Thorstein Guthe (25 April 1912 – 24 June 1994) was a Norwegian physician and fencer.

Personal life and early career

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 tailor Hans O. Guthe (1869–1929) and Hilda Kathrine Helgesen (1876–1950). In 1939, he married Laura Friele Joys, a daughter of Einar Joys. In 1950 he married Karen Hedevig Schjødt, a daughter of

Annæus Schjødt Annæus Schjødt (7 March 1888 – 12 October 1972) was a Norway, Norwegian lawyer. He is best known as the prosecutor of Vidkun Quisling. Personal life He was born in Oslo, Kristiania as a son of Attorney General Annæus J. Schjødt, Annæus J ...

, granddaughter of Annæus J. Schjødt and sister of Annæus Schjødt, Jr. He competed in the team foil and individual

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains ...

events at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. He finished his secondary education in 1930. After studies in bacteriology 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 ...

from 1933 to 1934 and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

from 1934 to 1935, he took the

cand.med. Candidate of Medicine ( la, candidatus medicinae (male), ''candidata medicinae'' (female), abbreviated cand. med.) is an academic degree awarded in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway following a six-year medical school education. Medical students in ...

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 1939. He then studied internal medicine at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

from 1939 to 1940. During the Second World War he was the head physician in Little Norway from 1940 to 1941, then at the Health Office for Seamen in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from 1941 to 1943. He then worked at the Norwegian embassy in the United States for one year, then the

Ministry of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in Sovereign state, states where the government is divided into Ministry (government department), ministries or departments. While th ...

-in-exile from 1944 to 1945. After the war he studied at the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

from 1946 to 1947.

Later career

He was a consultant for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

from 1947, and was a physician for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

from 1948 to 1956. In 1956 he was promoted to chief physician in the department of

treponematosis Treponematosis is a term used to individually describe any of the diseases caused by four members of the bacterial genus ''Treponema''. The four diseases are collectively referred to as treponematoses: * Syphilis (''Treponema pallidum pallidum'') * ...

. He also worked with combatting the disease

yaws Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin, bones, and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium ''Treponema pallidum pertenue''. The disease begins with a round, hard swelling of the skin, in diameter. The center may break open and form an ulce ...

. In 1963 he was acting director of infectious diseases in the World Health Organization. In 1971 he was hired in the private sector as corporate chief physician of

Elkem Elkem is a company that produces silicones, silicon, alloys for the foundry industry, carbon and microsilica, and other materials. Elkem was founded in 1904, has more than 7,000 employees and fields 30 production sites worldwide. Elkem has an oper ...

. He was decorated as a Knight of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

. He died in June 1994 in Oslo.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guthe, Thorstein 1912 births 1994 deaths Fencers from Oslo Norwegian male épée fencers Olympic fencers for Norway Fencers at the 1936 Summer Olympics University of Oslo alumni University of Minnesota alumni Norwegian military doctors Norwegian people of World War II Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian expatriates in France Norwegian expatriates in the United States Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland Norwegian infectious disease physicians Norwegian male foil fencers