Johan Clausen Haanes (30 April 1912 – 21 March 2000) was a Norwegian

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player,

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...

, bandy player and track and field athlete. He was among Norway's best tennis players of all time.

Early and personal life

Haanes was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

as the son of businessman Thorgny Haanes and his wife Hedvig Kristine Clausen. He grew up in

Aker Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

, along with five brothers. He worked some years in a sports shop, and eventually started his own little sports shop 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 ...

in 1936. In 1938 he married Claire Höckert. Several of his brothers were also sportsmen. His brothers Hans Jacob and Thorgny were tennis players, both National Champions in double (with Johan). His brother

Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Meroving ...

was an excellent ski jumper who placed fourth at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1937 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1937 took place on February 12–18, 1937, in Chamonix, France. The French city hosted the 1924 Winter Olympics which is considered by the International Ski Federation, FIS as the first FIS Nordic World Ski C ...

. His brother, Reidar Haanes, became an acclaimed sports journalist, who also wrote the book ‘Store dager i norsk idrett’ (1952) and ‘Njårds historie’

Career

Haanes won 39 National titles in tennis from 1932 to 1953. Of these were 21 in single, 13 in double, and five in mixed double. He won one Scandinavian Championship. He played for the club Njård, of which he was a co-founder. He published the book ''Tennis for alle'' in 1937. In addition to tennis, Haanes also excelled in

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

. In 1937 he was awarded

Egebergs Ærespris The Egebergs Ærespris ("Honorary Prize of Egeberg") is a prize awarded to Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport. The prize was created by Ferdinand Julian Egeberg, and consists of a bronze statuette modelled by sculptor Magnus Vigr ...

. During the Norwegian Campaign in

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 ...

Haanes participated in the battles of

Bagn Bagn is the administrative centre of Sør-Aurdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Begnadalen valley, about to the southeast of the town of Fagernes. The river Begna runs through the village on its way thro ...

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre ...

. Later 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 ...

he was active in the "sports front", and was twice arrested and incarcerated at the

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...

. First time in 1942 as "hostage", and the second time in 1943, serving nine months for participation in an "illegal" ski competition. His book ''1001 tenniskamp'', issued in 1942, was subsequently forbidden. Haanes continued his active career after the war. His book ''Spill bedre tennis'' was published in 1946. He won his last National Championship in 1953. He was president of Norges Tennisforbund from 1956 to 1958. In 1985 he won an unofficial title at the World Championships for veterans in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

. He died in Oslo in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haanes, Johan 1912 births 2000 deaths Sportspeople from Drammen Norwegian male tennis players Norwegian male ski jumpers Norwegian sports executives and administrators Norwegian sportswriters Tennis writers Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors 20th-century Norwegian people