Arnold Anderssøn Rørholt (21 January 1909 – 23 April 1986) was a Norwegian jurist and refugee worker.

Early and personal life

He was born in

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

as a son of administrative officer Anders Arnoldsøn Rørholt (1878–1953) and Maja Dannevig (1882–1958). He was married twice, last to Solveig Agnete Erna Wieth-Knudsen, a daughter of professor K. A. Wieth-Knudsen. In his younger days he was an active athlete for the club

Tønsbergs TF Tønsbergs Turnforening, often called Tønsberg Turn is a Norwegian sports club from Tønsberg, Vestfold. It has sections for team handball, speed skating, figure skating, gymnastics and pétanque. General history The club was founded on 9 June ...

. Among others he finished twelfth in the Norwegian Championships in

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

in 1930, and sixth in the 1931 pentathlon championships.

Career

He finished his secondary education in 1927, took the

cand.jur. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1932 and studied at the

Graduate Institute of International Studies Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed hi ...

in Geneva from 1932 to 1934. He was a secretary in the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

from 1934, then secretary-general in the

Norwegian Red Cross The Norwegian Red Cross (''Norges Røde Kors'') was founded on 22 September 1865 by prime minister Frederik Stang. In 1895 the Norwegian Red Cross began educating nurses, and in 1907 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence authorized the organization ...

from 1939 to 1950. During the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

he worked for a

voluntary Voluntary may refer to: * Voluntary (music) * Voluntary or volunteer, person participating via volunteering/volunteerism * Voluntary muscle contraction See also * Voluntary action * Voluntariness, in law and philosophy * Voluntaryism Volunt ...

ambulance unit. He was deposed during the

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 ...

during the war, but was reinstated after the war. During the war, he instead worked in

Storebrand Storebrand is a financial services company in Norway. By volume, the company's main activities are related to life insurance and pension savings. However, the company also has major divisions working on investments, banking and, until 1999 and ...

from 1943 to 1945. He was also incarcerated in

Grini concentration camp Grini prison camp (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Bærum, Norway, which operated between 1941 and May 1945. Ila Detention and Security Prison is now located here. History Grini was originally built as a women's prison, near an old croft ...

between 14 April and 8 October 1942. After the war he worked with transport of former prisoners. In 1946 he was a founder of the aid organization Aid to Europe. He worked for the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

in West Germany in 1951 and Austria from 1957 to 1969, and led the High Commissioner's refugee work in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

from 1960 to 1961. He also headed the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

aid to Palestinian refugees in

Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom o ...

from 1950 to 1951. He was decorated with the Austrian Order of Merit, as a Knight First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

(1959) and Commander of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

, in addition to Red Cross medals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rorholt, Arnold 1909 births 1986 deaths People from Tønsberg Norwegian decathletes Norwegian jurists Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Norwegian expatriates in France Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland Norwegian expatriates in Germany Norwegian expatriates in Austria Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Norwegian officials of the United Nations Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni