18 Facts About Lars Christensen

Lars Christensen was a Norwegian shipowner and whaling magnate.

Lars Christensen was a philanthropist with a keen interest in the exploration of Antarctica.

Lars Christensen started his career as a ship owner in 1906.

In 1910 Lars Christensen had married Ingrid Dahl, daughter of wholesale merchant and ship owner Thor Dahl.

Endurance, the ship that became famous after Sir Ernest Shackleton's failed Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914, was originally built for Lars Christensen, who intended to use her for Arctic cruises for tourists to hunt polar bears.

When this did not happen, Lars Christensen sold the ship to Shackleton.

Lars Christensen had a deep interest in Antarctica and its animal life.

Lars Christensen was particularly interested in making geographical discoveries, and gave his captains wide latitude to do so.

Mrs Lars Christensen became the first woman to fly over the continent.

On 1 December 1927, as the leader of one of his financed expeditions, Lars Christensen landed on and claimed the Bouvet Island for Norway; it had previously been claimed by Great Britain, but the British soon abandoned their claim and recognised the island as Norwegian.

Together with Otto Sverdrup and Oscar Wisting, Lars Christensen initiated an expedition to recover another famous ship, the Fram.

Lars Christensen provided funds for the further expansion of the Whaling Museum's library, which was overseen by shipping broker, author and consultant Bjarne Aagaard, whose extensive book collection formed a major addition to the library.

In 1962, Lars Christensen funded the cost of the construction of Olav Chapel in Sandefjord.

Lars Christensen was decorated as a commander of the Order of Vasa.

Lars Christensen 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.

Lars Christensen was awarded an honorary doctorate at St Olaf College.

Lars Christensen was a fellow of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters and received its Gunnerus Medal, and an honorary fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Lars Christensen 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 David Livingstone Centenary Medal in 1935.