Sverdrup, Otto [key], 1855–1930, Norwegian arctic explorer. A companion of Fridtjof Nansen on the voyage across Greenland in 1888 and on Nansen's later (1893–96) polar expedition, Sverdrup was leader of an arctic expedition (1898–1902) that attempted to reach the North Pole by way of Smith Sound but failed because of ice in Kennedy Channel. However, valuable topographical observations were made in N Greenland; the unknown western part of Ellesmere Island was explored and charted, and Axel Heiberg Island and other areas were discovered. His New Land (tr. 1904) described this expedition. His later arctic expeditions included a voyage to the Kara Sea in 1920 and a search for the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile's Italia in 1928.
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