Mentz Schulerud (19 October 1915 – 18 May 2003) was a Norwegian author, radio personality and theatre director. He was known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of the city of

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 ...

. Schulerud was born in

Kristiania 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, an ...

, but grew up in Rena,

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, and

Ringsaker Ringsaker () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Br ...

as the older brother of the famous

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

author Anne-Cath. Vestly. Schulerud took his cand.mag. degree in 1941. During the

German occupation of Norway 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 ...

he was involved in a Norwegian resistance group called 830-S. For his work in the Norwegian illegal press, he was incarcerated at

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 ...

in 1944. After the war, was hired as programme secretary in the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

, in 1946. He was later subeditor from 1959 to 1962. During this period he also worked as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine ''

Vinduet ''Vinduet'' (Norwegian: ''The Window'') is an online literary magazine. It was a print publication between 1947 and 2021. Its first issue as purely an online publication was started in Autumn 2021. The magazine is based in Oslo, Norway. History ...

'' from 1959 to 1963. In 1962 he left the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation to become director of

Oslo Nye Teater Oslo Nye Teater is a theater in Oslo, Norway. Its main venue is located at Rosenkrantz' gate 10, and the company is wholly owned by Oslo Municipality. History The establishment opened as Det Nye Teater Det Nye Teater was a theatre that ope ...

. Through his numerous radio programmes, articles and books, he vividly conveyed the history of the capital with anecdotes and biographical scetches, particularly relating to its artistic life. A

Riksmål (, also , ) is an unofficial written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as . Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from t ...

proponent, Schulerud chaired the organization Riksmålsvernet for a period, and was later a member of the

Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature (), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the modern Norwegian language in its Dano-Norwegian variety, now commonly known as Riksmål and Bo ...

. Schulerud was decorated as Knight, First Class of the

Royal 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 ...

. Mentz Schulerud was the father of Ingrid Schulerud, who married Norwegian Prime Minister

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (; born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. Since 2025, he has been the Minister of Finance in the Støre Cabinet. He has previously been the prime minister of Norway and secretary general of NATO. ...

Selected bibliography

This is a list of his most important publications: *''

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

i dikterens speil'' (1991) *''Barn i Oslo: En billedkavalkade: barn i hovedstaden før og nå'' (1982) *''Iduns epler'' (1982) *''Året før året: 1904, et av disse fjerne år fra "den gode gamle tid"'' (1979) *''

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

og byen'' (1978) *''Hafslund gods: Fra Otte Bildt til M. G. Rosenkrantz'' (1974) *''Kongevei og fantesti'' (1974) *''På

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

i hundre år, 1874-1974'' (1974) *''

Helly-Hansen Helly Hansen (HH) is a Norwegian manufacturer and retailer of clothing and sports equipment, owned by the American clothing company Kontoor Brands and operated as a subsidiary. Currently headquartered in Oslo, it was previously headquartered in ...

i hundre år'' (1970) *''Nordmenn i

København Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

'' (1962) *''Norsk kunstnerliv'' (1960) *''Den store Oslo-guiden'' (1955)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulerud, Mentz 1915 births 2003 deaths Norwegian writers Norwegian resistance members NRK people Norwegian theatre directors Writers from Oslo Culture in Oslo World War II resistance press activists Grini concentration camp survivors