Jacob Stenersen Worm-Müller (25 December 1884 – 12 November 1963) was a Norwegian historian, magazine editor, and professor 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 ...

. He was a politician, a delegate 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 ...

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Early and personal life

Worm-Müller was born in

Kristiania 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 ...

as the son of

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

professor Jacob Worm-Müller (1834–1889) and Aurora Olivia Eleonore Louise Olsen. He was married to Johanne Caroline Elisabeth Lippestad—daughter of Johan Anton Lippestad and sister of Fascist politician Johan Lippestad—from 1910 to 1927, and to Asta Josefina Blidberg from 1939. The events in 1905 made a permanent impression on him, and had a deep influence on his later career.

Career

Worm-Müller became

dr.philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1919 with the thesis ''Norge gjennom nødsaarene'', a documentation on the period from 1807 to 1810. He referred to this period as the "distress years" since Norway suffered from the

Gunboat War The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Nav ...

and the

Continental System The Continental Blockade (), or Continental System, was a large-scale embargo against British trade by Napoleon Bonaparte against the British Empire from 21 November 1806 until 11 April 1814, during the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon issued the Berlin ...

. He started lecturing at the University of Kristiania in 1919, and was a professor from 1928. His research work ''Christiania og krisen efter Napoleonskrigene'' from 1922 is regarded a central contribution to economic history. He was editor-in-chief for the magazine ''

Samtiden ''Samtiden'' is a Norwegian political and literary magazine. History and profile ''Samtiden'' was founded by Jørgen Brunchorst and Gerhard Gran in 1890. The magazine's first publisher was ''John Griegs forlag'' (Bergen), and from 1900 Aschehoug ...

'' from 1925 to 1940, and again from 1945 to 1963. He was delegate to the

in 1926 and 1927. He participated in politics during the 1930s, by running for election to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

for the

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, but was not elected. As an adviser to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, he wrote a report critical of Mahatma Gandhi's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. After the

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and subsequent

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 April 1940 he had a significant influence on negotiations in Parliament in September the same year. His University lectures on the historical events back in 1905 were of such a character that the Nazi authorities demanded their cancellation. Worm-Müller left the country to join the exile government in London, where he edited the magazine ''The Norseman'' from 1942 to 1945. Worm-Müller was a delegate from Norway to the

San Francisco Conference The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Calif ...

that resulted in the foundation of the

in 1945. He was a Norwegian delegate to the United Nations from 1946 to 1951. He was chairman for the

Liberal Party of Norway The Liberal Party ( no, Venstre, lit=Left, V; se, Gurutbellodat) is a centrist political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and it is the oldest political party in Norway. It is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, and it is ...

from 1945 to 1952. Worm-Müller became 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 cit ...

in 1951. In 1954 he was honored with the

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

''Ideer og mennesker''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worm-Muller, Jacob S. 20th-century Norwegian historians Academic staff of the University of Oslo Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian magazine editors Norwegian people of World War II League of Nations people Writers from Oslo 1884 births 1963 deaths Norwegian officials of the United Nations