While not exactly a household name in this country, Norwegian seaman Otto Sverdrup is a big figure in explorations of the frozen Arctic.

The explorer was the subject of a joint stamp issue last month in Canada, Greenland and Norway. The stamps were issued March 26, the 150th anniversary of Sverdrup's birth.

In 1898, Sverdrup set forth on a four-year voyage of the polar regions north of Canada and Greenland in a ship he helped design. The seaman charted more than 62,000 square miles of the region, more than any other polar explorer.

Sverdrup was born in 1854 in Bindal, Norway. He first went to sea as a 17-year-old and made his first crossing of the Greenland icecap in 1888 with Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen.

Ten years later, he set out on his famous voyage of discovery in command of the polar vessel Fram. Sverdrup and his team were the first Europeans to visit and map huge stretches of the frozen North.

Many of the islands in the northern reaches of Canada still bear Norwegian names, including the Sverdrup Islands.

After the historic voyage, the Fram returned to Oslo, Norway, in 1902 to popular acclaim for the crew.

After a stint at running a plantation in Cuba, Sverdrup returned to the Arctic regions in 1914 to help rescue three lost Russian explorers.

He rescued another Russian expedition in 1920, at age 65.

Sverdrup died in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1930.

His famous three-masted ship, Fram, can be visited today at a museum in Oslo Fjord.

The joint issue features three souvenir sheets designed by Martin Morck of Norway.

The Canadian sheet has an image of the Fram on a $1.40 stamp, along with two labels featuring a portrait of Sverdrup and a landing boat. The Canadians also released the stamp separately in the 49-cent, first-class rate.

Greenland's sheet shows the exploration team rowing in turbulent Arctic waters.

The Norwegian sheet has two stamps, one with a picture of Sverdrup and the other with a picture of his ship (the same design as the Canadian stamp).

The Canadian and Norwegian stamps can not be viewed, since these countries have no interest in having publicity for their stamps on this web site. However, you can view the Greenlandic stamps here.

Larry Duhe, MyInky