Vilhjalmur Stefansson

About

Polar explorer who challenged many of the conventions about the North Pole.

Before Fame

He spent a winter living with the Inuit people and learning their culture.

Trivia

Instead of thinking of the North Pole as a frozen wilderness with uncivilized natives, he called it the Polar Mediterranean where three continents joined together.

Family Life

His parents were Icelandic immigrants to Canada.

Associated With

Previous arctic explorers like Joseph Rene Bellot ignored the people of the land, but Stefansson studied them.