At an early stage, his search for knowledge compelled him to explore the unknown features of the Polar Regions. He explored Greenland in 1882 and again in 1888. His expeditions through the Arctic from 1893 to 1896 are among the greatest exploration adventures of all time, but they were also part of a pioneering effort in the science of oceanography. With his famous ship called “Fram” he attained 86°14' N, the most northerly point reached up to that time. From 1910 to 1914 he was engaged in various explorations in the North Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and Siberia.

Through his growing stature as an explorer and scientist, Nansen became a leader among his contemporaries. In spite of his desire to continue his scientific explorations, he accepted King Haakon's appointment to become Norway's ambassador to London, thus starting his engagement in world affairs.

In 1905 Nansen took part in the movement that led to the peaceful separation of Norway and Sweden and served (1906-1908) as the first Norwegian minister to Britain.

In 1917 he headed a commission to the U.S. to arrange various commercial agreements. Later he was appointed as the Chairman of the Norwegian Delegation to the League of Nations. He retained this function from the inaugural session until his death.

At the League, Nansen was a voice of European conscience. He advocated the interests of small nations, minority groups and human rights.

With a personal authority that was recognized by all member nations of the League, Nansen was put in charge of the League's first large-scale humanitarian task after the first World War: the repatriation of some 450,000 prisoners of war from 26 different countries, the majority in south-eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

By skillfully enlisting the cooperation of governments and voluntary agencies, Nansen succeeded in organizing the return of the prisoners of war to their homelands in record time, thus avoiding a human catastrophe. Many of the prisoners would have perished due to lack of food and clothing.

In 1921, Nansen was appointed as the League of Nations' first High Commissioner for Refugees. He immediately undertook the formidable threefold task of helping hundreds of thousands of refugees to survive, to acquire some sort of legal status and attain economic independence.

One of the main objectives of Nansen was directed at helping refugees to stand on their own feet as soon as their essential needs had been met. The solutions were the same as today: voluntary repatriation, resettlement or local integration. To this end, Nansen set up a whole organization tasked with buying food, chartering transport, including ships, and raising the necessary funds.

A first legal arrangement was adopted in July 1922 - and, ultimately ratified by fifty-two states. This created the Nansen passport and defined the position of refugees. It was subsequently extended to new groups of displaced people.

Nansen was also called on to resolve other problems of uprooted persons, in particular the massive flight of Greeks from Asia Minor, following the war between Greece and Turkey in 1922.

Soon after he had taken on the manifold task of High Commissioner for Refugees, Nansen was asked by the International Red Cross and a number of governments to help save some 30 million men, women and children in the Volga and South Ukraine regions of the USSR, who were threatened with starvation. Despite political obstacles he raised the necessary funds and completed his assignment within two years. In 1922, Nansen was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Through out his activities as High Commissioner for Refugees, Nansen had to give thought to the future work for refugees whose number continued to grow in all regions of the world. Upon his death in 1930, the League honored him by creating (1931) the Nansen International Office for Refugees, which continued his work. In 1938 the Nansen Office was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Fridtjof Nansen no doubt set the standard for future action on behalf of refugees and gave an example to be followed by all those who are committed to humanitarian causes.

THE NANSEN REFUGEE AWARD

In 1954 the first United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Dr. G. J. van Heuven Goedhart, instituted the Nansen Refugee Award (known as the Nansen Medal at the time) to promote greater interest in the cause of refugees and keep alive the humanitarian spirit of Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), the Norwegian explorer and the first League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1921.

Fridtjof Nansen was a scientist, a diplomat, a statesman and a humanist with a deep compassion for his fellow human beings. Endowed with an unyielding spirit and exceptional physical and moral courage, he has gone down in history as the unique pioneer of international assistance to refugees.

To date the Nansen Refugee Award Committee has awarded 57 Nansen medals. By doing so the Committee wishes to recall the personality and achievements of Fridtjof Nansen and to highlight the accomplishments of those who followed his striking example.

As an admirer of Fridtjof Nansen, the late High Commissioner Dr. van Heuven Goedhart believed that an award named after Nansen and given for outstanding services to the cause of refugees would focus attention on their plight and give new impetus to international assistance. The award was instituted in 1954 and a Nansen Committee was established to be responsible for the selection of candidates.

The inaugural award ceremony was held in September 1955 in the Council Chamber of the Palais des Nations, in the presence of the diplomatic corps, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, the press and the public.

To encourage and help recipients in their work for the cause of refugees, in 1979 the Committee added a monetary prize to the award to be financed from a special Nansen Fund. The prize today is an amount of USD 100,000. It accompanies the award and is intended to enable the recipient to pursue refugee assistance projects drawn up in consultation with UNHCR.

The award is given out annually. The award ceremony has so far generally taken place at the Palais des Nations, Geneva. The event is attended by hundreds of people including the Swiss authorities, the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the international and voluntary agencies and by the press.

Starting in 2001, the award ceremony will be held on World Refugee Day, 20 June.