Johan Scharffenberg
Encyclopedia
Johan Scharffenberg was a Norwegian psychiatrist
, politician, speaker and writer.
as the son of military officer Hedvard Carl Scharffenberg (1819–1893) and Caroline Fredrikke Dietrichson (1825–1876). He was a nephew of priest Johannes W. C. Dietrichson
. The family soon moved from Moss, and Scharffenberg grew up in Kristiania
, Hamar
and Molde
. He finished
his secondary education in 1888, enrolled in medicine studies in 1889 and took the cand.med.
degree in 1897.
from 1903 to 1904 and then in Kristiania. He worked at the prison Botsfengselet from 1919 to 1940 and was a chief physician at Oslo Hospital from 1922 to late 1945, except for 1941 to early 1945. In 1976, a bust
of him was raised at Oslo Hospital.
He was an active participant in the contemporary debates, starting in the late 1880s. He issued the poetry collection Hjemløse Sange ('Homeless Songs') as early as in 1889, under the pseudonym Kai Lykke. In 1899 he wrote the book Reform av den medicinske undervisning ('Reform of the Medical Training'), which became unpopular in academic circles at the time. After issuing the three-volume work Bidrag til de norske lægestillingers historie før 1800 ('Contributions to the History of Norwegian Medical Positions Before 1800) in 1904 and 1905, he applied for a fellowship
at the Royal Frederick University
in 1908. The Faculty of Medicine granted him the fellowship, but this was stopped by the Collegium Academicum (the university's board). Scharffenberg would later attract criticism by rejecting other methods, including that of Wilhelm Reich
. He argued for less use of alcohol in the society
, and was a member of the Alcohol Commission of 1910, which was established on his initiative.
Scharffenberg was also a supporter of the Nynorsk
language, but was ambivalent to both nationalism and the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905.
, and the German legation
in Oslo delivered several official protests claiming he was offending a foreign head of state. After the ruling Nazi Party in Germany passed the German Sterilization Law
in 1933, however, Scharffenberg -- a supporter of eugenics
-- applauded the legislation and called for similar legislation in Norway. A lecture held at the Norwegian Students' Society in September 1940, where he called for freedom and resistance, gave him enormous applause, and is regarded as one of the starting events of the Norwegian resistance movement
against the Nazi German occupation of Norway
. He was also arrested after the talk and held in detention for a few weeks. After the war, Scharffenberg was selected to hold the welcome speech for King Haakon
when he returned to Norway in June 1945. He participated in the public debate on the legal purge in Norway after World War II
, arguing against the use
of death penalty, and he warned against the occurrences where people took the law into their own hands and humiliated women who had had sexual relations with the occupants.
, arguing that the state was too small to gain influence. He was "in personal contact" with the people behind the NATO-critical, socialist newspaper Orientering
. He admired the Swiss political system, and saw the country's neutrality as an ideal for Norway in the 1950 book Norske aktstykker til okkupasjonens forhistorie. He was also a proponent of the referendum
, commonly deployed in Swiss politics. In 1961 he stood forward as a member of Landsforbundet for folkeavstemning
, a lobby organization which worked to include the institution of referenda in the Norwegian Constitution. He died in February 1965 in Oslo.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, politician, speaker and writer.
Early life
Scharffenberg was born in MossMoss, Norway
is a coastal city and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Moss. The city of Moss was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
as the son of military officer Hedvard Carl Scharffenberg (1819–1893) and Caroline Fredrikke Dietrichson (1825–1876). He was a nephew of priest Johannes W. C. Dietrichson
Johannes Wilhelm Christian Dietrichson
Johannes Wilhelm Christian Dietrichson was a Norwegian Lutheran minister who played an important role in the initial establishment of the Lutheran Church in Wisconsin.-Personal life:...
. The family soon moved from Moss, and Scharffenberg grew up in Kristiania
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Hamar
Hamar
is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...
and Molde
Molde
is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord...
. He finished
Examen artium
Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...
his secondary education in 1888, enrolled in medicine studies in 1889 and took the cand.med.
Cand.med.
Candidate of Medicine , Candidata Medicinae , abbreviated Cand. Med.) is an academic degree awarded in Denmark, Iceland and Norway following a six-year medical school education....
degree in 1897.
