Paying respect to Fridtjof Nansen

On Sat 19th of March Secretary of the Cossack Congress in America Nathalie Vogel payed respect to Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) in Fornebu, Norway.

Norwegian explorer and diplomat Fridtjof Nansen spearheaded the rescue action of many of our Cossack ancestors who were stranded throughout Europe after the October Revolution. Around 450 000 Nansen passports were issued under Nansen's watch first. In 1921 Lenin had the citizenship of 800 000 émigrés, among which 96 000 ethnic Cossacks, revoked. Nansen’s initiative saved around 2 mio lives of people fleeing Bolshevik repression (Passport holders and their children). Holders of Nansen passports were able to travel and settle in countries willing to host them as refugees. In 1922 Fridtjof Nansen was awarded the Peace Nobel Prize for his initiative. Both Ataman Iegor de Saint-Hippolyte’s as well as Catherine Boncenne’s and Secretary of the Cossack Congress Nathalie Vogel’s ancestors were holders of Nansen passports which allowed them to settle in France after the Bolshevik Revolution.