Lars Christensen (6 April 1884 – 10 December 1965) was a Norwegian shipowner and

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

. He was also a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

with a keen interest in the exploration of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Career

Lars Christensen was born at Sandar in

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

, Norway. Born into a wealthy family, Christensen inherited his whaling fleet from his father, Christen Christensen. After completing middle school in 1899, he received training in Germany and at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, followed by trade college in Kristiania (now Oslo). He started his career as a ship owner in 1906. He ventured into the

industry in 1909, and directed several companies, including Framnæs Mekaniske Værksted, AS Thor Dahl, AS Odd, AS Ørnen, AS Thorsholm and Bryde og Dahls Hvalfangstselskap. Christensen was Danish consul in Sandefjord from 1909. In 1910 Lars Christensen had married Ingrid Dahl (1891–1976), daughter of wholesale merchant and ship owner Thor Dahl (1862–1920). He would later assume control of large part of his father's and his father-in-law's extensive businesses following their deaths during the 1920s. ''

Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

'', the ship that became famous after Sir Ernest Shackleton's failed

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Ernest Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the ...

of 1914, was originally built for Christensen, who intended to use her for

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

cruises for tourists to hunt

polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivo ...

. When this did not happen, Christensen sold the ship to Shackleton. Christensen had a deep interest in

and its animal life. He was particularly interested in making geographical discoveries, and gave his captains wide latitude to do so. He financed several expeditions specifically devoted to the exploration of the Antarctic continent and its waters, and participated in some of these himself, even bringing his wife Ingrid with him in the 1936–1937 expedition. He was among the first to use aerial surveying with

seaplanes A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characterist ...

to map the coast of East Antarctica, which he completed from the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha C ...

to the Shackleton Ice Shelf, concentrating on Bouvetøya and the region from

Enderby Land Enderby Land is a projecting landmass of Antarctica. Its shore extends from Shinnan Glacier at about to William Scoresby Bay at , approximately of the earth's longitude (planets), longitude. It was first documented in western and eastern liter ...

Coats Land Coats Land is a region in Antarctica which lies westward of Queen Maud Land and forms the eastern shore of the Weddell Sea, extending in a general northeast–southwest direction between 20°00′W and 36°00′W. The northeast part was discover ...

. From the seaplane brought on the 1936–1937 expedition, members took 2,200 oblique aerial photographs, covering . Mrs Christensen became the first woman to fly over the continent. Sandefjord Muzeum Wielorybnictwa 2

On 1 December 1927, as the leader of one of his financed expeditions, Christensen landed on and claimed the

Bouvet Island Bouvet Island ( ; ) is an uninhabited subantarctic volcanic island and dependency of Norway. It is a protected nature reserve, and situated in the South Atlantic Ocean at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it is the world's most extre ...

(''Bouvetøya'') for Norway; it had previously been claimed by Great Britain, but the British soon abandoned their claim and recognised the island as Norwegian. On the expeditions he financed between 1927 and 1937, Christensen's men discovered and surveyed substantial new land on the Dronning Maud Land and MacRobertson Land coasts. Places in Antarctica named after Christensen include the Lars Christensen Peak, the Lars Christensen Coast as well as Lars Christensen Land, also known as MacRobertson Land, where the (now closed) Russian Soyuz station operated. In addition, Ingrid Christensen Coast was named after Christensen's wife, one of the first women to visit Antarctica. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Christensen was Counsellor of Finance at The Royal Norwegian Embassy in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

and a member of the Nortraship Council. After the War, the Thor Dahl Group, under the leadership of Christensen, regained its position as one of the leaders in the industry. The business also gained an increasing number of other shipping companies, both tankers and liner shipping.

Philanthropy

Together with Otto Sverdrup and Oscar Wisting, Christensen initiated an expedition to recover another famous ship, the '' Fram''. In 1935 the ''Fram'' was installed in the museum where it now stands; the Fram Museum in Oslo. Sandefjord Whaling Museum (''Hvalfangstmuseet i Sandefjord) '') was donated to

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

in 1917. This was one of the first dedicated museum buildings in Norway. In his travels, Christensen collected a considerable volume of literature, including much on the subject of whaling; his interests included research as well as merely supporting the industry. This material was donated to the library of Sandefjord Museum in the 1920s and 1930s. Christensen also provided funds for the further expansion of the Whaling Museum's library, which was overseen by shipping broker, author and consultant Bjarne Aagaard (1873–1956), whose extensive book collection also formed a major addition to the library. The Whaler's Monument ('' Hvalfangstmonumentet'') was first unveiled in 1960. The rotating bronze memorial statue is situated by the harbour at the end of Jernbanealleen in Sandefjord. The monument was created by Norwegian sculptor Knut Steen. The costs associated with the design and construction of the sculpture were donated to the city by Lars Christensen. In 1962, Christensen funded the cost of the construction of Olav Chapel (''Olavskapellet'') in Sandefjord. Outside the building is a relief of

Saint Olav Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the ...

by sculptor Ragnhild Butenschøn. The frame around the front door shows Bible motifs designed by Finn Henrik Bodvin. The altar image was painted by

Hugo Lous Mohr Hugo Lous Mohr (27 September 1889 – 20 February 1970) was a Norwegian painter. Biography He was born in Mandal in Vest-Agder, Norway. He was the son of Olaf Eugen Mohr (1856–1933) and Jeanette Lous (1860–1942). His father was a vicar a ...

Honors

He was decorated as a commander of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

. In 1917, he was appointed Commander of the Order of Dannebrog. He was appointed to knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1931 and received the Commander's Cross with the Star of Order of St. Olav in 1944. Christensen was awarded an honorary doctorate at St. Olaf College. Christensen was a fellow of the

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (, DKNVS) is a Norway, Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The society's Protector is King Harald V of ...

and received its Gunnerus Medal, and an honorary fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

. He was an honorary member of the Norwegian Geographic Society and in the Royal Norwegian Science Society in Trondheim and was awarded of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

David Livingstone Centenary Medal in 1935.

Career

Philanthropy

Honors

References

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