Nikolai Andreas Schei (9 May 1901 – 25 May 1985) was a Norwegian jurist and civil servant. He was born in

Førde Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Før ...

as the son of Per Schei (1872–1960) and Johanne Schei (1874–1963). He was a brother of Andreas Schei, and through him an uncle of Chief Justice

Tore Schei Tore Schei (born 19 February 1946) is a Norwegian judge and lawyer. He was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway from 1 August 2002 until he retired in 2016, and was succeeded by Toril Marie Øie. He was born in Oslo as a son of Andreas ...

. He took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1925, and took the cand.jur. degree in 1928. He also worked part-time as an assistant in the Ministry of Justice and the Police. He left in 1929, was a deputy judge in

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the southernmost parts of Brem ...

for a short time before working for the counties of

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

from 1929 to 1931 and

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 ...

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 ...

from 1931 to 1934. In April 1933 he married Othilia Helberg Christensen (1901–1991), a daughter of Ingolf Elster Christensen. In 1934 he was appointed as inspector in a national arbitration institution, which was led by Carl Platou. In 1939 Schei was hired by the newly established Ministry of Provisioning. He was tasked to head the Directorate of Provisioning and Rationing. In 1940, when Germany invaded Norway as part of

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 the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

and

government of Norway The Council of State () is a formal body composed of the most senior government minister (government), ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of Norway, Prime Minister, and functions as the collective decision-making organ constituting the Go ...

fled the country, Schei was specifically asked to stay in Norway, where he continued as director of provisioning and rationing until 1945. As a civil servant Schei was one of the many people who worked throughout the war without being favoured by the new Nazi authorities. In addition, Schei was involved in the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

, as a clandestine member of Hjemmefrontens Ledelse. He was imprisoned briefly in

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress (, ) or Akershus Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress has been the namesake and centre of the ...

in 1944, and also survived an assassination attempt. Similarly, Carl Platou also continued in his position, but was eventually imprisoned for secret resistance work. His father-in-law Ingolf Elster Christensen came to be the leader 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 ...

, which was abolished in September 1940. In 1945, at the end of the war in Norway, Schei became acting Minister of Provisioning and Reconstruction (so-called "chief officer" of the Ministry), waiting for the exile Nygaardsvold government to return. As the normal state of affairs in Norway resumed, Schei was appointed County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane. He sat until his retirement in 1971. He was also profiled nationally as chair of the so-called

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. The findings of the committee were highly influential; spurring a series of mergers and thus greatly reducing the number of municipalities in Norway. He was also a board member of the Directorate for Enemy Property, the industrial company Årdal Verk and the Nansen Academy, among others. He was a Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, a Commander, First Class of 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 ...

, and a Knight, Grand Knight's Cross with Star (Commander with Star) of the Icelandic

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

.Icelandic Presidency Website (''Icelandic''), Order of the Falcon
Schei, Nikolai
14 April 1962, "Stórriddarakross með stjörnu" (Grand Knight with Star) He died in May 1985 in Førde.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schei, Nikolai 1901 births 1985 deaths People from Førde Directors of government agencies of Norway Norwegian resistance members County governors of Norway Commanders First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders First Class of the Order of the Polar Star Grand Knights with Star of the Order of the Falcon