Per Jacobsen (23 March 1911 – 13 June 1944) was a Norwegian

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

( national champion in 1931 and 1932), and a resistance member who was killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Early and personal life

Jacobsen was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 i ...

as the son of Sigval Jacobsen (1867-1928) and Agathe, née Backer Røed (1876-1925). His father hailed from Kristiania and his mother from

Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). T ...

. Jacobsen studied economics and auditing. He was Norwegian champion in figure skating in 1931, and again in 1932.

World War II

During the Norwegian Campaign, he fought for Norway in battles in the

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. Th ...

district. During the subsequent

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 the ...

, he became involved in the

Norwegian resistance movement 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 governmen ...

. Among others, he was a member during the brief existence of the group

Skylark A ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species ...

, established by the

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intellige ...

in September 1940. He travelled from Oslo to

Knut Haukelid Knut Haukelid ( May 17, 1911 - March 8, 1994) was a Norwegian military officer. He was a Norwegian resistance movement soldier during World War II, most notable for participating in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage. Early life Knut Anders Ha ...

's mountain cabin at Langesæ, where he informed Haukelid that

Sverre Midtskau Sverre Midtskau (23 September 1914 – 18 December 1987) was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II. He is best known as leader of the illegal radio post Skylark A. World War II On 9 April Nazi Germany invaded Norway as a part of Wor ...

had returned from England, and asked him to join the group in Oslo. He played a central role when

Max Manus Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar (9 December 1914 – 20 September 1996) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II, specialising in sabotage in occupied Norway. After the war he wrote several books about his adventure ...

escaped from custody at

Ullevål Hospital Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of FK ...

in February 1941, by smuggling in the fishline which was used to pull up the rope used for descending, and organize car transport for the escape. After the Skylark A group was unveiled by the Nazi authorities, Jacobsen started working with underground newspapers, but was soon arrested. He spent time in prison at Åkebergveien from 18 March to 1 April 1941, for "having opposed a German decree". He was arrested for the second time on 18 June and incarcerated in

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This is ...

. He then sat at

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location= Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates=List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderm ...

from 7 August 1942 to 29 July 1943. While incarcerated at Grini, Jacobsen took part in the prisoners' self-administration, and had a central position at the so-called ''Kammeret'', which was under German supervision, but the labour was done by prisoners. He was shipped to Germany on 29 July 1943, and sent directly to the

Nacht und Nebel ''Nacht und Nebel'' (German: ), meaning Night and Fog, was a directive issued by Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 targeting political activists and resistance "helpers" in the territories occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, who were to ...

camp Natzweiler in occupied France, where he died in June 1944. In his memoir book , Knut Haukelid described Jacobsen as the most indefatigable idealist he met during the early war years. In his post-war book , Max Manus described Jacobsen as a grand companion, an ardent idealist, one of the silent heroes that undertook the biggest efforts.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsen, Per 1911 births 1944 deaths Norwegian male single skaters Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members Norwegian civilians killed in World War II Norwegian people who died in Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp Sportspeople from Oslo Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps Night and Fog program