Olav Hodne (16 June 1921 – 29 October 2009) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

humanitarian and missionary, affiliated with the Norwegian Santal Mission. He was awarded the

Nansen Refugee Award The Nansen Refugee Award is awarded annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, Internally displaced person, displac ...

in 1976.

Early life and education

Hodne was born at

Lindås Lindås is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality. The administrative centre of the ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

, Norway. He was raised in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

where he took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1941. He attended a missionary school in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

from which he graduated in 1946.

Career

After graduation, Hodne was employed by the Norwegian Santal Mission (''Den norske Santalmisjon'') and sent to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1948. In 1972, he became the founder and director of initially the Cooch Behar Refugee Service extended to support refugees during the

Bangladesh War of Independence The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali n ...

. Following the war, Olav Hodne was instrumental in the founding of Rangpur Dinapur Relief Service. The organization was created in order to give aid to the refugees returning to the

Rangpur District Rangpur ( bn, রংপুর) is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division. Geography Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur ...

and Dinajpur District of northwest Bangladesh. This evolved into a rehabilitation, then a large and progressive development programm
RDRS Bangladesh

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He was also instrumental in founding the Lutheran World Federation programmes in India that responded to drought and floods.

Honours

Hodne received an Honorary Doctorate in Theology from 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 ...

in 1967. In 1976, he received the

from the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

. In 1983 he was appointed Commander of the Order of St. Olav. He was awarded the Wittenberg Award in 2005 by the Luther Institute for his outstanding service to church and society.

Selected works

*''The Seed Bore Fruit: A Short History of the Santal Mission of the Northern Churches 1867-1967'' (1967) *''Oppreisning: misjonæren og vitenskapsmannen Paul Olav Bodding 1865-1938'' (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodne, Olav 1921 births 2009 deaths People from Hordaland Norwegian Lutheran missionaries Place of death missing Lutheran missionaries in India Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal 20th-century Lutherans Nansen Refugee Award laureates