Torben Tryde (12 November 1916 – 24 March 1998) was a Danish lieutenant colonel, writer, olympian, resistance fighter and the last person to be appointed kammerjunker by the Danish Court.

Background and education

Torben Tryde was son of geodesist Axel Tryde (1884–1939) and Edith Mathilde née Lohse(d. 1945). Torben Tryde had a twin sister Elin Tryde (1916–2003). He graduated from Sankt Jørgens High School in 1935. He went on to graduate from the Danish military Academy in 1939, and chose to continue his military career as a cavalry officer. Tryde married Agnete Toussieng (29 June 1921 – 31 May 2006), and they had four children.

Resistance fight

Tryde was company leader in the resistance fight during the German occupation of Denmark, but was captured on 1 March 1945. He was held as a prisoner at

Vestre Fængsel Vestre Prison (, Western Prison) is the main jail of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Erected in 1895, it is Denmark's largest prison with a total capacity of 530 inmates. It primarily houses pretrial detainees, not convicted felons. History Ve ...

, and was interrogated by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

at the Shellhus only days before it was bombed by the British in

Operation Carthage Operation Carthage, on 1945 in Denmark, 21 March 1945, was a British air raid on Copenhagen, Denmark in World War II, Denmark during the Second World War which caused significant collateral damage. The target of the raid was the ''Shellhus'', ...

on 21 March 1945. Tryde was transferred from Vestre Fængsel to Frøslev Prison Camp on 2 May 1945, where he was a prisoner for the remaining part of the war.

1948 Olympics

Tryde was an expert equestrian and won several championships. He also participated in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

on his horse Attila.

Career after WW2

After the war Tryde served as an officer at the Danish Guard Hussar Regiment, but also worked at the Danish Department of Defence. He served as a UN observer in India and Pakistan and was awarded the

UNMOGIP The United Nations has played an advisory role in maintaining peace and order in the Kashmir region soon after the independence and partition of British India into the dominions of Pakistan and India in 1947, when a dispute erupted between the ...

medal. He was editor at the Danish military's ''Kentaur Magazine''. Tryde retired as a lieutenant colonel. Tryde was the last person to be appointed kammerjunker, because the appointments ceased after the death of

Christian X of Denmark Christian X (; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 until his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, holding the title as a result of the personal union between Denmark and independent Icel ...

in 1947. Tryde was also appointed a Knight First Class of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

. The French president

René Coty Gustave Jules René Coty (; 20 March 188222 November 1962) was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president of the Fourth French Republic. Early life and politics René Coty was born in Le Havre and studied at th ...

s was in Denmark in 1956, and used to occasion to appoint Tryde a member of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. Tryde was also awarded the Medal of Merit by the Danish Court. After his retirement Tryde wrote two books about the genealogy of the Tryde family: ''Slægten Tryde'' which was published in 1990 and ''Tryde Kirke og Slægten Tryde'' which was published in 1995.

References

External links

Torben Trydes record at the Danish archive of resistance fighters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tryde, Torben Olympic equestrians for Denmark Danish male equestrians Danish Christians Danish male writers People from Frederiksberg 1916 births 1998 deaths Knights First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Equestrians at the 1948 Summer Olympics 20th-century Danish sportsmen