Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard (3 October 1861 – 24 April 1935) was a Norwegian military officer, railway engineer, adventurer, journalist, diplomat and internationally renowned

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

. He spent several years in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and served as Minister of Labour in the

Tianjin Provisional Government The Tianjin Provisional Government (also spelled Tientsin Provisional Government, Provisional Government of Tianjin, Provisional Government of Tientsin) (, zh, t=天津都統衙門)Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

. He later worked as a war correspondent for the ''

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'' and for Scandinavian newspapers, and covered several conflicts in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. He is especially known for his books ''The Great Siege'', on the siege of Port Arthur during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, and ''War'', on the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

Career

Nørregaard graduated as an officer in 1881 and became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

in the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

in 1894. Described as an adventurer, he left the country in 1895 without permission of his military superiors, effectively ending his military career, and in the following years, he lived in

during a period marked by upheavals and war. He worked as a railway engineer for the Imperial Chinese Railways from 1896 to 1900. During the

in 1900, he was employed by the Allies as head of the Ministry of Labour in the

Tianjin Provisional Government The Tianjin Provisional Government (also spelled Tientsin Provisional Government, Provisional Government of Tianjin, Provisional Government of Tientsin) (, zh, t=天津都統衙門)Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

and surrounding areas, a position he held from 1900 to 1902. He was also the architect of the new, monumental government building in Tianjin. He rose to journalistic prominence as a war correspondent of the ''

'' during the

(1904–05) and during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

(1912–13). He witnessed the Siege of Port Arthur and published the book ''The Great Siege: The Investment and Fall of Port Arthur'' (

Methuen Publishing Methuen Publishing Ltd (; also known as Methuen Books) is an English publishing house. It was founded in 1889 by Sir Algernon Methuen (1856–1924) and began publishing in London in 1892. Initially, Methuen mainly published non-fiction acade ...

, 1906) and the book ''War'' (1908) on the Boxer Rebellion, which were "written with great journalistic talent."Omang, Reidar (1959), ''Norsk utenrikstjeneste II: Stormfulle tider 1913–28''. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, p. 52. From 1906 to 1908, he lived in St. Petersburg as a foreign correspondent of the Norwegian newspaper ''

Morgenbladet is Norway's oldest daily newspaper, covering politics, culture and science, now a weekly news magazine primarily directed at well-educated readers. The magazine is notable for its opinion section featuring contributions exclusively from Norweg ...

'' and the Danish newspaper '' Vort Land'', and gave a vivid portrayal of the revolutionary turmoil in Russia. In 1909, he relocated to Berlin as a correspondent for ''Morgenbladet''. In the same year, he was appointed a "secret press envoy" to Berlin and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian or ''Utenriksdepartementet''; or ''Utanriksdepartementet''; UD) is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June 7, 1905, the same day the Parliament of ...

, a position he held until 1911. From 1911, he was permanently employed by ''

''. He also wrote for the Swedish newspaper ''

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

''. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was among the leading commentators on the ongoing war in the neutral countries.'' Hvem er hvem?'' 1912 In addition to writing on war and foreign policy, he was a food writer, and wrote humorous short stories. He was a son of the Norwegian colonel and aide-de-camp to king Charles Hans Jacob Nørregaard and Sophie Wegner. His mother was a daughter of the industrialist

Benjamin Wegner Jacob Benjamin Wegner (21 February 1795 – 9 June 1864) was a Norwegian business magnate. He was one of the country's leading mining magnates as the director-general and co-owner of Blaafarveværket, and also had significant interests in o ...

and Henriette Seyler, of the Hamburg Berenberg-Gossler-Seyler banking dynasty. He was a brother of the noted lawyer Harald Nørregaard and of wine merchant and consul in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

Ludvig Paul Rudolf Nørregaard. He married Wilhelmine Sissenère in 1898. She was formerly married to the Norwegian cabinet minister and Director-General of the

Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

Hans Nysom. He had no children. He is mentioned as a military and foreign policy commentator in ''

'' during the

in the novel '' Lillelord'' by Johan Borgen.

Honours

* Tianjin Provisional Government Medal in Gold (one of only 12 issued to members of the Tianjin Provisional Government)

Works

*Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard, ''Port Arthurs beleiring'',

Aschehoug H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises o ...

, Kristiania, 1905, 256 pages, illustrated *Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard, ''The Great Siege: The Investment and Fall of Port Arthur'',

, 1906, 308 pages *Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard, ''Krig: Skildringer og Oplevelser'', Aschehoug, Kristiania, 1908, 168 pages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norregaard, Benjamin Wegner 1861 births 1935 deaths Norwegian people of German descent Norwegian expatriates in China Norwegian expatriates in Russia Norwegian war correspondents War correspondents of the Russo-Japanese War Daily Mail journalists Morgenbladet people Dagens Nyheter journalists Norwegian food writers People of the Boxer Rebellion Politicians from Tianjin Norwegian Army personnel Norwegian diplomats