Øistein Strømnæs (28 June 1914 – 21 July 1980) was the head of XU, the main Norwegian intelligence organization from 1943 to 1945. Strømnæs was born in

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsbor ...

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

and was working on a master's degree in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

when Norway was attacked in 1940. To support his studies he also had a part-time job as a

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

constable, this proved very valuable when he got involved in intelligence. Recruited by one of the founders of XU, Captain Eivind Hjelle, Strømnæs joined XU in August 1940. Strømnæs was said to be a "natural agent", and he had a very relaxed tone with his agents. Strømnæs assumed the leadship of XU when

Arvid Storsveen Arvid Kristian Storsveen (9 July 1915 – 27 April 1943) was a Norwegian Military Officer and organizer of the secret agency XU, the main intelligence gathering organisation within occupied Norway during World War II. Biography Arvid Kristian ...

was killed in April 1943. He worked undercover in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Strømnæs focused on security to the point Defense Command in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, did not know the real identity of the chairman of the intelligence service. After the liberation of Norway Strømnæs received a scholarship and earned his doctor's degree at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Anne-Sofie Østvedt (1920–2009), former vice chairman of the XU also attended college at Berkeley. The couple was married in 1946. Anne-Sofie Strømnæs received her master's degree in food chemistry at Berkeley. They moved home to Norway after completing studies in 1951. For many years, Strømnæs was assistant professor and later associate professor of genetics at the University of Oslo.

References

Other sources

*Sæter, Einar; Sæter, Svein (2007) ''XU - I Hemmeleg Teneste 1940-45'' (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget) 1914 births 1980 deaths Norwegian resistance members XU People from Sarpsborg University of Oslo alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni {{World-War-II-stub