EXPERIENCED AMATEUR (research on the history of humanitarian aid F. Nansen helped to provide to the starving people of Soviet Russia in the 1920s)
The paper examines the work of a Norwegian scientist and philanthropist Fridtjof Nansen before his appointment in August 1921 to the post of the High Commissioner of the International Committee for Russian Relief and during the establishment of a charitable organization to help the starving people of the Soviet Russia. The importance of the research is magnified by the fact that the charitable work of Fridtjof Nansen is one of the little-known aspects of a very significant part of Russian history, the Russian Famine of the 1920s. In both Russian and foreign historiography F. Nansen is often described as an "experienced amateur" in providing humanitarian relief. However, the study states that even before the famine in Russia F. Nansen had global recognition, philanthropic experience and personal connections which helped him to organize a successful operation to provide famine relief. He managed to overcome the distrust of the international community to the Communist regime of Soviet Russia and get the support of private benefactors and representatives of European governments.