Brita Lucie Collett Paus (3 July 1917

Salsbruket Salsbruket is a village in Nærøysund municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the Oppløyfjorden, at the mouth of the river Oppløyelva. A sawmill lies in the eastern part of the village, the Oplø area in ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

– 28 June 1998,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

) was a Norwegian humanitarian leader and the founder of

Fransiskushjelpen Fransiskushjelpen is a Catholic charitable organisation in Norway, founded in by Brita Collett Paus in 1956. Its administration headquarters are in Oslo, at St. Hallvard's Church and Monastery. The organisation, connected to the Franciscan orde ...

, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

charitable organisation in Norway. She led the organisation from 1956 until 1993. She converted to Catholicism from Lutheranism in 1950, and served as chair of the Laity Council of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo ( la, Osloënsis) is an exempt diocese located in the city of Oslo in Norway. Parishes The territory is divided into 25 parishes, located in the following sites: Oslo (3), Moss, Askim, Fredrikstad, Halden, L ...

, as board member of Caritas in Norway from 1965 and member of governmental committees. She was married to orthopedic surgeon Bernhard Paus, the Grand Master of the

Norwegian Order of Freemasons Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

. Their daughter

Lucie Paus Falck Lucie Paus Falck (born 8 May 1938) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus during the term 1989–1993. From 1988 to 1989, during the second cabinet Bru ...

became a politician. She was the daughter of landowner

Axel Collett Axel Collett (6 August 1880 in Kolvereid – 17 January 1968) was a Norwegian landowner, timber merchant and sawmill owner. He was a co-owner and actively involved in the management of Firma Albert Collett, a firm established by his father, ...

and Lucie Trozelli Krefting, and a member of the

Collett family Collett (also spelled Collet) is a Norwegian family of English origin, descended from English-born merchant James Collett (born 1655 in London, died 1727 in Christiania), who settled in Christiania in 1683. He married Karen Leuch, and died as ...

Honours

* St. Hallvard Medal, 1975 *Knight First Class 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 cit ...

, 1976 *

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice ''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice'' ("For Church and Pope" in Latin) is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy. History The medal was established by Leo XIII o ...

, 1976 *Grand Duchy of Luxembourg *Torstein Dale Memorial Prize (

Norwegian Red Cross The Norwegian Red Cross (''Norges Røde Kors'') was founded on 22 September 1865 by prime minister Frederik Stang. In 1895 the Norwegian Red Cross began educating nurses, and in 1907 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence authorized the organization fo ...

) *

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

's Paul Harris Fellow Award

References

Literature

*''Maria Giæver: Fransiskushjelpen: Help, relieve, be present. Holm & Tangen Publishing, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Paus, Brita Collett Norwegian people of English descent Norwegian Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Brita Brita Collett 1917 births 1998 deaths