Harald Ulrik Sverdrup (29 May 1923 – 26 June 1992) was a Norwegian poet and children's writer. He received several literary prizes, including the

Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature (''Den norske Kritikerprisen for litteratur'' or ''Kritikerprisen'') is awarded by the Norwegian Literature Critics' Association (''Norsk Litteraturkritikerlag'') and has been awarded every year since 1950. ...

, the

Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment is an annually awarded literary prize from the publishing house Aschehoug. The prize is a recognition of superior literary work. The publisher's editorial management makes the award based on their collective judgement ...

, the

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize ( sv, Doblougska priset, no, Doblougprisen) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. T ...

and the

Riksmål Society Literature Prize The Riksmål Society Literature Prize (''Riksmålsforbundets litteraturpris'') is awarded annually by the '' Riksmålsforbundet'' for the outstanding publication in riksmål. The prize was awarded until 2002 by the ''Oslo and Bærum Riksmål Leagu ...

Early and personal life

Sverdrup was born in Gravdal,

Buksnes Buksnes is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1963. It comprised the western part of the island of Vestvågøya in what is now Vestvågøy Municipality. The administr ...

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...

, as a son of medical doctor Harald Ulrik Sverdrup (1890–1976) and Berit Johanne Strandenæs (1896–1961). He was related to bishop and politician Jakob Sverdrup, who was his

great-uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal rela ...

, and to

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

Harald Ulrik Sverdrup Jr, who was his first cousin once removed. Other first cousins once removed are

Leif Sverdrup Leif Johan Sverdrup CBE (11 January 1898 – 2 January 1976) was a Norwegian-born American civil engineer and general with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his service in the Southwest ...

Georg Johan Sverdrup Georg Johan Sverdrup (January 26, 1885 – November 4, 1951) was a professor of the history of religion. Life and family Sverdrup was born in Stockholm; he was the son of the bishop and politician Jakob Sverdrup and the brother of the Germanic p ...

and philologist Jakob Sverdrup. He was also a great-grandson of Harald Ulrik Sverdrup Sr, a grandnephew of Jakob Sverdrup,

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and ...

and

Edvard Sverdrup Johan Edvard Sverdrup (22 June 1861 – 21 January 1923) was a Norwegian educator, author and church leader. Sverdrup was one of the key theologians in the Church of Norway in the first few decades of the 1900s. Biography Sverdrup was born in Ba ...

, and a second cousin of historian Jakob Sverdrup. He spent his early childhood in

Risør is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Risør municipality is the town of Risør. There are many villages in Risør such as Akland, ...

Hvitsten Hvitsten is a former town in Akershus county, Norway, located between Drøbak and Son. It is the smallest town that has ever existed in Norway: In 1951 it had 76 inhabitants, and an area of just 0.07 km2. Due its size it could not be establi ...

and

Rjukan Rjukan () is a town and the administrative centre of Tinn municipality in Telemark, Norway. It is situated in Vestfjorddalen, between Møsvatn and Lake Tinn, and got its name after Rjukan Falls west of the town. The Tinn municipality council grant ...

, and later in

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 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he participated in resistance work in Norway, until he fled to Sweden and Great Britain in 1944. He joined as ground crew at the Norwegian

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

Wing, and participated at the war front in Belgium, Holland and Germany. He was married to Jorunn Elset from 1950 to 1954, and to his first cousin Mari Ulstrup from 1954. The couple lived at

Kalbakken Kalbakken is a neighborhood in Grorud borough, Oslo, Norway. Kalbakken station on the Oslo Metro also serves the adjacent districts Nordtvet and Flaen between Trondheimsveien and Østre Aker vei, which are Groruddalens main thoroughfares into t ...

and

Stokke Stokke is a town in Sandefjord municipality in Vestfold County, Norway. It lies in-between Sandefjord and Tønsberg, two of Vestfold's largest cities. It was a municipality from 1838 to 2016. The administrative centre of the municipality was the ...

Literary career

Sverdrup made his literary debut in 1948 with the poetry collection . His literary breakthrough came with the collection from 1958, which earned him the

. He issued the collection of children's poetry in 1958. He received the

in 1959. During the 1960s he issued the poetry collections (1961), (1964) and (1969), and the prose books (1965) and (1968). In the 1970s he issued the poetry collections (1971) and (1974). He received the

in 1978, and the

in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sverdrup, Harald 1923 births 1992 deaths People from Vestvågøy 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets Norwegian children's writers Norwegian resistance members Royal Norwegian Air Force personnel of World War II Dobloug Prize winners 20th-century Norwegian male writers