Anne-Sofie Østvedt
Encyclopedia
Anne-Sofie Østvedt, (2 January 1920 – 16 November 2009) was one of the leaders of the Norwegian
intelligence organisation XU
.
She started her resistance work by publishing underground newspapers, and in December 1941 XU recruited her. The Gestapo
began hunting her in the Autumn of 1942 and she had to live undercover for the rest of the war.
Despite her young age, she was vital to the organisation and was second in command, but her identity was a strict secret and almost none within the XU knew her. Since one of her cover names was "Aslak" - a male name in Norway - it was a huge surprise for many to meet her after the war was over.
After the end of the war she received a scholarship and from the summer of 1945 she studied chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley
, graduated with a master's degree and then returned to Norway in 1951. Studying with her in California was the leader of XU, Øistein Strømnæs
, whom she married.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
intelligence organisation XU
XU
XU was a clandestine intelligence organisation working on behalf of Allied powers in occupied Norway during World War II...
.
She started her resistance work by publishing underground newspapers, and in December 1941 XU recruited her. The Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
began hunting her in the Autumn of 1942 and she had to live undercover for the rest of the war.
Despite her young age, she was vital to the organisation and was second in command, but her identity was a strict secret and almost none within the XU knew her. Since one of her cover names was "Aslak" - a male name in Norway - it was a huge surprise for many to meet her after the war was over.
After the end of the war she received a scholarship and from the summer of 1945 she studied chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, graduated with a master's degree and then returned to Norway in 1951. Studying with her in California was the leader of XU, Øistein Strømnæs
Øistein Strømnæs
Øistein Stømnæs was the head of XU, the main Norwegian intelligence organization from 1943 to 1945. Strømnæs was born in Sarpsborg in Østfold county, Norway. He studied biology at the University of Oslo and was working of his Master's degree student in botany when Norway was attacked in 1940...
, whom she married.