Aslaug Sverdrup Sømme (3 June 1891 – 9 April 1955) was a Norwegian plant scientist and

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

Life

Aslaug Sverdrup Sømme was born in 1891 in Bergen. Her father was Jakob Sverdrup, a bishop and politician, and her mother was Marie Bernardine Suur. In 1910, Sømme enrolled 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 ...

's Institute for Genetic Research (''Institut for Arvelighetsforskning'') in Oslo, Norway. In 1918, she started a master's degree in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

, studying

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

in the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

from the research station in

Drøbak Drøbak is a town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its own through a royal d ...

. During her degree, she was supervised by

Kristine Bonnevie Kristine Elisabet Heuch Bonnevie (8 October 1872 – 30 August 1948) was a Norwegian biologist. She was the first woman to graduate with a science doctorate in Norway (and the second woman overall), Norway's first woman professor, a women's rights ...

, the first female professor in Norway. From this research, Sømme published the study 'Plankton surveys from Kristianiafjorden. Hydromeduser' in 1921. By 1919 she was appointed as an assistant professor (''amanuensis''), becoming only the second women ever to hold a research position at the university. Sømme and Bonnevie published studies on

polydactyly Polydactyly is a birth defect that results in extra fingers or toes. The hands are more commonly involved than the feet. Extra fingers may be painful, affect self-esteem, or result in clumsiness. It is associated with at least 39 genetic mut ...

('Postaxial polydactylism in six generations of a Norwegian family' in 1922), and twins ('Hereditary predisposition to dizygotic twin-births in Norwegian peasant families' in 1926). Upon hearing of the growing work being done by

William Bateson William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscover ...

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

at the John Innes Horticultural Institute (now the John Innes Centre) in the UK, Sømme wrote to Bateson requesting to join him working on ''

Primula sinensis ''Primula sinensis'', () or the Chinese primrose, is a plant species in the genus ''Primula ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Primulaceae. They include the primrose (''P ...

,'' crossing the North Sea in 1921, initially as a volunteer. During her time working in the 'Ladies Lab' with other female geneticists including

Caroline Pellew Caroline Pellew (1882--1963) was a British geneticist who made significant contributions to knowledge of the laws of inheritance in various organisms including peas. Education Pellew was awarded the first minor studentship at the John Innes Cen ...

and Dorothea De Winton, Sømme studied ''Primula sinensis'' genetics and cytology. Sømme remained in England until 1926, at which point she returned to Norway to take up the position of lecturer in genetics at the

. The research she conducted at the John Innes Horticultural Institute formed part of her doctoral dissertation, which was finished in 1931. In 1929, Sverdrup married

Iacob Dybwad Sømme Iacob Dybwad Sømme (5 September 1898 – 3 March 1944) was a Norwegian ichthyologist and resistance member. Personal life He was born in Etnedal Municipality as a son of chief physician Jacob Dybwad Sømme (1866–1923) and Helene Sofie Søren ...

, who she had met in 1925 in Drøbak. Together they had one son, Lauritz S. Sømme, who was born in 1931. In 1942, Iacob Dybwad Sømme was arrested for his participation in the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

to the Nazi occupiers. He was sentenced to death in 1944. Following the arrest of

Otto Lous Mohr Otto Lous Mohr (8 March 1886 – 23 June 1967) was a Norwegian medical doctor and geneticist. Mohr was born in Mandal. He was a professor of anatomy at the University of Oslo from 1919 to 1952, and served as rector from 1946 to 1952. Duri ...

, director of the institute at the time, by the Nazis in 1941, Sømme took charge of the board for the Institute of Genetic Research at the University of Oslo. She took over this position again in 1945 after Mohr became the rector of the university. Sømme resigned from her post at the University of Oslo in 1950 and died in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somme, Aslaug Sverdrup Norwegian geneticists 20th-century Norwegian botanists Norwegian women botanists 20th-century Norwegian women scientists 1891 births 1955 deaths