Reidar Omang (26 November 1897 – 15 October 1964) was a Norwegian historian, librarian and archivist. Reidar Omang 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 ...

(now Oslo), Norway. His father,

Simen Oscar Fredrik Omang Simen Oscar Fredrik Omang (23 March 1867 – 29 November 1953) was a Norwegian botanist. Biography Omang was born in Hamar on 23 March 1867, and graduated as cand.real. in 1895. He specialized in the genus Hieracium, and described several ...

(1867-1953), was a noted botanist. Omang took

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

from the

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

public school in 1916. He took his

Cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree currently awarded in Denmark. The degree is officially translated into English as Master of Arts and currently requires 5 years of studi ...

degree 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 ...

in 1924 and

Cand. philol. Candidate (Latin ''candidatus'' or ''candidata'') is the name of various academic degrees, chiefly in Scandinavia, the Soviet Union, the Netherlands and Belgium. In Scandinavia, it is a higher professional-level degree usually corresponding to 5–7 ...

in 1930. He was a teacher in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

Kviteseid Kviteseid is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative ...

from 1918 to 1919 and at

from 1919 to 1920. From 1923-1935 he was employed at the

Library. During 1928-1935, he was also chief of the Manuscript Collection. From 1928 to 1945, he was librarian at the Norwegian Royal Palace. In 1935, he was appointed chief of the Foreign Ministry archives. a position he had until 1960. During the

Nazi 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 led the evacuation of documents from the Foreign Ministry archives to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In 1941 he went to

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 ...

and worked in the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian (Bokmål): ''Det kongelige utenriksdepartement''; Norwegian (Nynorsk): ''Det kongelege utanriksdepartement'') is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June ...

until liberation. He also edited several governmental documents on Norway, including treatises on Norway's relation to Sweden, on the

Altmark Incident The ''Altmark'' incident (Norwegian: ''Altmark''-affæren; German: ''Altmark-Zwischenfall'') was a naval incident of World War II between British destroyers and the German tanker ''Altmark'', which happened on 16–17 February 1940. I ...

, and on the relation between the

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile u ...

and the resistance movement. After the war, Reidar Omang published the two volume series ''Norsk utenrikstjeneste'' from 1955 to 1959. From 1961 he served as national archivist, a position he held until his death in 1964. Reidar Omang was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...

from 1957. He was also knighted by first class of the Royal Order of St. Olav.Tor Ragnar Weidling:''riksarkivar'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>

Selected works

*''Regjeringen og hjemmefronten under krigen'' (1948) *''Norges forhold til Sverige under krigen 1940–45'' (3 bd., 1947–50) *''Altmarksaken 1940'' (1953) *''Norge og stormaktene 1906–14'' (1957)

References

1897 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Norwegian historians Librarians from Oslo Norwegian archivists University of Oslo faculty Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters {{Norway-historian-stub