Adolf Hoel (15 May 1879 – 19 February 1964) was a Norwegian
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
, environmentalist and
Polar region
The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitu ...
researcher. He led several scientific expeditions to Svalbard and
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 ...
. Hoel has been described as one of the most iconic and influential figures in Norwegian polar exploration in the first half of the 20th century, alongside
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...
and
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...
.
[De glemte heltene i isen](_blank)
/ref> His focus on and research of the polar areas has been largely credited as the reason Norway has sovereignty over 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 Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land () is a roughly region of Antarctica Territorial claims in Antarctica, claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20th meridian west, 20° west, specifically the Caird Coast, ...
in the Antarctica.
Hoel was the founding director of 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 ...
and served as rector of 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 as President of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature.
Biography
Hoel was born in Sørum in Akershus
Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...
, Norway. He attended Hans Nielsen Hauges Minde in Oslo and 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 ...
taking his cand.real. examination in 1904. He married Elisabeth Birgitte Fredrikke Thomsen in 1916.
Beginning in 1909 Hoel took part in about 30 Norwegian government-sponsored expeditions to Arctic areas, becoming also the main driving force behind Norwegian scientific activities in East Greenland. Hoel became a fellow of 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 ...
in 1911 and a docent
The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...
in 1919. In the second half of the 1920s Hoel took up the cause of Norwegian claims in East Greenland. Together with Gustav Smedal, Hoel eventually became the main leader of the "Greenland case" (Grønlandssaken) that tried to bring East Greenland under Norwegian sovereignty. Inspired by trapper Hallvard Devold the movement began to build a network of trapping stations, combined with surveying and exploring the almost uninhabited area. By 1929 the '' Norges Svalbard og Ishavsundersøkelser'' (NSIU) —"Norwegian Svalbard and Arctic Ocean Survey" established by Hoel in 1928, sent well-organized research expeditions to East Greenland. Expedition vessels also supplied the trapping stations with equipment financed by the Arctic Trading Co. ''(Arktisk Næringsdrift)'', a company that Hoel had helped to set up.
In 1933, he became a member of the Nasjonal Samling
The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...
party of the former minister of defence
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
, Vidkun Quisling
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (; ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Nazi collaborator who Quisling regime, headed the government of N ...
, largely due to the Norwegian nationalist approach to the Norwegian occupation of a part of Greenland in the early 1930s. Hoel was appointed professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of the University of Oslo in 1940 and was rector of the university from 1941 to 1945, during the German occupation of Norway. He was the leading Norwegian researcher at 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 ...
in the early 20th century, and in 1948 the ''Norges Svalbard- og Ishavsundersøkelser'', which he had founded, became 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 ...
. He was President of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature from 1935 to 1945.
After World War II, he finished his work for the Norwegian Polar Institute on the history of Svalbard (''Svalbard. Svalbards historie 1596-1965'') which was published as a three-volume set after his death.
Honours
The mineral hoelite, the Adolf Hoel Glacier in Greenland and the Hoel Mountains in Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
are named in his honour.
References
1879 births
1964 deaths
People from Sørum
University of Oslo alumni
Members of Nasjonal Samling
Norwegian environmentalists
Academic staff of the University of Oslo
Rectors of the University of Oslo
People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway
20th-century Norwegian educators
20th-century Norwegian geologists
{{Norway-scientist-stub