Niels-Henrik Kolderup (31 January 1898 – 2 January 1971) was a Norwegian geologist, seismologist, and professor. He served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bergen. He was a member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and served as a member of the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

(1945-1953).

Biography

He was the son of Carl Fredrik Kolderup (1869–1942) and Kitty Pedersen (1871–1961). He studied at 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- ...

from 1916 to 1917 and was then employed at the Bergen Museum in 1919, where his father Carl Fredrik Kolderup was a professor. He received his Ph.D. at

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

in 1928. He became a professor at the

Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen ( no, Universitetsmuseet i Bergen) is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The Univ ...

in 1939, the same year his father retired, and at the

from 1948. He later served as Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Vice-Chancellor of the University. His research was primarily on geology and seismology. He was a deputy member of the Storting representing the constituency

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 o ...

from 1945 to 1953. In 1918, Kolderup become a Second Lieutenant in the Norwegian military, First Lieutenant in 1925, and Captain in 1935. He was arrested in 1941, during the

German 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 th ...

, for being a part of the Norwegian resistance movement against

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

occupation, and was taken to Grini, a concentration camp located near

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 ...

. He was released, re-arrested, and then taken to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He spent there three years in concentration camps including

Natzweiler Natzwiller () is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in northeastern France. History Built in spring 1941 on the territory of the commune, Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp opened fo ...

, Dachau, and

Sachsenhausen Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

. At the end of the war, Kolderup was found paralyzed from the waist down and thought to be nearly dead. He spent time in Sweden recovering before returning home to Bergen.

Personal life

He married Else Krabbe in 1928 and together they had four daughters. He was decorated Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolderup, Niels-Henrik 1898 births 1971 deaths Scientists from Bergen Deputy members of the Storting Politicians from Bergen Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian seismologists 20th-century Norwegian geologists University of Bergen alumni Academic staff of the University of Bergen Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp survivors Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Dachau concentration camp survivors Military personnel from Bergen