Axel Charlot Drolsum (20 August 1846 – 16 September 1927) was a Norwegian librarian, who headed the

University Library of Oslo The University of Oslo Library ( no, Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo, UBO) is a library connected to the University of Oslo. Like the university, it was established in 1811 with Georg Sverdrup as the first head librarian. It originally doubled as ...

from 1876 to 1922.

Biography

He was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway as a son of military officer and businessman Truels Nicolaisen Drolsum (–1892) and his wife Christine E. Knudsen (1821–1909). In May 1872 he married Therese Wurschmidt (1845–1924). His eyesight prevented him from becoming a military officer like he wanted to, and after his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1864 he also ruled out law studies. He instead studied

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

, and after four years of working with

source text A source text is a text (sometimes oral) from which information or ideas are derived. In translation, a source text is the original text that is to be translated into another language. Description In historiography, distinctions are commonly m ...

s he was hired by

Ludvig Ludvigsen Daae Ludvig Ludvigsen Daae (7 December 1834 – 17 March 1910) was a Norwegian historian and author. He was a professor at the University of Oslo for more than thirty years. Biography He was born in Aremark in Østfold and died in Kristiania (now Oslo) ...

at the

. Together with Daae he edited the six-volume work on global history, ''Illustrert Verdenshistorie'' released between 1876 and 1880. He was promoted to chief librarian in 1876, and remained so until 1922. He worked to improve the library, and between 1911 and 1913 the building which is today the

National Library of Norway The National Library of Norway ( no, Nasjonalbiblioteket) was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened i ...

was raised. He also worked for reinstating the

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

, greatly improving the library's collections; the endeavor was successful as the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

passed the act ''Lov om Afgivelse af Tryksager til Bibliotheket'' in 1882. He was a member of the pro-military association Norges Forsvarsforening, and chaired the executive committee of its Kristiania branch from 1889 to 1915. He was a popular speaker and wrote articles in the press. Collections of his agitative works were published as ''For Norges Sag. Ti Aars Arbeide. Afhandlinger og Foredrag 1885–1895'' in 1896 and ''For Norges Sag. Ny Samling. Tyve Aars Arbeide. Afhandlinger og Foredrag 1895–1916'' in 1917. He was also a co-founder of the

Norwegian Horticulture Society The Norwegian Horticultural Society ( no, Det norske hageselskap, often shortened to ''Hageselskapet'') is an interest organisation in Norway. It was established as ''Selskabet Havedyrkningens Venner'' in 1884. Its purpose is to promote gardening ...

(''Selskabet Havedyrkningens Venner'') and he was a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

from 1889. For his work he was decorated as a Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

in 1897, Commander of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

in 1903 and received the

HM 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 ...

in gold in 1911. He died in September 1927 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drolsum, Axel 1846 births 1927 deaths Librarians from Oslo Academic staff of the University of Oslo Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Norwegian Freemasons