Leif Utne (1919 – 25 August 2004) was a

Norwegian resistance The Norwegian resistance ( Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governm ...

member during

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 ...

and later a physician.

Early life

Utne was born 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 ...

as the son of a physician. He finished secondary school in 1938, and enrolled in medicine studies 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 the same year.

World War II

When

reached Norway on 9 April 1940, with the German invasion, Utne volunteered and fought for Norway in the

battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

of Southern Norway. After Norway capitulated, he was a co-founder of the resistance group "

Theta Theta (, ) uppercase Θ or ; lowercase θ or ; ''thē̂ta'' ; Modern: ''thī́ta'' ) is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth 𐤈. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 9. Gree ...

". The group was self-initiated in a circle of friends, but they lacked contacts, knowledge and materials to actually conduct intelligence work. Other members of the group running "Theta" were Bjarne Thorsen,

Kristian Ottosen Kristian Ottosen (15 January 1921, Solund – 1 June 2006, Oslo) was a Norwegian non-fiction writer and public servant. While still a student, he was also active in the Norwegian resistance movement during World War II and was imprisoned as a Na ...

Helmer Dahl Helmer Hartmann Dahl (17 June 1908 – 29 March 1999) was a Norwegian electrical engineer and director of research at the Chr. Michelsen Institute. Biography Dahl was born at Sarpsborg in Østfold, Norway. He was the son of Karl Theodor Dahl (186 ...

, Hagbarth Schjøtt, Jr. and

Jan Dahm Jan Dahm (5 April 1921 – 16 February 2013) was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II. He was among the first group of people to be subject to court-martial during the German occupation of Norway, and later initiated and headed the S ...

. Two members were sent to the United Kingdom: Leif Utne and Bjarne Thorsen. Utne travelled via

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, while Thorsen crossed the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

. Thorsen returned with the necessary equipment, and a radio post was finally set up in December 1941, with its headquarters at the famous seaside location

Bryggen Bryggen (''the dock''), also known as Tyskebryggen (, ''the German dock''), is a series of Hanseatic heritage commercial buildings lining up the eastern side of the Vågen harbour in the city of Bergen, Norway. Bryggen has been on the UNESCO lis ...

. By that time, however, Leif Utne had become stationed in Scotland as a part of the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

-in-exile. He operated out of

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

in a motor torpedo boat squadron, among others together with Hugo Munthe-Kaas. Utne was decorated with the Norwegian War Medal.

Later career

After the war, Utne resumed his medicine studies. He graduated with the cand.med. degree in 1950. From 1961 he was a specialist in

skin disease A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, Nail (anatomy), nails, and related muscle and glands. The major funct ...

s. He worked at

Haukeland University Hospital Haukeland University Hospital () is a hospital in Bergen, Norway, and one of the eleven institutions that make up Bergen Hospital Trust. Haukeland is the largest in Norway in terms of number of patients, and serves as the local hospital of Bergen, ...

, in his own clinic as well as the St. Franciscus Hospital in Florida, Bergen. He trained students belonging to the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...

. He also continued working with the navy, and reached the rank of commander in 1976. He chaired the local branch of the

Norwegian Medical Society The Norwegian Medical Society (, ) is a medical organisation in Norway. It has its roots in an informal group created in 1826, which subscribed to and shared foreign medical journals. In 1833 it was formally inaugurated as ''Lægeforeningen i Ch ...

from 1974 to 1975. He was also active in ''Doktorklubben av 1959'', Nasjonalhjelpen and the sports club Bergens TF. He was married and had two daughters. He died in August 2004 at Haukeland University Hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Utne, Leif 1919 births 2004 deaths Norwegian resistance members Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian expatriates in England Norwegian dermatologists University of Oslo alumni Physicians from Bergen Royal Norwegian Navy personnel of World War II Norwegian military doctors Military personnel from Bergen