Johan Nicolay Tønnessen (30 November 1901 – 27 December 1987) was a Norwegian historian and schoolteacher. He was born in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

as a son of port magistrate Joh. E. Tønnessen and Ida, née Stray. He

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1920 and took the cand.philol. degree at the

Royal Frederick University 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 ...

in 1928, majoring in history and minoring in French and Latin. He also took

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

in 1926 and was a substitute at Trondhjem Cathedral School from 1927 to 1928. In 1928 he married Lulla Evensen; they had two daughters and one son. He was a teacher at Gjøvik Upper Secondary School from 1928 to 1935 and Grefsen Upper Secondary School from 1935 to 1959. In Gjøvik he was elected to the city council in the 1934 Norwegian local elections. He represented the Fascist party

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 ...

, which with 10.9% of the vote had its third most successful city election in Gjøvik. Moving to Oslo, he did not finish the term. He became a member of the school board and deputy member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Aker. During the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 th ...

, when Nasjonal Samling was actually propelled to power as a collaborationist party, Tønnessen was arrested by the authorities in August 1943 for resistance work. He was imprisoned in Bredtveit concentration camp until November, then in

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This is ...

, then from April to October 1944 at

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress ( no, Akershus Festning, ) or Akershus Castle ( no, Akershus slott ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress ...

, and ultimately in

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 Söderm ...

until the war's end. Tønnessen later took the dr.philos. degree in history, and issued the books ''Ole Nielsen (Aalgaard) og hans slekt'' (1953), ''Kaperfart og skipsfart 1807–1814'' (1955), ''Porsgrunns historie'' (two volumes in 1956 and 1957). He contributed to ''Den norske sjøfarts historie'' (1951), ''Den moderne hvalfangst historie'' (1968–1970) and the third volume of ''Kristiansands historie'' (1974). His specialties were shipping,

privateering A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

and town history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonnessen, Johan Nicolay 1901 births 1987 deaths Writers from Kristiansand University of Oslo alumni Norwegian schoolteachers 20th-century Norwegian historians Members of Nasjonal Samling Politicians from Gjøvik Politicians from Aker Norwegian resistance members Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors