Jørgen Stubberud

Jørgen Stubberud (17. or 19. April 1883 - 12. February 1980) was a Norwegian polar explorer who participated in the Amundsen Antarctica Expedition between 1910 and 1912.

Stubberud was born at Bekkensten, Svartskog in Oppegård, Norway. He first met with Amundsen at the latter's home in Svartskog in 1909, when he was employed as a carpenter to repair some old houses. Stubberud obviously did the job well, as Amundsen afterwards asked him to construct Framheim in his garden. The task given was: "It should be a winter quarters, five meters long, four meters wide and five meters high. Figure out the rest yourself!" When the job was done and Amundsen was satisfied with the work, the cabin was dismantled and prepared for shipment with the vessel Fram. Upon arrival in the Antarctic Framheim was erected and served as the expedition's base. Stubberud himself seized the opportunity and asked Amundsen for permission to join the expedition, which was granted. With his wife's blessing he then signed a contract to work for Amundsen the next seven years.

Stubberud was assigned to the original group of eight men that made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the Pole on 8 September 1911. Due to extreme temperatures, they were forced to retreat from the depot at 80°, partly without proper organisation and placing the lives of two men in danger. This was heavily criticised by Hjalmar Johansen, who had previous experience from his Arctic exploration with Fritjof Nansen. Such opposition was unheard-of and Amundsen then reorganized the Pole party by reducing its number. Consequently, Johansen, Kristian Prestrud and Stubberud were separated from the Pole team and tasked with the exploration of King Edward VII Land.

Years later, Stubberud would only speak well about Amundsen, but agreed that he had not properly managed the dispute with Johansen.

Later in life Stubberud worked as a customs officer and lived at Romsås, Oslo.

References

• South Pole Stubberud (In Norwegian)