Eivind Astrup was the son of merchant Harald Astrup (1831–1914) and Emilie Johanne Smith (1836–1915),[1] and brother of architect Henning Astrup (1864–1896),[4] architect Thorvald Astrup (1876–1940),[5] and wholesaler and politician, Sigurd Astrup (1873–1949).[4]
In 1889 Astrup undertook a trade examination in Christiania and then travelled to Philadelphia for further study.[1] The adventurous youngster had dreamed about exploring in Africa, but after he saw a newspaper article stating that Robert Peary planned an expedition to northern Greenland, he contacted Peary and was given a place on the expedition.[6]
During Peary's expedition in 1891–92 Astrup made friends with the local Inuit from whom he learned about survival techniques in the extreme polar environment.
Astrup accompanied Peary on a sleigh ride from their winter quarters in Inglefield Gulf and over north-western Greenland ice to Navy Cliff at Independence Fjord. They traversed more than 2,000 km, four times as far as Fridtjof Nansen had gone during his exploration of more southerly parts of Greenland four years earlier. Peary and Astrup were the first to explore and map the north-western areas of Greenland and were the first to come to the view that Greenland is an island. The trip had insufficient rations, but a successful hunt for musk ox saved them.[7]
Returning to Norway Astrup was greeted with great honour and attention. In 1892 he received the Order of St. Olav when he was then only 21 years old and is still the youngest person to have received the award.[8] Astrup wrote a series of newspaper articles and essays and gave well-attended lectures in many places in Eastern Norway. Many Norwegians at the time considered Astrup a polar hero, just like Nansen was considered a hero after he crossed the Greenland ice sheet in 1889.[9]
During the second expedition in 1893–1894, Astrup became ill and did not participate in Peary's journey across the inland ice, which otherwise was a failure because of illness, frostbite and bad weather. Instead, in April 1894, Astrup and his friend Kolotengva went on a sleigh to survey the northern side of Melville Bay, with this becoming the only visible result of Peary's second expedition. Weakened by illness, Astrup ceased his involvement in the expedition and returned to Norway where he was received as a hero. The Royal Geographical Society in London honoured Astrup by awarding him the Murchison Award for mapping Melville Bay.[10]
