Henry Marentius Rudi (12 March 1889 – 15 June 1970) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

trapper and polar bear hunter. Polarmuseet

Rudi was born in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, Norway, the son of Ole Olsen Rudi (1859–1935) and Marie Wilhelmine Henriksen (1863–1934). His father had originally moved from

Gudbrandsdal Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lille ...

en. He started his career as a shopkeeper in Tromsø, but life behind the counter became monotonous. At 19, he spent the winter at Hopen in Svalbard (1908–09). He later went to the island of

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger nort ...

and various fishing grounds in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

. He also spent several winters in Greenland, first in Northeast Greenland (1928–30), at Southeast Greenland (1931–33) and at Northeast Greenland again (1939–42). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he belonged to a sled patrol under Danish command that patrolled the Greenland coastlines on the lookout for German soldiers (1942–45). In total, he went on 40 hunting trips to the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

regions, and wintered there for 25 of them. The animals that were usually hunted in these regions included

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in co ...

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped, flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in ...

and seal, but Rudi is best known for having killed a total of 713 polar bears. The winter of 1947 was his last time hunting in the Arctic. Rudi spent his last days in the town of Tromsø. He was known for his cheerful personality and spent a lot of his retirement days in the Ølhallen pub in Tromsø, where he gladly spoke to everybody who would listen about his adventures in the Arctic. In 1953, he was awarded with the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

(''Kongens fortjenstmedalje''). He has also been honored with his own permanent exhibition in the Polar Museum (''Polarmuseet'') at Tromsø alongside other Arctic explorers, including

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen bega ...

and

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

References

Other sources

*Sørensen, Lars Normann (1958
''Henry Rudi, Isbjørnkongen''
Oslo: Gyldendal)

External links

Polarmuseet website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudi, Henry 1889 births 1970 deaths People from Tromsø Norwegian hunters Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit