18 Facts About Eivind Berggrav

Eivind Josef Berggrav was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop.

Eivind Berggrav became an important figure in 20th-century ecumenical movement and served as president of the United Bible Societies.

Eivind Berggrav's father, Otto Jensen was an educator and parish priest, who when Eivind was 22 became for a short time Norway's National Minister of Education and Church Affairs in a coalition government before returning to his Skjeberg parish.

Eivind Berggrav studied theology in Oslo at what was then the University of Kristiania beginning in 1903, and continued family tradition by becoming a priest in the Church of Norway.

Eivind Berggrav changed his surname to that of his paternal grandmother's family: to Jensen Berggrav in 1907 and a decade later to simply Berggrav.

Eivind Berggrav started writing for the journal, Kirke i Kultur, which Berggrav continued to do intermittently for decades, until his death.

Eivind Berggrav became involved with the political party and the youth movement with Alf Frydenberg.

Eivind Berggrav eventually was called as a parish priest in Hurdal, and he continued to study for his doctorate in theology at the university.

Eivind Berggrav dedicated a number of new chapels as he served the largely rural diocese until 1937.

In that year, although younger than many other candidates, Eivind Berggrav was selected bishop for the Diocese of Oslo, which although the first among equals, remains the highest position in Norway's national church.

Eivind Berggrav achieved international renown for leading the Church of Norway's resistance to the Nazi occupation of Norway during World War II, even though he was under isolated house arrest during most of the war.

Shortly after Easter, 1942, Eivind Berggrav was arrested, and Quisling tried to get him indicted, which provoked further public uproar.

Eivind Berggrav was saved from execution by Theodor Steltzer and Helmuth von Moltke, members of the Kreisau Circle and Schwarze Kapelle.

Eivind Berggrav wrote many books, all in the Norwegian language, but some translated into English: The Norwegian Church in Its International Setting, Man and State, and With God in the Darkness, and Other Papers Illustrating the Norwegian Church Conflict.

Eivind Berggrav founded an association focused on Norway's local history, Romerike Historielag, in 1920, and continued to contribute pieces long after he relinquished the helm upon becoming bishop.

Eivind Berggrav led the Norwegian Bible Society from 1938 to 1955, even after his retirement as Norway's primate.

Eivind Berggrav married Kathrine Seip, the daughter of pastor Jens Laurits Arup Seip.

Eivind Berggrav died in Oslo and was buried in Var Frelsers Gravlund with a simple slab gravemarker.