John Schjelderup Giæver (31 December 1901 – 9 November 1970) was a Norwegian author and polar researcher. Jónsbú Station in NE Greenland was named after him.

Personal life

He was born in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

, Norway. He was the son of lawyer John Schjelderup Giæver (1864–1914) and his wife Thyra Høegh (1879–1954).Slekten Holmboe gjennom 300 år
/ref> He was the great-great-great-grandson of Jens Holmboe. John Schjelderup Giæver married Oddbjørg Jacobsen in March 1940 and they had a son in April the same year. However, the marriage was dissolved. Giæver married Anna Margrethe Gløersen in 1948; this time they had a daughter, born 1954.

Career

He took his secondary education in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

in 1920, and then moved back to Tromsø. He started a newspaper career, as sub-editor of '' Tromsø Stiftstidende'' from 1921 to 1922. He was editor-in-chief in ''

Vesteraalens Avis ''Vesteraalens Avis'' is a Norwegian newspaper, published in Stokmarknes, Norway, and covering the district of Vesterålen. The newspaper was founded in 1892. Among its editors was Nanna With Nanna Bergitte Caroline With (30 May 1874 – 22 Fe ...

'' from 1922 to 1928 and ''Tromsø Stiftstidende'' from 1928 to 1929. He lived as a

trapper Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and wildlife man ...

in north-eastern

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

from 1929 to 1934. In 1935 he was hired as secretary for ''Norges Svalbard- og Ishavsundersøkelser'', the Norwegian institution for exploration of

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

and the

Arctic Sea The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

, later renamed into the

Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; ) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Ministry of Climate and Envir ...

. During

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 ...

, he first fled to London where he worked as a secretary for the exiled government. From 1941 to 1944, he served with the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...

-in-exile at

Little Norway Little Norway (), officially (FTL, "Air Force Training Camp"), was a Norwegian Army Air Service/Royal Norwegian Air Force training camp in southern Ontario during the Second World War. Origins When Nazi Germany attacked Norway on 9 April 1940, ...

, Canada. In 1944, with the rank of Major, he was sent to

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

to participate in the successful liberation from Nazi occupation. In 1947 he returned to the Norwegian Polar Institute as secretary, and from 1948 to 1960 he was office manager. However, he was still involved in the field as well, leading the wintering party of the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition from 1949 to 1952. Giæver published several books. His literary career began with ''Illgjerningsmand'' (''A Misdeeder'') (1921), which was translated into German in 1923. His book ''Maudheim. To år i Antarktis'' (1952), describing the

Antarctic Expedition This list of Antarctica expeditions is a chronological list of expeditions involving Antarctica. Although the existence of a southern continent had been hypothesized as early as the writings of Ptolemy in the 1st century AD, the South Pole was n ...

was translated into English, French, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, German and Croatian. From 1955 on he renewed his literary authorship with numerous books of documentary and partly autobiographical topics, covering Arctic trapping, fishing and warfare. Other books include ''Ishavets glade borgere'' (1956); ''Langt der oppe mot nord'' (1958), ''Rabagaster under polarstjernen'' (1959), ''Fra min barndoms elv til fjerne veidemarker'' (1960), ''Fra Little Norway til Karasjok'' (1964), ''Med rev bak øret'' (1965), ''Dyretråkk og fugletrekk på 74° nord'' (1967), ''Lys og skygger i sjøgata'' (1969), ''Den gang jeg drog av sted'' (1970) and ''Soldøgn og mørketid'' (1971). Giæver was awarded the

Maudheim medal The Maudheim medal (''Maudheimmedaljen'') was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 14 November 1951 in honor of the members of the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1949–1952, awarded to the participants of the exped ...

in 1952 and the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Founder's Medal The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...

in 1956, both for his leadership in the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition. He also held the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch, the

Defence Medal 1940 – 1945 Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

, the

Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal is a Norwegian military award, which was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 27 October 1942. It was awarded in recognition of military personnel who served in the Norwegian armed forces in Britain on the ...

and Knight first class of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

. He also received the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold and he was a member of the

Explorer's Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for ex ...

in New York. In 1952, he was awarded the 25th '' Silver Wolf'', the highest commendation of Norwegian Scouting. He died in November 1970 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 ...

References

External links

Family genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giaever, John Schjelderup 1901 births 1970 deaths Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian World War II memoirists Norwegian Army Air Service personnel of World War II Norwegian explorers of Antarctica Norwegian expatriates in Canada Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch Knights First Class of the Order of Vasa Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Writers from Tromsø 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian nature writers Scouting and Guiding in Norway 20th-century Norwegian non-fiction writers

Personal life

Career

See also

References

External links