Niels Christian Ursin Brøgger (4 June 1914 – 17 August 1966) was a Norwegian essayist, novelist, journalist and critic. He was born in

Kristiania 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, an ...

as a son of

Anton Wilhelm Brøgger Anton Wilhelm Brøgger (11 October 1884 – 29 August 1951) was a Norwegian archaeologist and politician. Personal life He was born in Stockholm as a son of professor of geology Waldemar Christofer Brøgger (1851–1940) and Antonie Scheel Si ...

(1884–1951) and Inger Ursin (1882–1941). He was a great-grandson of the book printer

, a grandson of geologist Waldemar Christofer Brøgger and a brother of writer Waldemar Christofer Brøgger. He was the uncle of anthropologist

Jan Brøgger Jan Christian Brøgger (January 13, 1936, in Paris, France – February 28, 2006, in Oslo, Norway) was a Norwegian professor of social anthropology and a clinical psychologist. He was one of the most well-known Norwegian academics of his generation ...

. Brøgger studied the

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

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 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 ...

. His first book was ''Den nye moral og andre essays'', an essay collection released in 1934. In the same year he was hired as a critic in ''

Tidens Tegn ''Tidens Tegn'' (Norwegian: ''Sign of the Times'') is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941. Editors The founder and first editor-in-chief of ''Tidens Tegn'' was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Th ...

'', a newspaper to which his father also contributed. His brother was hired as a journalist in 1937, and became a theatre critic the following year. Both brothers left ''Tidens Tegn'' in 1940. 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

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 ...

, Niels Brøgger was a member of the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

. He was arrested by Gestapo in November 1942, and was held at

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 ...

from 3 November 1942 to 21 April 1943. Both his father and brother spent time at Grini as well.Giertsen, 1946: p. 30 After the war, in 1945, he was hired in the newspaper ''

Nationen is a Norwegian daily newspaper with a particular focus on agriculture and rural districts. Its circulation in 2015 was 12,954, an increase of 281 copies from 2014. History and profile was founded in 1918. The founding editor-in-chief was Th ...

''. He also contributed with pieces in ''

Verdens Gang (), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...

''. In 1947 he released the essay collection ''Før uværet kom. Inntrykk fra 1930-årene. Artikler og essays'' together with his father. The 1952 release ''Korset og rosen'' was a study of

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset (; 20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Danish people, Danish-born Norwegian people, Norwegian novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1928. Born in Den ...

's novels. He also wrote three books on pre-Christian mythology: ''Nordens demring. Nordiske myter og sagn'' (1949), ''Guder og helter i klassisk tid'' (1958) and ''Helter og halvguder hos kelterne'' (1961). He also wrote crime novels under the pseudonym Johnny W. Lambeth. His last published work was ''Sangenes sang'', a translation of the ''

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

''. He died in August 1966, only 52 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broegger, Niels Christian 1914 births 1966 deaths Norwegian expatriates in England Norwegian literary critics Norwegian theatre critics Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors 20th-century Norwegian novelists Writers from Oslo Place of death missing 20th-century Norwegian essayists 20th-century Norwegian journalists