Bjørn Føyn (21 September 1898 – 8 January 1985) was a Norwegian zoologist, especially known for researching the

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 ...

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

. He was born in

Trondhjem Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is t ...

as a son of educator and major Anton Christian Føyn (1865–1940) and Olga Barth Nielsen (1870–1959). He finished his secondary education at Trondhjem Cathedral School in 1918, and graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

with the

cand.real. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1927. He was a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

from 1923 to 1928 at the Royal Frederick University, and then under

Max Hartmann Max Hartmann (7 June 1876 – 11 October 1962) was a German biologist, alluded to in the book ''Phylogenetic Systematics'' by Willi Hennig for his investigations into divisions of sciences, most notably into descriptive and explanatory. He was a p ...

at the

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Biologie The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science () was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by the Max Planck Society. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was an umbrella organi ...

from 1929 to 1932. He was also 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 p ...

in Norway during this period, and from 1932 to 1937 he worked in

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 ...

. From 1938 to 1968 he was a professor at the University of Oslo. He was elected as a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

in 1938, and of the ''Zoologisch-Botanische Gesellschaft'' of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1963. He had taken the doctorate in 1935 with the thesis ''Lebenszyklus, Cytologie und Sexualität der Chiorophycee Cladophora Suhriana Kiltzing'', on the algae ''

Cladophora ''Cladophora'' is a genus of reticulated filamentous green algae in the class Ulvophyceae. They may be referred to as reticulated algae, branching algae, or blanket weed. The genus has a worldwide distribution and is harvested for use as a food a ...

''. Other notable publications include the textbook in biology for upper secondary schools; ''Biologi for gymnasiet'' ("Biology for the Gymnasium"), which was released for the first time in 1941 together with

Trygve Braarud Trygve Braarud (15 September 1903 – 9 July 1985) was a Norwegian botanist. He specialized in marine biology, and was affiliated with the University of Oslo for most of his career. Career He was born in Verdal Municipality, and had ten older si ...

, and released for the last time in 1964. The popular work ''Norges dyreliv'' ("Animal Life of Norway") came in four volumes between 1947 and 1950, edited by Føyn together with Johan Huus, Gudrun Ruud and Hagbart Røise. It too was reissued later. In the 1938 popular release ''Arvelæren'', he criticized

racial biology Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific belief that the Human, human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called "race (human categorization), races", and that empirical evi ...

as practiced in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Then, in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

came the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

. When the Nazi authorities were about to change the rules for admission to the university in autumn 1943, a protest ensued. In retaliation, the authorities arrested 11 staff, 60 male students and 10 female students. The staff

Johannes Andenæs Johannes Bratt Andenæs, often shortened to Johs. Andenæs (7 September 1912 – 3 July 2003) was a Norway, Norwegian jurist. He was a professor of jurisprudence at the University of Oslo from 1945 to 1982, and served as Rector (academia), recto ...

Eiliv Skard Eiliv Skard (19 October 1898 – 30 September 1978) was a Norwegian classical philologist. Personal life He was born in Levanger as a son of educators Matias Skard (1846–1927) and Gyda Christensen (1868–1916). The family moved to Kristian ...

Johan Christian Schreiner Johan Christian Schreiner (25 May 1903 – 8 October 1967) was a Norwegian historian. He was a professor at the University of Oslo, and his speciality was the Middle Ages. Personal life He was born in Drøbak as a son of historian Kristia ...

Harald Krabbe Schjelderup Harald Krabbe Schjelderup (21 May 1895 – 19 August 1974) was a Norwegian physicist, philosopher and psychologist. He worked with all three subjects on university level, but is best remembered as Norway's first professor of psychology. He was ...

Anatol Heintz Anatol Heintz (9 February 1898 – 23 February 1975) was a Russo-Norwegian palaeontologist. He was born in Petrograd to the geophysicist Yevgeniy Alfredovich Heintz (1869–1918) and Olga Fyodorovna Hoffmann (1871–1958). He had two older si ...

, Odd Hassel,

Ragnar Frisch Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch (3 March 1895 – 31 January 1973) was an influential Norwegian economist and econometrician known for being one of the major contributors to establishing economics as a quantitative and statistically informed science ...

, Carl Jacob Arnholm,

Endre Berner Endre Qvie Berner (24 September 1893 – 30 January 1983) was a Norwegian organic chemist, author and educator. Background He was born in Stavanger as a son of businessperson Endre Qvie Berner, Sr. (1853–1925) and his wife Anna Marie Gjemre ...

and Bjørn Føyn were sent to

Grini concentration camp Grini prison camp (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Bærum, Norway, which operated between 1941 and May 1945. Ila Detention and Security Prison is now located here. History Grini was originally built as a women's prison, near an old croft ...

. Føyn was first incarcerated at

Bredtveit Bredtvet is a neighborhood in the borough of Bjerke in Oslo, Norway. The area is located on a ridge between the neighborhoods of Veitvet to the west and Kalbakken to the east. Its origin was as a farm of the same name. It is not mentioned in w ...

from 15 October to 22 November, then at

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * General Berg (disambiguation) * Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer, born 1963), Ninimbergue dos Santos Guerra, Brazilian footba ...

until 8 December, then at Grini until 24 December 1944. Føyn married fellow science student Bibba Ruud (1900–1985) in 1927. Through her he was a brother-in-law of Johan T. Ruud. He was also a first cousin of

Ernst Føyn Johan Ernst Fredrik Føyn (28 March 1904 – 2 November 1984) was a Norwegian chemist and oceanographer. He was born in Kristiania. He was assigned professor of oceanography at the University of Oslo from 1964. His research centered on radioactiv ...

. He died in January 1985 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foyn, Bjorn 1898 births 1985 deaths People from Trondheim Norwegian phycologists Norwegian geneticists Norwegian expatriates in Germany University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian resistance members Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Berg concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters People educated at the Trondheim Cathedral School