Lorentz Wilhelm Brinch (9 May 1910 – 20 May 1953) was a Norwegian barrister, military officer, banker and politician for the Conservative Party.

Pre-war life

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 barrister Christian Nicolay Brinch (1861–1946) and Anna Catharina Rolfsen (1870–1947). He was a brother of civil servant Christian Nicolay Keyser Brinch. In 1942 he married Anna Marta Ida Elisabeth Højer, daughter of the then-Swedish ambassador to Norway. He finished his secondary education in 1928, attended the

Norwegian Military Academy The Norwegian Military Academy (), in Oslo, educates officers of the Norwegian Army and serves as the King's Royal Guard. The academy was established in 1750, and is the oldest institution for higher education in Norway. History The Commander- ...

and graduated from the academy's lower section in 1929 as a sergeant in the infantry. He became a second lieutenant in the reserves in 1930, and served with Infantry Regiment 15 and Infantry Regiment 1 that year. Brinch attended a course in military intelligence in 1931 and a medical officer course in 1933. Next to his regular military service, Brinch joined the voluntary military training organization '' Leidangen'', where he served as an instructor. Also taking civilian education, he graduated with the cand.jur. degree from the

Royal Frederick University 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 1933, starting the law firm Brinch & Lyche. After a period as deputy judge from 1934 to 1935 he worked as an attorney from 1936 and barrister with access to work with Supreme Court cases from 1940.

World War II

During the Norwegian Campaign he participated in battle at Ringerike. He then held the rank of captain. During the subsequent

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 th ...

he was the leader of

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

district 13 (D13), from 1944 to 1945, succeeding Oliver H. Langeland. The D13 district covered

Oslo 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 ...

, Aker,

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

and

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken county, ...

, and had a total of about 7,000 soldiers at the end of World War II. He was decorated with the

Defence Medal 1940–1945 The Defence Medal 1940–1945 () is the award rewarded to those military and civilian personnel who participated in the fight against the German invasion and occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945. The Defence Medal 1940–1945 can be awarde ...

Post-war career

After the war, in 1945, Brinch became war advocate for Eastern Norway during the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The purge in Norway after World War II was a purge that took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was deemed to have collaborated with the German occupation of the country. Several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens wer ...

. From 1946 to 1948 he served as the acting Judge Advocate General of the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...

. From 1948 he was a director in Den norske Creditbank. He was also a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Oslo during the term 1945–1949. He chaired the supervisory council of ''

Morgenbladet ''Morgenbladet'' is a Norwegian weekly, newspaper, covering politics, culture and science. History ''Morgenbladet'' was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg. The paper is the country's first daily newspaper; however, Adresseavi ...

'' since 1945, was a board member of Den norske Creditbank and supervisory council member of Storebrand, Idun, Norske Kredit-Atlas, Norsk Sprængstofindustri and Oslo Sparebank. He died in May 1953. A portrait of Brinch was painted by Alf Rolfsen and unveiled in Oslo Militære Samfund in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinch, Lorentz 1910 births 1953 deaths Lawyers from Oslo Norwegian Military Academy alumni University of Oslo alumni Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members Personnel of the legal purge in Norway Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian bankers 20th-century Norwegian lawyers