Olav Matiasson Skard (27 October 1881 – 15 May 1965) was a Norwegian educator, magazine editor and horticulturalist.

Personal life

He was born in Østre Gausdal as a son of educators Matias Skard (1846–1927) and his first wife Marie Bø (1849–1883). His father was an educator and school director. He was a half-brother of

Torfinn Torfinn is a Norwegian male given name. Origin The name Torfinn is derived from Old Norse ''Þórfinnr'', which is composed of ''Þór'' (meaning ''thunder'', also the name of the Nordic god of thunder Thor) and ''finnr'', which refers to Finnish p ...

, Bjarne, Eiliv and Sigmund Skard. His uncle was folklorist

Johannes Skar Johannes Skar (18 November 1837 – 3 February 1914) was a Norwegian educator and folklorist. Biography Skar was born at Øyer in Oppland, Norway. He was the son of Ole Torsteinsson Skar (1802-1886) and Mari Johannesdotter Lånke (1814-1 ...

. When Sigmund Skard married Åse Gruda Skard, Åsa became Olav's sister-in-law, and he was also an uncle of Halvdan Skard,

Målfrid Grude Flekkøy Målfrid Grude Flekkøy (née Skard) (29 November 1936 – 2 November 2013) was a Norwegian chief psychologist and civil servant. Having worked for several years in different health and educational institutions for children she was appointed as ...

and

Torild Skard Torild Skard (born 29 November 1936) is a Norwegian psychologist, politician for the Socialist Left Party, a former Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a former Chairman of UNICEF. She served as a Member of Parliame ...

. In February 1908 he married Wally Bjerregaard (1879–1966).

Career

He grew up in Gausdal and Levanger, and attended agriculture school in Hylla, before enrolling at the Norwegian College of Agriculture, where he graduated with a degree in horticulture in 1904. He was a teacher at various gardening schools from 1904 to 1918, and from 1919 to 1934 he was a secretary in ''Selskapet Havedyrkningens Venner'' (SVH) and editor of their magazine ''Norsk Hagetidend''. From 1921 he was also a board member of SVH, and he later became an honorary member. He was appointed as a professor at the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1934, and remained there until 1956 (he officially retired in 1951). In 1948 he was appointed a Knight First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. He died in May 1965 at Oslo.

References

1881 births 1965 deaths People from Gausdal Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni Academic staff of the Norwegian College of Agriculture Norwegian horticulturists Norwegian educators Norwegian magazine editors Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal {{Norway-academic-bio-stub