Axel Christian Zetlitz Sømme (19 April 1899 – 14 July 1991) was a Norwegian educator, economist and geographer. During the 1920s, he was a political activist, magazine editor and newspaper editor.

Biography

He was born 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 ...

, Norway. His parents were Andreas Sømme (1849-1937) and Maren Sophie Berner (1858-1946). His father was a shipowner who was a grandson of Jacob Kielland (1788–1863), one of the largest merchants in Stavanger. His uncle, Jacob Kielland Sømme (1862-1950), was a noted artist. He attended

Stavanger Cathedral School Stavanger Cathedral School ('' Norwegian: Stavanger katedralskole'') is an upper secondary school in the city of Stavanger, Rogaland county, Norway. It is spread over two areas; the traditional Kongsgård and the school's new building in Bjergs ...

graduating in 1917. He received his cand.philol. 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. As a student he was politically active in the

Mot Dag Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party. After World War II, many of its former members were leaders in Norwegian politics and ...

movement and edited the magazine ''Mot Dag'' in 1921. He was the first editor of the newspaper ''

Rjukan Arbeiderblad ''Rjukan Arbeiderblad'', commonly known as RA, is a Norwegian newspaper, based in Rjukan and owned by Amedia. It was established in 1923 by the local Labour movement. First editor was Axel Sømme, who edited the newspaper from 1923 to 1924. Trond H ...

''. In this position he was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment for publishing articles encouraging the 1924 military strike. Between 1927-29, he completed secondary studies in economics at

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 ...

and became

Dr. Philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1931 on the basis on his dissertation ''La Lorraine métallurgique''. From 1925-32, Sømme was a teacher at Oslo Handelsgymnasium and then a lecturer and principal of Genèveskolen in

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 ...

(''Nordisk folkehøyskole i Genève'') from 1932-35. He became a lecturer in trade geography when the

Norwegian School of Economics The Norwegian School of Economics ( no, Norges Handelshøyskole) or NHH is a business school situated in Bergen, Norway. It was founded in 1936 as Norway's first business school and is a leading teaching and research institution in the fields of ...

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 ...

opened in 1936. He was appointed professor at the

from 1948 to 1969. Among his most important scientific works was ''Jordbrukets geografi i Norge'' which was published in two volumes (J.W. Eides Forlag, 1949 and 1954).

Personal life

He was married twice. In 1927 he married Gabrielle Kielland Holst (1899-1952), the marriage dissolved in 1939. In 1945, he married Johanne Wilhelmine Barclay Nitter (1904-1999). Axel Sømme died during 1991 in Bergen, Norway.

Selected works

*''Verdensøkonomiens pulsårer'', 1931 *''Skogen i Norge. Med et tillegg om treforedlingsindustrien'', 1932 *''En norsk 3-årsplan. Veien frem til en socialistisk planøkonomi i Norge'' (with Ole Colbjørnsen), 1933 *''Jordbruket i Norge'', 1933 *''Fiskernes vei til bedre kår'', 1935 *''Varer og veier i verdenshandelen i mellomkrigstiden'' (with Tore Ouren), 1948 *''Fjellbygd og feriefjell'', 1965

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somme, Axel 1899 births 1991 deaths People from Stavanger University of Oslo alumni Norwegian educators Norwegian economists Norwegian geographers Norwegian newspaper editors Mot Dag Academic staff of the Norwegian School of Economics 20th-century geographers