Knut Fægri (17 July 1909 – 10 December 2001) was a

Norwegian 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 *The Norwegian language, including ...

botanist and palaeoecologist. Fægri was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

. He was the son of Major Ole A. Fægri (1875–1962) and Gudrun Stoltz (1881–1940) and the nephew of the botanist, natural scientist, and politician Jørgen Brunchorst (1862–1917).

Academic career

Fægri received his ''

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

'' at the Bergen Cathedral School in 1926 and received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in 1934 with the thesis ''Über die Längenvariationen einiger Gletscher des Jostedalsbre und die dadurch bedingten Pflanzensukzessionen''. He was hired as a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, was appointed professor at

Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen ( no, Universitetsmuseet i Bergen) is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The Univ ...

in 1946 and from 1948 jointly at the museum and the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

. He retired in 1979. He was also editor-in-chief of the periodical ''

Naturen ''Naturen'' ( en, Nature) is a Norwegian popular science magazine, which has been published since 1877 in Bergen, Norway. It is the earliest still running popular science magazine of the country. History and profile ''Naturen'' was started by t ...

'' between 1947 and 1977.

Societal engagement

Fægri was much engaged in discussions of social issues of broad public interest. He was outspoken in his criticism of the negative effects of

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

development on nature and

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

. He often had controversial views. For example, in the 1960s he agitated for a liberal act on use of marijuana, which he saw as something the state should leave to the individual citizen to decide about. Privately, he was a proponent of naturism and he appeared naked in a discussion on that topic broadcast on

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Honours

Fægri was named an honorary doctor at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

in 1977, received the Millennium Botany Award in 1999,XVI International Botanical Congress 1-7 August 1999, Saint Louis: SUMMARY REPORT
/ref> and was named Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1979.

Personal life

Fægri married the museum director Nancy Meyer (1912–2007) in 1941. Their son Knut Fægri Jr. became a chemistry professor.

Selected bibliography

This is a list of Fægri's most notable works: *''Über die Längenvariationen einiger Gletscher des Jostedalsbre und die dadurch bedingten Pflanzensukzessionen'' (1934) *''Quartärgeologische Untersuchungen im westlichen Norwegen I-II'' (1935–40) *''Studies on the Pleistocene of Western Norway III-IV'' (1943–49) *''Text-Book of Modern Pollen Analysis'' (4 editions 1950–1989, with Johannes Iversen) *''Norges planter I'' (1958) *''Norges planter II'' 1960) *''The Distribution of Norwegian Vascular Plants: Coast Plants'' (1960) *''The Principles of Pollination Ecology'' (1966, with the Dutch botanist Leendert van der Pijl) *''Krydder (1966)'' *''Dikteren og hans blomster'' (1988)

References

1909 births 2001 deaths People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School 20th-century Norwegian botanists Norwegian ecologists Norwegian botanical writers University of Bergen faculty Palynologists Scientists from Bergen Presidents of the International Union of Biological Sciences {{Norway-botanist-stub