Norway: Roald Amundsen (1872-1928), Norwegian explorer and polar pioneer, c. 1920

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (16 July 1872 - c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the Antarctic expedition (1910-12) that was the first to reach the South Pole, on 14 December 1911. In 1926 he was the first expedition leader to be recognized without dispute as having reached the North Pole. He is also known as having the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage (1903-06) in the Arctic. He disappeared in June 1928 in the Arctic while taking part in a rescue mission by plane. Amundsen was among key expedition leaders, including Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.