Odd Nansen

Odd Nansen was a Norwegian architect, writer, and humanitarian. He was the son of the famous explorer and Nobel laureate Fridtjof Nansen. He studied architecture at the Norwegian Institute of Technology and worked in New York City for three years. He returned to Norway and established his own architectural practice in Oslo. He also became involved in humanitarian work, especially for the Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in central Europe. He founded Nansenhjelpen in 1936, a relief organization that helped thousands of refugees find shelter and safety. He also established a field office in Prague and traveled extensively in Europe to raise awareness and funds for the refugee crisis. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942 for his involvement in the Norwegian resistance movement and was sent to various concentration camps, including Sachsenhausen and Veidal. He kept a diary during his imprisonment, which he hid and preserved. His diary was published after the war and became a valuable testimony of the horrors and hardships of the Nazi camps. He also wrote a biography of his father and a book about his humanitarian work. He survived the war and returned to Norway, where he resumed his architectural career and continued his humanitarian efforts. He was the president of One World, an international peace organization, from 1947 to 1956. He is also considered a co-founder of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. He received many Norwegian and international honors and awards for his humanitarian work, including the Order of St. Olav, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. He died of heart failure in 1973 at the age of 71. He was buried at Vestre gravlund in Oslo.