Career
Scharffenberg served as a physician and psychiatrist at psychiatric institutions and prisons, working in TrondhjemTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
from 1903 to 1904 and then in Kristiania. He worked at the prison Botsfengselet from 1919 to 1940 and was a chief physician at Oslo Hospital from 1922 to late 1945, except for 1941 to early 1945. In 1976, a bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of him was raised at Oslo Hospital.
He was an active participant in the contemporary debates, starting in the late 1880s. He issued the poetry collection Hjemløse Sange ('Homeless Songs') as early as in 1889, under the pseudonym Kai Lykke. In 1899 he wrote the book Reform av den medicinske undervisning ('Reform of the Medical Training'), which became unpopular in academic circles at the time. After issuing the three-volume work Bidrag til de norske lægestillingers historie før 1800 ('Contributions to the History of Norwegian Medical Positions Before 1800) in 1904 and 1905, he applied for a fellowship
Research fellow
The title of research fellow is used to denote a research position at a university or similar institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator...
at the Royal Frederick University
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
in 1908. The Faculty of Medicine granted him the fellowship, but this was stopped by the Collegium Academicum (the university's board). Scharffenberg would later attract criticism by rejecting other methods, including that of Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
. He argued for less use of alcohol in the society
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, and was a member of the Alcohol Commission of 1910, which was established on his initiative.
Scharffenberg was also a supporter of the Nynorsk
Nynorsk
Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...
language, but was ambivalent to both nationalism and the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905.
Second World War
During the 1930s, Scharffenberg was very critical to the emergence of Nazism in Germany. In a series of articles in Arbeiderbladet in 1933 he concluded that Adolf Hitler was a paranoid psychopathPsychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
, and the German legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
in Oslo delivered several official protests claiming he was offending a foreign head of state. After the ruling Nazi Party in Germany passed the German Sterilization Law
Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring
Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring or "Sterilization Law" was a statute in Nazi Germany enacted on July 14, 1933, which allowed the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who in the opinion of a "Genetic Health Court" Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring...
in 1933, however, Scharffenberg -- a supporter of eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
-- applauded the legislation and called for similar legislation in Norway. A lecture held at the Norwegian Students' Society in September 1940, where he called for freedom and resistance, gave him enormous applause, and is regarded as one of the starting events of the Norwegian resistance movement
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
against the Nazi German occupation of Norway
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
. He was also arrested after the talk and held in detention for a few weeks. After the war, Scharffenberg was selected to hold the welcome speech for King Haakon
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
when he returned to Norway in June 1945. He participated in the public debate on the legal purge in Norway after World War II
Legal purge in Norway after World War II
When the occupation of Norway ended in May 1945, several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens were tried and convicted for various acts that the occupying powers sanctioned...
, arguing against the use
Capital punishment in Norway
Capital punishment in Norway was abolished in peacetime with the criminal law that was passed in 1902 with enforcement beginning in 1905. Capital punishment was also abolished in times of war in 1979....
of death penalty, and he warned against the occurrences where people took the law into their own hands and humiliated women who had had sexual relations with the occupants.
Post-war career
Scharffenberg was 76 years in 1945, but still participated in the public debate. He opposed Norwegian membership in NATO and even the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, arguing that the state was too small to gain influence. He was "in personal contact" with the people behind the NATO-critical, socialist newspaper Orientering
Orientering
Orientering was a Norwegian newspaper which was initially published in December 1952 as an alternative voice. It was absorbed into Ny Tid in 1975....
. He admired the Swiss political system, and saw the country's neutrality as an ideal for Norway in the 1950 book Norske aktstykker til okkupasjonens forhistorie. He was also a proponent of the referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
, commonly deployed in Swiss politics. In 1961 he stood forward as a member of Landsforbundet for folkeavstemning
Landsforbundet for folkeavstemning
Landsforbundet for folkeavstemning was a Norwegian lobby organization.-Inception:It was founded in April 1961 with the goal of including the institution of referenda in the Norwegian Constitution...
, a lobby organization which worked to include the institution of referenda in the Norwegian Constitution. He died in February 1965 in Oslo.
Selected works
- Hjemløse Sange (1889, poetry)
- Norske aktstykker til okkupasjonens forhistorie (1950)