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Polar widows
Being a polar explorer
was extremely hard
work, but it was
certainly no bed of
roses for the explorer's
wife, who had to keep
the home fires burning.
Sometimes it could be
several years before she
saw her husband again.
"In the middle of March, I went ashore
in Tromsø to be home for a fortnight. At
home there had come a little son. Then I
had to say goodbye to my boy and wife,
and head out on a journey that was plan-
ned to last for 2-3 years, but that would
last for nearly 4 years."
With these words, Helmer Julius
Hanssen of Vesterålen described his
"family life" with his wife Kristine
Augusta before heading out on an exp
edition on the Gjøa in 1903. Hanssen
accompanied the Norwegian polar
explorer Roald Amundsen through both
the Northwest and Northeast Passages,
as well as on the famous South Pole
expedition. But his life as an explorer
had a downside, as he had to endure long
periods without contact with his wife
and children.
"Based on what he says here, you might
think that Hanssen is without emotions,
but I rather think he has developed
some emotional distance from his
family. Otherwise, his separation from
his family would be too much to bear,"
says Mary Anne Hauan, director of the
University of Tromsø Museum.
Used to absent males
We know more about what it was like
for polar explorers on their expeditions,
and their longing and loss, than we know
about what it was like for their families
to be without a husband and father for
so long.
"Yes, and there were many who were
gone for a long time. Helmer Hanssen
was one of them, while another example
was Otto Sverdrup. Sverdrup went with
the Fram across the Arctic Ocean for
three years (1893-1896) and then for
another four years (1898-1902)," says
polar historian Harald Dag Jølle.
"It can sometimes be as crushing hard on
me, especially when I think about those
who are at home, who are sitting and wai-
ting and know nothing about us. Likewise,
when one comes to think about whether
we will be forced to stay here another win-
ter, one cannot disregard the possibility. "
Thus wrote Otto Sverdrup himself on
his second Fram expedition, of which
he was the leader. The initial plan was to
overwinter for three winter seasons. But
because they were still stuck in the ice in
the summer of 1901, he and his crew had
to overwinter in the Arctic yet another
year.
"Polar Explorers were paid wages, so
from a financial perspective, their fa-
milies managed well. For example, Otto
Sverdrup renegotiated his wages when
he got married. His wife Gretha had
to depend on his income when he was
travelling. This was a time when many
families had to survive long periods
without a husband and father. It was a
very different time and social order," says
Jølle.
"Coastal women were accustomed to
their men being absent, because of their
work as traders and as fishermen. They
were also well acquainted with the risks
to which the men were exposed. Polar
explorers first had to cross a large ocean,
and then their boats would be frozen
into the ice. If you got scurvy or were
seriously injured, that was your fate.
To avoid having to worry all the time, I
think the women developed a displace-
ment mechanism," said Hauan.
Courage – and not just the men
Fridtjof Nansen's book,
Farthest North
,
contains the following dedication: "To
her who christened the ship, and had
the courage to remain behind." By "her",
Nansen meant his wife, Eva.
This dedication shows that the explorer
realized that it was not only the explorer
who had to be abundantly equipped with
courage. The same was also true of his
wife, who took care of the family alone.
Eva Helene Sars Nansen (1859-1907) was
an internationally known singer before
she met Fridtjof Nansen on a cross-
country ski trail in 1888. She grew up in
Christiania (now Oslo) with parents who
raised her to be a strong and indepen-
dent woman.
"Oh God, how good it will be to come
home to everything again." (Nansen, in a
letter to his wife from Vardø 1893, on the
way to the North Pole.)
During the first years of their marriage,
Nansen was crazy with longing for her.
But that changed with the years. She
remained his safe haven, but he was
University of Tromsø –
Labyrint E/11
•••
43
Family Portrait in the Nansen family home, Polhøgda, in
1902. From left: Irmelin (1900-1977), Odd (1901-1973) on
his arm, Eva Nansen, Kåre (1897-1964), Fridtjof Nansen
and Liv (1893-1959). Photo: L. Szacinski /National
Library
Text: Randi M. Solhaug