On October 1, 1929, became first of the four KWImF research directors to move into the new laboratory on the banks of the Neckar River. At twenty-eight years of age, he was also by far the youngest. In addition to a growing reputation as an experimentalist in organic chemistry, he brought with him an encyclopedic…

Short biography Rognlien, Helge 1920 – 2001 Jurist and politician Liberal Helge Rognlien received his law degree in 1945. He was chairman of Unge Venstre, the youth organisation of the Liberal Party in 1946-1948. From 1952 until 1960 he was a teacher and in 1960, he became chief welfare officer in Bærum, a local community…

Short biography Berge, Gunnar 1940 – Politician Labour Gunnar Berge was an industrial worker between 1957-1966 and early on became engaged in the local branch of the Labour Party in Rogaland. From 1967 until 1993 he was fully occupied with politics. He was a member of the Storting in 1969-1993 and a prominent Labour spokesman,…

Short biography Steen, Johannes Vilhelm Christian 1827 – 1906 Educator and politician Liberal Johannes Vilhelm Christian Steen received his M.A. degree (Cand.Philol.) in 1848. From 1849 he worked as a teacher. He was headmaster at the Grammar School in Stavanger (southwestern Norway) in 1867-1891. Steen was elected chairman of the political organization, Arbeiderforeningen “The Workers’…

by Geir LundestadSecretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, 1990-2014 Introduction This article is intended to serve as a basic survey of the history of the Nobel Peace Prize during its first 100 years. Since all the 107 Laureates selected from 1901 to 2000 are to be mentioned, the emphasis will be on facts and names.…

The KWImF was conceived during Germany’s golden era of scientific development The opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research (KWImF) was the culmination of years of intensive planning and organizational efforts by Ludolf von Krehl. Krehl was one of the earliest promoters of the integration of discrete disciplines of the natural sciences under…

Short biography Mowinckel, Johan Ludwig 1870 – 1943 Shipowner and politician Liberal   Johan Ludwig Mowinckel graduated from high school in 1888. In the period 1890-1893 he studied languages and business in Germany, England and France. In 1898 he bought his first ship and subsequently developed a shipping company of considerable size with its headquarters…

Short biography Sandegren, Kaare 1929 – Trade union official Labour party Kaare Sandegren got his M.A. in 1953 after having studied at the University of Oregon and Fletcher School of Law (both in the USA). In 1956 he finished further studies in Norway and from 1957 trained as a diplomat in the Norwegian Department of…

Short biography Smitt-Ingebretsen, Herman 1891 – 1961 Journalist and politician Conservative Herman Smitt-Ingebretsen graduated from high school in 1911. He studied political economy at the University of Oslo but left the University to work as a journalist on the conservative newspaper Morgenbladet. From 1916 to 1936 he held leading positions on other conservative newspapers: Aftenposten,…

by Michael W. Doyle Peace and democracy are just two sides of the same coin, it has often been said. In a speech before the British parliament in June of 1982, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed that governments founded on a respect for individual liberty exercise “restraint” and “peaceful intentions” in their foreign policy. He then,…