Niels Christian Ursin Brøgger (4 June 1914 – 1966) was a Norwegian essayist, novelist, journalist and critic. He 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 a son of

Anton Wilhelm Brøgger Anton Wilhelm Brøgger (11 October 1884 – 29 August 1951) was a Norwegian archaeologist. Personal life He was born in Stockholm as a son of professor of geology Waldemar Christofer Brøgger (1851–1940) and Antonie Scheel Siewers (1854–1 ...

(1884–1951) and Inger Ursin (1882–1941). He was a great-grandson of the book printer

, a grandson of geologist Waldemar Christofer Brøgger and a brother of writer Waldemar Christofer Brøgger. He was the uncle of anthropologist

Jan Brøgger Jan Christian Brøgger (January 13, 1936 in Paris, France – February 28, 2006 in Oslo, Norway) was a Norwegian professor of social anthropology and a clinical psychologist. He was one of the most well-known Norwegian academics of his generation. ...

. Brøgger studied the history of literature 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 ...

and in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. His first book was ''Den nye moral og andre essays'', an essay collection released in 1934. In the same year he was hired as a critic in ''

Tidens Tegn ''Tidens Tegn'' (Norwegian: ''Sign of the Times'') is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941. Editors The founder and first editor-in-chief of ''Tidens Tegn'' was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Tho ...

'', a newspaper to which his father also contributed. His brother was hired as a journalist in 1937, and became a theatre critic the following year. Both brothers left ''Tidens Tegn'' in 1940. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 ...

, Niels Brøgger was a member of the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

. He was arrested by Gestapo in November 1942, and was held at Grini concentration camp from 3 November 1942 to 21 April 1943. Both his father and brother spent time at Grini as well.Giertsen, 1946: p. 30 After the war, in 1945, he was hired in the newspaper ''

Nationen ''Nationen'' is a Norwegian daily newspaper with a particular focus on agriculture and rural districts. Its circulation in 2015 was 12,954, an increase of 281 copies from 2014. History and profile ''Nationen'' was founded in 1918.

''. He also contributed with pieces in ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

''. In 1947 he released the essay collection ''Før uværet kom. Inntrykk fra 1930-årene. Artikler og essays'' together with his father. The 1952 release ''Korset og rosen'' was a study of Sigrid Undset's novels. He also wrote three books on pre-Christian mythology: ''Nordens demring. Nordiske myter og sagn'' (1949), ''Guder og helter i klassisk tid'' (1958) and ''Helter og halvguder hos kelterne'' (1961). He also wrote crime novels under the pseudonym Johnny W. Lambeth. His last published work was ''Sangenes sang'', a translation of the '' Song of Songs''. He died in August 1966, only 52 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broegger, Niels Christian 1914 births 1966 deaths Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian essayists Norwegian literary critics Norwegian theatre critics Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors 20th-century Norwegian novelists Writers from Oslo Date of death missing Place of death missing 20th-century essayists 20th-century Norwegian journalists