Sverre Helge Hassel was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 polar explorer and one of the first five people to reach the South Pole

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...

.

Biography

Sverre Hassel was born in Christiania

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, and as soon as he was old enough, he went to sea, earning his mate's certificate. Between 1898 and 1902, Hassel participated in Otto Sverdrup

Otto Sverdrup

Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer.-Early and personal life:...

's attempt to circumnavigate Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

.
Along with Helmer Hanssen

Helmer Hanssen

Helmer Julius Hanssen was a Norwegian polar explorer, and one of the first five to reach the South Pole on the expedition of Roald Amundsen.- His life :Helmer Hanssen was born in Bjørnskinn, on the island of Andøya in the northern part of Norway...

, Hassel was picked as an expert dog driver to take part in Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....

's South Pole expedition 1910 – 1912. On 14 December 1911, Hassel together with Amundsen, Hanssen, Olav Bjaaland

Olav Bjaaland

Olav Bjaaland was a Norwegian ski champion from Telemark. In 1911, he was one of the first five men to reach the South Pole as part of an expedition led by Roald Amundsen.- His life :...

 and Oscar Wisting

Oscar Wisting

Oscar Adolf Wisting was a Norwegian polar explorer. Together with Roald Amundsen he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles.- Biography :...

 were the first to reach the South Pole

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...

. For his participation in the expedition, he was awarded the Medal of the South Pole (Sydpolsmedaljen), the Royal Norwegian award instituted by King Haakon VII

Haakon VII

Haakon VII may refer to:People* Haakon VII of Norway , King of Norway Ships* HNoMS King Haakon VII, a Royal Norwegian Navy escort ship in commission from 1942 to 1951...

 in 1912 to reward participants in Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition.

Hassel was constable of the Naval Corps in 1904 before he was hired as an assistant at the customs authorities in Kristiansand

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

. In 1922, Hassel became customs inspector and office manager in Grimstad

Grimstad

is a town and municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Other notable places in Grimstad include Eide, Fevik, Fjære, Landvik, Prestegårdskogen, Reddal, and Roresanden.It is...

.

For his participation in the expedition, Sverre Hassel was awarded the Medal of the South Pole (Sydpolsmedaljen), the Royal Norwegian award instituted by King Haakon VII

Haakon VII

Haakon VII may refer to:People* Haakon VII of Norway , King of Norway Ships* HNoMS King Haakon VII, a Royal Norwegian Navy escort ship in commission from 1942 to 1951...

 in 1912 to reward participants in Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition. Sverre Hassel died in 1928 while visiting his old friend Amundsen.

Legacy

• Mount Hassel
  Mount Hassel
  Mount Hassel is a rock peak , the northeasternmost summit of the massif at the head of Amundsen Glacier, in the Queen Maud Mountains. In November 1911, a number of mountain peaks in this general vicinity were observed and rudely positioned by the South Pole Party under Roald Amundsen. Amundsen...
  
   — peak at the northeasternmost summit of the massif at the head of Amundsen Glacier
  Amundsen Glacier
  Amundsen Glacier is a major Antarctic glacier, about 6 to 10 km wide and 128 km long, originating on the polar plateau where it drains the area to the south and west of Nilsen Plateau, and descending through the Queen Maud Mountains to enter the Ross Ice Shelf just west of the...
  
  , in the Queen Maud Mountains
  Queen Maud Mountains
  The Queen Maud Mountains are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Shelf to the polar plateau in Antarctica...
  
   in Antarctica.
• Hassel Sound
  Hassel Sound
  Hassel Sound is an uninhabited natural waterway in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It separates Ellef Ringnes Island to the west from Amund Ringnes Island to the east....
  
   — strait between Amund Ringnes Island
  Amund Ringnes Island
  Amund Ringnes Island is one of the Sverdrup Islands in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the Arctic Ocean, between 78 and 79 degrees of latitude. It lies east of Ellef Ringnes Island, west of Axel Heiberg Island. Hassel Sound separates Amund Ringnes Island from Ellef Ringnes...
  
   and Ellef Ringnes Island
  Ellef Ringnes Island
  Ellef Ringnes Island is one of the Sverdrup Islands in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Also a member of the Queen Elizabeth Islands and Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is located in the Arctic Ocean, east of Borden Island, and west of Amund Ringnes Island...
  
   in northern Canada
• Cape Sverre
  Cape Sverre
  Cape Sverre is a peninsula in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Named in honor of Sverre Hassel of the 1900 Otto Sverdrup expedition, it is the northernmost point on Amund Ringnes Island.-References:* Atlas of Canada...
  
   — northernmost point on Amund Ringnes Island which he circumnavigated in 1900

Sources

Roald Amundsen wrote about the expedition in Sydpolen published in two volumes in 1912–1913.
The work was translated into English by A. G. Chater, and published as The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram," 1910–1912