Anton Wilhelm Brøgger

For the book printer, see Anton Wilhelm Brøgger (printer).

Anton Wilhelm Brøgger (11 October 1884 – 29 August 1951) was a Norwegian archaeologist.

Personal life

He was born in Stockholm as a son of professor of geology Waldemar Christofer Brøgger (1851–1940) and Antonie Scheel Siewers (1854–1933).[1] He was a grandson of the book printer Anton Wilhelm Brøgger.[2]

In September 1909 he married Inger Ursin (1882–1941).[1] He had the sons Waldemar Christofer Brøgger (1911–1991) and Niels Christian Brøgger (1914–1966), and through the former, the grandson Jan Brøgger.[2]

Career

Brøgger finished his secondary education in 1903, but his higher education was sporadic. Without a formal examination, he wrote the paper Øxer av Nøstvettypen, which was released in 1905 by the Norwegian Geological Survey.[1] He participated in the archaeological studies of Svarthola outside Stavanger, and wrote a report from the first kitchen left-over heap from early Stone Age found in Norway, published in the annals of Stavanger Museum for 1907.[3] Already in 1909 he took the dr.philos. degree with the thesis Den arktiske stenalder i Norge. From 1909 to 1913 he worked as a curator at Stavanger Museum. He wrote a book on the city's medieval history, and also became involved in Stavanger Aftenblad and founded the local branch of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments.[1] He also contributed to Dagbladet and Tidens Tegn.[4]

He was hired at Universitetets Oldsaksamling at the Royal Frederick University in 1913, and became leader of Universitetets Oldsaksamling as well as professor in 1915. He also contributed via the Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, and was a driving force in establishing the Viking Ship Museum. From 1918 to 1934 he chaired Norske Museers Landsforbund,[1] a forerunner of Norges Museumsforbund.[5] He edited the journals Oldtiden, St. Hallvard and Acta Archaeologica, and was also a co-editor for volumes seven through ten of the biographical dictionary Norsk biografisk leksikon.[1] He contributed to the encyclopedia Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon, where he wrote the chapter of the prehistory of Norway.[6] Among his most important works is the study Ertog og øre from 1921, where he combined archeological findings with law texts from the Gulating and Frostating.[7] He had a wish of becoming rector of the university, but this did not happen.[1] His father had been rector from 1907 to 1911.[8]

Brøgger was involved in politics as well—again like his father—and was the chairman of the Liberal Left Party from 1930 to 1931. Representing the constituency of Oslo, he served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway during the term 1928–1930, and he met in sessions in the Standing Committee on Finance in May 1928 and April 1930.[4]

Brøgger was a member of the Committee for Cultural War Preparedness (Norwegian: Komiteen for kulturell krigsberedskap), established in 1938 under supervision of the Director for Cultural Heritage, Harry Fett. Shortly after the outburst of the Second World War in 1939, Brøgger initiated a rescue operation to save the most important items from Oldsaksamlingen, which were secretly evacuated and placed in a bank safe at Fagernes.[9]

Brøgger was also a board member of the National Theatre.[4] In 1941, during World War II and the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, the National Theatre board at one point did not abide to the directions from the Nazi government. Several board members were arrested,[10][11] including Brøgger,[4] who was first suppleant to the board.[12] Unlike the ordinary board members Harald Grieg, Johannes Sejersted Bødtker and Francis Bull,[10][11] he was not sent to Grini concentration camp, but was imprisoned at Åkebergveien between 28 Juni and his release on 2 July.[4] However, Brøgger was arrested for a second time, in September 1941, together with academics Otto Lous Mohr and Didrik Arup Seip. He spent time in Møllergata 19 from 11 to 30 September, and then sat at Grini until 22 October 1942.[13] Both his sons spent time at Grini as well.[14][15] Brøgger experienced a declining health during his time in a concentration camp. He returned as a professor, but retired in 1949. His last publication of importance came in 1950: Vikingeskipene. Deres forgjengere og etterfølgere, written together with Haakon Shetelig.[1]

Brøgger was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters from 1914 and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters from 1927. He was a co-founder of the Norwegian Archaeological Society, and served as secretary-general until his death.[1] He was declared an honorary member of Norske Museers Landsforbund.[4] By the state, he was decorated with the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1932. He died in August 1951.[1] A street in Stavanger, Anton Brøggers gate, is named after him.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Solberg, Bergljot. "Anton Wilhelm Brøgger". In Helle, Knut (in Norwegian). Norsk biografisk leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Anton_Wilhelm_Br%C3%B8gger/utdypning_%E2%80%93_1. Retrieved 20 November 2009. 
  2. ^ a b Henriksen, Petter, ed (2007). "Brøgger" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/Br%C3%B8gger. Retrieved 21 November 2009. 
  3. ^ Hammer, K.V. (1916). "Brøgger, Anton Wilhelm". In Chr. Blangstrup (in Danish). Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon. IV (2 ed.). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz. p. 178. http://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/4/0204.html. Retrieved 1 December 2009. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Anton Wilhelm Brøgger" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). http://www.nsd.uib.no/polsys/index.cfm?urlname=polsys&lan=&MenuItem=N1_1&ChildItem=&State=collapse&UttakNr=33&person=10458. Retrieved 21 November 2009. 
  5. ^ Henriksen, Petter, ed (2007). "Norges Museumsforbund" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/Norges_Museumsforbund. Retrieved 27 March 2009. 
  6. ^ Brøgger, A.W. (1924). "Norge. Forhistorie". In Chr. Blangstrup (in Danish). Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon. XVIII (2 ed.). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz. pp. 164–173. http://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/18/0186.html. Retrieved 1 December 2009. 
  7. ^ Resi, Heid Gjøstein (2005). "Brøgger, Anton Wilhelm" (in Norwegian). Norsk arkeologisk leksikon. Oslo: Pax. pp. 62–63. ISBN 82-530-2611-0. 
  8. ^ "Waldemar Christofer Brøgger" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). http://www.nsd.uib.no/polsys/index.cfm?urlname=polsys&lan=&MenuItem=N1_1&ChildItem=&State=collapse&UttakNr=33&person=10459. Retrieved 21 November 2009. 
  9. ^ Fure, Jorunn Sem (2008). "Oldsaksamlingen og Munch-bildene" (in Norwegian). Universitetet i kamp 1940-1945. Oslo: Vidarforlaget. pp. 83–87. ISBN 978-82-7596-090-8. 
  10. ^ a b Ringdal, Nils Johan (1995). "Grieg, Harald". In Dahl et. al.. Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45. Oslo: Cappelen. p. 141. ISBN 82-02-14138-9. http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/g/g2.html#grieg-harald. Retrieved 26 April 2009. 
  11. ^ a b Rønneberg, Anton (1949) (in Norwegian). Nationaltheatret gjennom femti år. Oslo: Gyldendal. pp. 384–386. 
  12. ^ Seip, Didrik Arup (1946). "Fengslede universitetslærere i 1941" (in Norwegian). Hjemme og i fiendeland. Oslo: Gyldendal. pp. 220–227. 
  13. ^ Giertsen, Børre R., ed (1946) (in Norwegian). Norsk Fangeleksikon. Grinifangene. Oslo: Cappelen. p. 30. 
  14. ^ Giertsen, 1946: p. 29
  15. ^ Giertsen, 1946: p. 193
  16. ^ "Anton Brøggers gate" (in Norwegian). Stavanger byleksikon. Stavanger: Wigestrand. 2008. p. 75. ISBN 978-82-8140-017-7.