Edvard Heiberg (11 June 1911, in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

– 10 June 2000, in Oslo) was a Norwegian director and engineer.

Biography

Heiberg was the youngest son of barrister Axel Heiberg (1875–1952) and his wife Ragnhild Krohg (1879–1947). He had two brothers, Axel Heiberg Jr. (1908–1988) and Bernt Heiberg (1909–2001). In 1937, he married Karin Eldrid Heiberg (1915–92), with whom he had the sons Arvid Heiberg (1937–) and Henning Heiberg (8 September 1940). He started studying in 1929, and graduated in 1934 from the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

Trondheim 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 ...

. In 1935, he was employed by the construction company F. Selmer A/S. In the same year, he became assisting engineer in the

Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

. From 1937 to 1938, he managed the construction of the

Sørland Line Sørland is a seaside resort, fishing village, and the administrative centre of Værøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern side of the island of Værøya. The village is the main population center of the isla ...

, in particular the section from

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

to Moi Station. During the 1940s, he had various positions in the state railways. From 1949 to 1953, he headed the operation department of the state railways. In 1953, he was appointed

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Holmenkolbanen A/S Holmenkolbanen was a company that owned and operated part of the Oslo Tramway and Oslo Metro in Norway from 1898 until 1975 when services were taken over by the majority owner Oslo Sporveier. Holmenkolbanen opened the Holmenkoll Line in 1 ...

, where he remained until 1967. He was also chairman of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society from 1958 to 1959, and chairman of the Institute of Transport Economics between 1963 and 1970. After that, he returned to the Norwegian State Railways, where he was appointed

director-general A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

. During his leadership of the company, Heiberg became famous for the phrase "The railway is being strangled by impotent car users". Heiberg was the last director-general of the state railways who lived in the large director-general house of the company at

Filipstad Filipstad is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Ch ...

in Oslo. In 1978, he retired from his position in the state railways. He was the last director-general of the state company who had voluntary resigned from the position. In 1972, he was decorated as a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. He was also decorated with the Danish

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

and the Swedish

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

. Heiberg died on 10 June 2000 in Oslo, the day before his 89th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiberg, Edvard Norwegian State Railways (1883–1996) people 1911 births 2000 deaths Norwegian railway civil engineers Norwegian chief executives Holmenkolbanen people