Torfinn Skard (20 January 1891 – 11 June 1970) was a Norwegian

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

, teacher, librarian and author.

Personal life

He was born at Faaberg in

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. The ...

, Norway. He was the son of educator Matias Skard (1846–1927) and his second wife Nilsine Kristiane Myhre (1860–1891). He was a nephew of Johannes Skar, Christopher Bruun and Per Bø and a half-brother of Olav Skard (a son of Matias from his first marriage) and

Bjarne Bjarne is a Nordic countries, Nordic male name, a variant of Bjorn, and can refer to the following people: *Bjarne Andersson, a cross-country skier *Bjarne Berg-Sæther, a Norwegian politician *Bjarne Berntsen, a Norwegian football coach and for ...

, Eiliv and

Sigmund Skard Sigmund Skard (31 July 1903 – 26 May 1995) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and professor of American literature. Biography Skard was born in Kristiansand, Norway. He was a son of educators Matias Skard (1846–1927) and Gyda Christensen (1868� ...

(whom Matias had by his third wife). Torfinn's mother died in childbirth after having him. Torfinn married Aagot Sofie Lien (1898–1973) in December 1922 in

Solum The solum (plural, sola) in soil science consists of the surface and subsoil layers that have undergone the same soil forming conditions. The base of the solum is the relatively unweathered parent material. Solum and soils are not synonymous. So ...

. When Sigmund Skard married

Åse Gruda Skard Åse Gruda Skard (née Koht) (2 December 1905 – 13 August 1985) was a Norwegian university professor, child psychologist and author. She was a noted pioneer in the field of childhood development and psychology. Biography She was born at ...

, Åsa became Torfinn's sister-in-law, and he was thereby also an uncle of

Målfrid Grude Flekkøy Målfrid Grude Flekkøy (née Skard) (29 November 1936 – 2 November 2013) was a Norwegian chief psychologist and civil servant. Having worked for several years in different health and educational institutions for children she was appointed a ...

Torild Skard Torild Skard (born 29 November 1936) is a Norwegian psychologist, politician for the Socialist Left Party, a former deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a former chairman of UNICEF. She served as a Member of Parlia ...

and

Halvdan Skard Halvdan Skard (born 1 December 1939) is a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party. He was born in Oslo as a son of Åse Gruda Skard and Sigmund Skard, and through Åse the grandson of Halvdan Koht and Karen Grude Koht. H ...

Career

Torfinn Skard was an apprentice in horticulture at three different schools between 1907 and 1911, and studied at two different folk schools including Askov folkehøiskole in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

from 1916-17. He studied at the

Norwegian College of Agriculture The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (, NMBU) is a public university located in Ås, Norway. It is located in Akershus county and has around 7,700 students. History The institution was established in 1859 as the Higher Agricultural Coll ...

at Ås in

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 1917 to 1919. He worked at the Telemark School of Agriculture (''Telemark Landbruksskole'') at Søve from 1919 to 1958. He also led Telemark Agricultural Library from 1936 to 1958. He wrote several historical books about Norwegian horticulture, as well as the textbook ''Dyrking av grønnsaker, frukt og bær'' (1937). His main work was ''Hagebruk og gartneri i Norge'' (1963). His own book collection was donated to the Norwegian College of Agriculture. In 1961 he was awarded the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

(''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') in gold. He died in June 1970 at

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

References

1891 births 1970 deaths People from Oppland Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni Norwegian expatriates in Denmark Norwegian educators Norwegian horticulturists Norwegian librarians Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold {{Norway-writer-stub