Henrik Jørgen Huitfeldt-Kaas (2 February 1834 – 18 May 1905) was a Norwegian historian and Director-General of the

National Archives of Norway The National Archives of Norway (''Riksarkivet'') is the institution responsible for preserving archive material from Norway, Norwegian state institutions, as well as contributing to the preservation of private archives. It does this work in cooper ...

(''riksarkivar''). Huitfeldt-Kaas was born in Christiania (now Oslo, Norway). He was a member of both the Danish noble Huitfeldt and Kaas families. He was descended from Lieutenant-General Henrik Jørgen Huitfeldt and Birgitte Christine Kaas. Originally named ''Henrik Jørgen Huitfeldt'', he adopted the name Huitfeldt-Kaas in 1881 when he gained an inheritance from Det Classenske Fideicommis, a

charitable foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating d ...

which was founded by Danish industrialist and Major General

Johan Frederik Classen Johan Frederik Classen, frequently also J. F. Classen, (11 February 1725 – 24 March 1792) was a Danish people, Danish-Norwegian people, Norwegian business magnate, industrialist, major general, landowner and founder of Det Classenske Fideic ...

who had died in 1792. Professionally he was commonly known as ''H.J. Huitfeldt-Kaas''. Huitfeldt-Kaas attended the Royal Frederick University (now the University of Oslo). He was employed at the National Archives of Norway in 1858 and was its acting

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

several times before being formally appointed in 1896. Huitfeldt-Kaas published several works on Norwegian history, including several volumes of '' Diplomatarium Norvegicum''. He was also interested in

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

(particularly noble genealogy),

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

sigillography Sigillography, also known by its Greek-derived name, sphragistics, is the scholarly discipline that studies the wax, lead, clay, and other seals used to authenticate archival documents. It investigates not only aspects of the artistic design ...

and biographical history. He started the work ''Norske Sigiller fra Middelalderen'' (1899–1950).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huitfeldt, Henrik Jorgen 19th-century Norwegian historians Writers from Oslo Directors-general of the National Archives of Norway University of Oslo alumni 1834 births 1905 deaths Huitfeldt family Kaas family