The conquest of the North Pole performed by Umberto Nobile is a milestone in the history of Arctic exploration.
Born January 21, 1885 at Lauro in the Irpinia region, after earning a degree in engineering he became Director of the Stabilimento Militare di Costruzione Aeronautiche of Rome and  reached the rank of General. His interest in the construction of airships led him to design and refine new models, semi rigid and more reliable than those of the time. His fame crossed the borders of Europe, so that on May 10, 1926, along with Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, aboard the airship “Norge”, N-1 completely designed by him, he left Ciampino towards the Arctic. They flew to the North Pole and landed in Alaska. A well-traversed 5,300 km non-stop. On April 15, 1928 he attempted again a flight  to the North Pole as commander of the airship “Italia”. The expedition also involved a group of Alpini led by Captain Gennaro Sora, who subsequently take part in the rescue operations after the disaster of the airship in the return flight.
Umberto Nobile with the airship “Italia” left Milan for Svalbard, where the base was built. On 23 May 1928, the airship left Ny Alesund and at 00:24 hours of May 24, 1928 reached the North Pole. The landing was not carried out due to adverse weather conditions, but when above the 90th parallel the Italian flag and a cross blessed by Pope Pius XI were launched.
On the way home, with the mountains of Svalbard at the horizon, the airship crashed on the pack ice. Ten men, including Nobile with his inseparable dog Titina were left on the ice while the airship takes with it the other six crew members destined to disappear forever. The survivors were surrounded by materials such as a radio, food and a small tent. The tent was then painted red to facilitate the sighting of the rescuers and entered into legend as “The Red Tent.”
Nobile was rescued by the Swedish pilot Lundborg by a small plane and against his will. Other crew members were rescued later by the icebreaker Krasin on July 12, 1928 after seven weeks on the pack.
Because of the political disputes that followed the rescue Nobile first moved to Russia where designed the airship USSR W6, then went to America where his ability as designer was highly recognized and appreciated.
He returned to Italy in 1943 where his figure was rehabilitated and on 27 December 1966 was honored with the title of Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.
He died in Rome on 30 July 1978.

BIOGRAPHY curated by Bruno Bocchi

Known as the “Duke of the Abruzzi” was born in Madrid in 1873 where his father was King of Spain for some years, while his uncle was King of Italy. With a great passion for the mountain, very young climbed the Mont Blanc (the Giant’s Tooth) and later the Mount St. Elias in Alaska. Between the two ascensions, made the first circumnavigation of the globe at the age of 21.
In 1899 on board a whaling ship renamed “Stella Polare”, sailed to reach the North Pole. The plan was to sail to Franz Josef Land and reach the northernmost island of the archipelago, Prince Rudolf, and then from there, using the sled dogs travel all the way to the 90th parallel. The expedition, as usual for the Duke, was prepared with great care and a wealth of material. Not only, some expert Norwegians, like Captain Evenson with a great skill of navigation in the ice, were asked to join the Italian expedition.
The Stella Polare reached Prince Rudolph Island and anchored in the Bay of Teplitz at 82 ° 4 ‘N. It was the fourth ship able to reach this latitude and the first sailing along the coast.
The expedition spent the winter there at the base camp. On February 19, formed three groups, traveled to the North Pole. One party never returned to the base, another was miraculously able to return while the one led by Umberto Cagni, reached the highest latitude ever reached until then 86 ° 34 ‘N, but not the Pole. The Duke was unable to join this final attempt due to frost bite, he had few fingers amputated.
The expeditions not only reached the northernmost latitude, the scientific and topographic material reported were a great achievement as well.
The “Duke” returned to his country and prepared a new expedition, this time to Africa, to the Mount Ruwenzori. In 1906 he was the first able to climb this 5,109 meters high mountain. Then was the time of an expedition in the Karakorum with the intention of climbing the K2, he reached 6,640 meters of altitude and can’t go further. But still managed to beat the record of climbing, reaching 7,750 meters in the exploration of the surrounding peaks. In 1921 he moved to Somalia where he created a plantation and explored the Uebi Shabelle River to its source. He died in Africa on his estate called “Villabruzzi” in 1933.

BIOGRAPHY curated by Bruno Bocchi

He was born and raised on the outskirts of Christiania, the modern Oslo. His childhood was not too difficult because his family was wealthy but he received a simple education and learned important values such as integrity, independence and courage.
Nansen in 1880 entered the University of Christiania in order to study zoology.
During the spring and summer of 1882, while still at university, took part in an expedition to Jan Mayen Islands on board the Viking, a sealer boat, a trip that had a great influence on his future career. This was his first experience of the Arctic, and was immediately captured by the solitude and silence, by the wilderness and its majestic beauty. However, for some time he turned its attention to the study up to graduate in 1888.
Already the year after his expedition to Jan Mayen, Nansen began to prepare plans for a journey across Greenland, at that time the interior was completely unexplored. His intention was to cross the ice cap from east to west, very curious choice start from the uninhabited east coast and march toward the inhabited west coast. In fact Nansen decided to cut any possible way back, this was characteristic of all his future expeditions. His plan was described as a madness from the experts. Nobody believed that some skiers without the help of dogs and sleds, could cross the inland ice. But he had already took his decision. Nansen and his companions were landed near the Sermilik Fjord and could begin the ascent of the ice cap only on August 15, when the brief Arctic summer was now at the end. In early October the party reached Godthaab, a small settlement on the west coast where they spent the winter. The expedition has made a decisive contribution to the knowledge of the Greenland.
But Nansen had already been thinking about a new expedition. Since 1884 he had read by the Jeanette that sank off the New Siberian Islands and the remains were recovered in southern Greenland. A fact that indicated the existence of an ocean current towards the west. Nansen got the idea of reaching on board a vessel the easternmost point possible off the coast of Siberia, than trap the boat in the ice and hope that the current move to the North Pole or at least at a point close to it. For the purpose it was built the Fram, the ship thanks to its special hull was able to resist a big ice pressure. The expedition began in the summer of 1893, and in September the vessel was trapped in the ice and began its drift that led it to the west but not enough to the north. Nansen, decided to leave the ship, together with Hjalmar Johansen, and try to reach the pole marching on the pack, using skis, dog sled and kayak. After an incredible journey they reached the latitude of 86 ° 14 ‘N, the northernmost ever reached, then they went  to Franz Joseph Land where wintered in 1895. In 1896 they continued their long journey south to meet with the British explorer Frederick Jackson at Cape Flora, which led them  safe to Norway. The scientific results achieved were of great importance.
In 1905 he participated in the movement that led to independence Norway from Sweden and was appointed Norwegian ambassador to Great Britain from 1906 to 1908. From 1910 to 1914 was engaged in various explorations in the North Atlantic, Arctic Ocean and Siberia. In 1918 he was director for the Assembly of the League of Nations. Nansen dealt for the return of prisoners of war in 1920 and from 1921 to 1923 was responsible for the Red Cross during the great famine in the Volga region and in Ukraine. For this work he received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1922.

BIOGRAPHY curated by Piero Bosco