Amundsen, Roald (Roald Engelbregt Grauning Amundsen), 18721928, Norwegian polar explorer; the first person to reach the South Pole. He served (189799) as first mate on the Belgica (under the Belgian Adrien de Gerlache) in an expedition to the Antarctic, and he commanded the Gjöa in the arctic regions in the first negotiation of the Northwest Passage (19036); the Gjöa was the first single ship to complete the route through the Northwest Passage. He then purchased Fridtjof Nansen's Fram and prepared to drift toward the North Pole and then finish the journey by sledge. The news that Robert E. Peary had anticipated him in reaching the North Pole caused Amundsen to consider going south. He was successful in reaching the South Pole on Dec. 14, 1911, after a dash by dog team and skis from the Bay of Whales (an inlet of Ross Sea). He arrived there just 35 days before Robert F. Scott. In the course of these expeditions, he added much valuable scientific and geological information to the knowledge of Antarctica. |