Gustav Smedal (28 December 1888 – 30 October 1951) was a Norwegian jurist and

irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

activist. He was born in Kristiania to Prosecutor General and Minister

Harald Smedal Harald Smedal (5 April 1859 – 3 May 1911) was a Norwegian politician of the Liberal Party. He served as a member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by ...

(1859–1911) and Caroline Kirkgaard Hofgaard (1863–89). He graduated from the Vestheim school and studied law, obtaining a degree in 1913. After completing his apprenticeship he was employed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1920 and 1923. In 1921–22, he became the secretary of the Norwegian delegation to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

in Geneva and private secretary of judge Frederik Beichmann. Between 1923 and 1931 Smedal ran a law office in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. Smedal was known for his active support of the "Greenland case" (''Grønlandssaken'') led by

Hallvard Devold Hallvard Ophuus Devold (8 November 1898 – 10 September 1957) was a Norwegian Arctic explorer, trapper and meteorologist. He was instrumental in the attempt to establish Eric the Red's Land in 1931. His brother Finn Devold (1902–1977) share ...

, where Norway claimed parts of East

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. In 1931, a group of Norwegians living at certain hunting and radio stations in the area claimed a portion of East Greenland as Norwegian territory, naming it

Erik the Red's Land Erik the Red's Land ( no, Eirik Raudes Land) was the name given by Norwegians to an area on the coast of eastern Greenland occupied by Norway in the early 1930s. It was named after Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse or Viking settlemen ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

protested and brought the case to the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cen ...

. Smedal was a member of the Norwegian delegation at the hearing of the court in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in 1933. Following the Permanent Court of International Justice ruling in the disfavor of Norway, the official claims were abandoned, but Smedal continued his activism. He claimed that the Kiel Treaty was unfair to Norway. A nationalist, Smedal would find himself collaborating with the

national socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

regime during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

. In 1942, he enrolled in

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such a ...

(at that time the only legal party), but never worked directly for the party. Wishing to create ties between Smedal and the party, the regime offered him positions as law professor,

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice and even Chief of the Supreme Court. Smedal, being economically independent, only accepted a position as

honorary professor Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

in 1943. Instead, he was active in the organization ''Norges Ishavskomité'' together with the other prominent leader of Norwegian claims in East Greenland and chairman of the

Arctic Trading Co. Arctic Trading Co. ( no, Arktisk Næringsdrift) was a Norwegian company founded on 24 June 1929. The company had commercial interests in East Greenland in the areas of fishing, hunting and trapping. It also operated the Myggbukta radio and meteorol ...

Adolf Hoel Adolf Hoel (15 May 1879 – 19 February 1964) was a Norwegian geologist, environmentalist and Polar region researcher. He led several scientific expeditions to Svalbard and Greenland. Hoel has been described as one of the most iconic and influentia ...

. Smedal published several articles and pamphlets to strengthen a Norwegian claim to Greenland, which in the meantime (1941) had been occupied by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He tried to persuade

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Germa ...

Josef Terboven Josef Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Essen and the ''Reichskommissar'' for Norway during the German occupation. Early life Terboven was born in Essen ...

and others, but without success. As part of the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The purge in Norway after World War II was a purge that took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was deemed to have collaborated with the German occupation of the country. Several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens wer ...

, Smedal was punished economically for his collaboration.

References

1888 births 1951 deaths Norwegian jurists Members of Nasjonal Samling People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway {{Norway-law-bio-stub