Aslaug Sverdrup Sømme (3 June 1891 – 9 April 1955) was a Norwegian

plant scientist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

Life

Aslaug Sverdrup Sømme was born in 1891 in Bergen. Her father was Jakob Sverdrup, a bishop and politician, and her mother was Marie Bernardine Suur. In 1910, Sømme enrolled at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

's Institute for Genetic Research (''Institut for Arvelighetsforskning'') in Oslo, Norway. In 1918, she started a master's degree in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, studying

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

in the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

from the research station in

Drøbak Drøbak is a List of cities in Norway, town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Viken county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its o ...

. During her degree, she was supervised by

Kristine Bonnevie Kristine Elisabeth Heuch Bonnevie (8 October 1872 – 30 August 1948) was a Norwegian biologist, Norway's first female professor, women's rights activist and politician for the Free-minded Liberal Party. Her fields of research were cytology, genet ...

, the first female professor in Norway. From this research, Sømme published the study 'Plankton surveys from Kristianiafjorden. Hydromeduser' in 1921. By 1919 she was appointed as an assistant professor (''amanuensis''), becoming only the second women ever to hold a research position at the university. Sømme and Bonnevie published studies on

polydactyly Polydactyly or polydactylism (), also known as hyperdactyly, is an anomaly in humans and animals resulting in supernumerary fingers and/or toes. Polydactyly is the opposite of oligodactyly (fewer fingers or toes). Signs and symptoms In humans ...

('Postaxial polydactylism in six generations of a Norwegian family' in 1922), and twins ('Hereditary predisposition to dizygotic twin-births in Norwegian peasant families' in 1926). Upon hearing of the growing work being done by

William Bateson William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscove ...

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

at the John Innes Horticultural Institute (now the John Innes Centre) in the UK, Sømme wrote to Bateson requesting to join him working on ''

Primula sinensis ''Primula sinensis'', () or the Chinese primrose, is a plant species in the genus ''Primula''. Primulin (anthocyanin), Primulin is an anthocyanin found in ''P. sinensis.'' References

Primula, sinensis Plants described in 1821 {{Primu ...

,'' crossing the North Sea in 1921, initially as a volunteer. During her time working in the 'Ladies Lab' with other female geneticists including

Caroline Pellew Caroline Pellew (born 1882) was a British geneticist who made significant contributions to knowledge of the laws of inheritance in various organisms including peas. Education Pellew was awarded the first minor studentship at the John Innes Cent ...

and Dorothea De Winton, Sømme studied ''Primula sinensis'' genetics and cytology. Sømme remained in England until 1926, at which point she returned to Norway to take up the position of lecturer in genetics at the

. The research she conducted at the John Innes Horticultural Institute formed part of her doctoral dissertation, which was finished in 1931. In 1929, Sverdrup married Iacob Dybwad Sømme, who she had met in 1925 in Drøbak. Together they had one son, Lauritz S. Sømme, who was born in 1931. In 1942, Iacob Dybwad Sømme was arrested for his participation in the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...

to the Nazi occupiers. He was sentenced to death in 1944. Following the arrest of

Otto Lous Mohr Otto Lous Mohr (8 March 1886 – 23 June 1967) was a Norwegian medical doctor. Mohr was born in Mandal. He was a professor of anatomy at the University of Oslo from 1919 to 1952, and served as rector from 1946 to 1952. During the German oc ...

, director of the institute at the time, by the Nazis in 1941, Sømme took charge of the board for the Institute of Genetic Research at the University of Oslo. She took over this position again in 1945 after Mohr became the rector of the university. Sømme resigned from her post at the University of Oslo in 1950 and died in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somme, Aslaug Sverdrup Norwegian geneticists 20th-century Norwegian botanists Norwegian women botanists 20th-century Norwegian women scientists 1891 births 1955 deaths