Axel Christian Zetlitz Sømme (19 April 1899 – 14 July 1991) was a Norwegian educator, economist and geographer. During the 1920s, he was a political activist, magazine editor and newspaper editor.

Biography

He was born in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, Norway. His parents were Andreas Sømme (1849–1937) and Maren Sophie Berner (1858–1946). His father was a shipowner who was a grandson of Jacob Kielland (1788–1863), one of the largest merchants in Stavanger. His uncle, Jacob Kielland Sømme (1862–1950), was a noted artist. He attended

Stavanger Cathedral School Stavanger Cathedral School (''Norwegian language, Norwegian: Stavanger katedralskole'') is an upper secondary school in the city of Stavanger, Rogaland county, Norway. It is spread over two areas; the traditional Kongsgård and the school's new b ...

graduating in 1917. He received his cand.philol. 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 ...

in 1924. As a student he was politically active in the

Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norway, Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party until 1925. After World War II, many of its former members were ...

movement and edited the magazine ''Mot Dag'' in 1921. He was the first editor of the newspaper '' Rjukan Arbeiderblad''. In this position he was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment for publishing articles encouraging the 1924 military strike. Between 1927 and 1929, he completed secondary studies in economics at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and became Dr. Philos. in 1931 on the basis on his dissertation ''La Lorraine métallurgique''. From 1925 to 1932, Sømme was a teacher at Oslo Handelsgymnasium and then a lecturer and principal of Genèveskolen in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(''Nordisk folkehøyskole i Genève'') from 1932 to 1935. He became a lecturer in trade geography when the

Norwegian School of Economics The Norwegian School of Economics () or NHH is a business school situated in Bergen, Norway. It was founded in 1936 as Norway's first business school and is the leading teaching and research institution in Norway for the fields of management and ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

opened in 1936. He was appointed professor at the

from 1948 to 1969. Among his most important scientific works was ''Jordbrukets geografi i Norge'' which was published in two volumes (J.W. Eides Forlag, 1949 and 1954).

Personal life

He was married twice. In 1927 he married Gabrielle Kielland Holst (1899–1952), the marriage dissolved in 1939. In 1945, he married Johanne Wilhelmine Barclay Nitter (1904–1999). Axel Sømme died during 1991 in

, Norway.

Selected works

*''Verdensøkonomiens pulsårer'', 1931 *''Skogen i Norge. Med et tillegg om treforedlingsindustrien'', 1932 *''En norsk 3-årsplan. Veien frem til en socialistisk planøkonomi i Norge'' (with

Ole Colbjørnsen Ole Colbjørnsen (30 May 1897, Vegårshei, Aust-Agder – 12 November 1973) was a Norwegian journalist, economist and Labour Party politician. Early life and career He was born in Vegårshei as a son of Torjus Taxeraas (1859–1918) and Marie Co ...

), 1933 *''Jordbruket i Norge'', 1933 *''Fiskernes vei til bedre kår'', 1935 *''Varer og veier i verdenshandelen i mellomkrigstiden'' (with Tore Ouren), 1948 *''Fjellbygd og feriefjell'', 1965

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somme, Axel 1899 births 1991 deaths People from Stavanger University of Oslo alumni Norwegian educators Norwegian economists Norwegian geographers Norwegian newspaper editors Mot Dag Academic staff of the Norwegian School of Economics 20th-century geographers