Roald Amundsen

Amundsen, Roald (1872–1928), Norwegian polar explorer. He was the first person to reach the South Pole (Dec. 14, 1911), his party beating the ill-fated Robert F. Scott expedition by one month. In the Arctic he was the first to navigate the Northwest Passage (1903–6), later crossing the North Pole in the dirigible Norge (1926). He was killed in the Arctic during an air search for the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile.

See also: Antarctica.