Didrik Arup Seip (31 August 1884 – 3 May 1963) was a professor of North Germanic languages 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 ...

. He earned his doctorate ( dr.philos.) in 1916 and was appointed professor the same year, retiring in 1954. Together with Herman Jæger, he edited and published the collected works of Henrik Wergeland in 23 volumes (''Samlede Skrifter : trykt og utrykt'', 1918–1940). From 1937 until 1945, he served as the rector of the university. Seip was a member of the

Administrative Council Administrative Council () was a part of Council of State (Kingdom of Poland), Council of State of the Congress Poland. Introduced by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland in 1815, it was composed of 5 ministers, special nominees of the Tsar, Ki ...

, the temporary civil government of Norway during German military occupation, in 1940. He was removed from his post as rector of the university in 1941. He was interned by the Nazis at Grini concentration camp, and was later transferred to Sachsenhausen, but was released in 1943 as a direct result of the efforts made by the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, using Hedin's relations with many high-ranking German Nazi officials, including

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. He wrote about his life during the war in his 1946 book: At home and in enemy country. Even while being held prisoner, Seip carried out official university ceremonies, including the immatriculation of some students who also were imprisoned in Germany during the war. He was an honorary doctor at the University of Hamburg (1938) and at Sorbonne (1945). He obtained the Norwegian

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

(1945). He was also an editorial committee member of ''

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. It is part of the '' Great Norwegian Encyclopedia''. Origin The first print edition (NBL1) was issued between 1923 and 1983; it included 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. Kunnskapsforlaget to ...

''. He was the grandfather of professor of pediatrics Ola Didrik Saugstad.

Bibliography

Tuneld, John (1981): ''Didrik Arup Seip: en bibliografi'' Det Norske Samlaget.

References

Linguists from Norway Academic staff of the University of Oslo Rectors of the University of Oslo Didrik Arup 1884 births 1963 deaths Grini concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Norwegian people imprisoned abroad World War II civilian prisoners 20th-century linguists {{Norway-academic-bio-stub