Ragnar Frislid was a Norwegian writer, photographer and environmentalist.

He was born in Oslo

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...

. He was a journalist in Dagbladet

Dagbladet

Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....

from 1950 to 1959. From 1965 to 1986 he edited Norsk Natur, the magazine released by Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature

Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature

The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature , also known as Friends of the Earth Norway and commonly abbreviated NNV is the largest Norwegian environmental organization with 28,000 members. The organization is based on a volunteer work among the members, constituting work both at local and...

. He also edited the magazines Jakt-Fiske-Friluftsliv and Fjell og Vidde as well as the yearbook of the Norwegian Trekking Association. He wrote about 30 books, and translated other books. His 1964 release Naturvern has been called the first Norwegian book about the conservation of nature.

In 1969 he wrote Norske dyr ('Animals of Norway') together with Arne Semb-Johannessen. His translation Verdens dyr ('Animals of the World'), from English to Norwegian in 1984, became an issue of dispute in 1992, when the publishing house J.W. Cappelens Forlag

J.W. Cappelens Forlag

J.W. Cappelens Forlag, usually referred to as Cappelen, was one of the oldest publishing houses of Norway. J.W. Cappelens Forlag was founded in 1829 by Jørgen Wright Cappelen, of the distinguished Cappelen family. Torger Baardseth was the director of Cappelen between 1904 and 1943. JW Cappelens...

 and De norske Bokklubbene arranged for the making of a second edition. Frislid demanded a new fee of in addition to the one-off fee of NOK 319,158 received in 1984. The publishing house won the trials in the district court as well as the court of appeal

Court of appeal (Norway)

In Norway, the court of appeal is the second level of courts of justice, reviewing criminal and civil cases appealed from the district courts. There are six courts of appeal, each covering a jurisdiction and based in a city. Each court is led by a senior judge president and several appellate...

, but after years of legal battle, Frislid won in the Supreme Court of Norway

Supreme Court of Norway

The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...

 in 1999.

Frislid also contributed to encyclopedias and radio. As a nature photographer

Nature photography

Nature photography refers to a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures...

 he was a part of the Norwegian photo agency Samfoto

Samfoto

Samfoto Picture Agency is located in Oslo, Norway. The agency represents a large number of Norwegian and Scandinavian freelance photographers. The stock photographs include more than 300 000 images, of which approximately 250 000 are accessible on the Internet Samfoto Picture Agency is located in...

 and an honorary member of the organization Norwegian Nature Photographers. He died in June 2009.

External links

• Samfoto
• Norske Naturfotografer Norwegian Nature Photographers