Nansen planned to devote the rest of his life to his chosen vocation, science. He had been a reluctant statesman and diplomat. He was entitled to retire from the international field with a clear conscience."

"But the new League of Nations thought otherwise. Suffering in prison camps in Europe and Asia were half a million forgotten men, prisoners of war, who had fought for Germany and its allies. Locked in the grip of the Revolution, the Russians were largely indifferent to their fate. Many of the prisoners no longer had a homeland. They knew nothing of their families and little of what had occurred, and they were dying in thousands in cold and hunger."

"The League of Nations faced the enormous task of repatriating these men or giving them a new homeland. Obviously the work must be led by a man of special caliber, one who could act quickly and resolutely, and who commanded the trust and respect of the international community. The choice fell on Fridtjof Nansen."

"Though Nansen at first said "no" to the request, the repeated persuasions of the League soon had their effect. In April 1920 he left Christiania to start his difficult mission. The Soviet government would not recognize the League of Nations, and there were virtually no funds available for the task of feeding, clothing, and transporting the men from the camps."

"Though Nansen's great wish was to continue his scientific work, he saw in the task not facing him great possibilities. He could help prove that the League of Nations was a practical tool for improving the lot of mankind, and not just an idealistic vision. Also he could help the men whose sufferings touched him profoundly."

"Such was the stature of Fridtjof Nansen that the Soviet authorities agreed to negotiate with him personally. Funds were somehow raised, and the gigantic task put in hand. By September of 1922 Nansen was able to tell the League of Nations that the mission has been accomplished. The Nansen Relief organization had succeeded. Well over 400,000 prisoners of war had been repatriated, not only quickly, but at amazingly low cost.

Help For The Starving

"By now more than 60 years old, Nansen still yearned most of all to return to Norway to pursue his scientific interests and spend time with his family. But his talents were needed by the world. Even before the last of the prisoners of war had been repatriated or relocated to new homelands, another crisis had struck. A failure of the crops in the Russian grain growing areas brought famine to 20 million people. Epidemics followed in its wake. The International Committee of the Red Cross appealed to Nansen to lead a project to help the people of the famine- stricken areas. Once again he put his own interests aside to come to the aid of others. He made an agreement with the Soviets authorizing him to open in Moscow an office of the International Russian Relief Executive. But his appeals to the League of Nations for funds to finance the work met deaf ears. The League was unwilling to aid a Communist country."

"Through fund-raising tours Nansen succeeded in raising some finances, though not sufficient to save all of the starving people, and thousands of them died. This partial defeat affected him deeply. Nansen was a stranger to failure, at least in most of his quests, and the adamant refusal of the League of Nations was a blow to his vision of its potential. However, he was able to bring help to many people, particularly in the Ukraine and the Volga districts.

Refugee aid

Parallel to the famine project Nansen also organized and led another major one; that of aiding the 2 million hapless Russians who had fled both revolution, and counter-revolution and were being shuttled from country to country like cattle. So many countries close to the USSR were involved that a central leader was needed who would and could negotiate with many different governments. The League asked Nansen to act as High Commissioner for Refugees, with the task of coordinating all the relief organizations."

"The prime task was to provide the refugees with an accepted means of identification. This would not only give them status, but the possibility of procuring a passport. Nansen proposed that certificates be issued giving the most..."

"Many governments agreed to recognize the "Nansen passports" and thousands of stateless people were enabled to travel and to settle in other countries. He himself approached the governments and managed to persuade them to accept quotas of refugees."

"The greatest single achievement in Nansen's refugee work was probably the resettlement of several hundred thousand Greeks and Turks who fled to Greece in 1922 from eastern Thrace and Asia Minor following the defeat of the Greek Army by the Turks. Poverty-stricken Greece was unable to receive them. Nansen devised an unprecedented scheme. An exchange of populations would be effected between Greece and Turkey. Half a million Turks would be returned from Greece to Asia Minor, receiving full compensation for their financial losses. Further, a League of Nations loan would enable the Greek government to provide new villages and industries for the homecoming Greeks, who would take the place of the Turks. The ambitious plan took eight years to complete, but is worked perfectly.

Nobel laureate

"In recognition of his work for refugees and the famine-stricken, the Nobel Committee in Christiania decided to honor Fridtjof Nansen with the 1922 Nobel Prize for Peace. He was only the second Norwegian to gain this distinction. Typically, he donated the money to international relief efforts..."

"The clarity of Nansen's vision, and his ability to cut through petty detail to arrive at a lofty goal were precious qualities in trouble times. The world needed Nansen then. It needs a Nansen now."

(Produced for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Nytt fra Norge. The author is responsible for the contents of the article. Reproduction permitted. http://mnc.net/norway/Frit-nan.htm )