Norwegian of the Century


Norwegian of the Century was a poll carried out by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in 2005, the 100-year anniversary of Norwegian independence. The poll was SMS-based and over 400,000 Norwegians voted over the course of the year. To qualify as "Norwegian of the Century", the nominee must have lived between 1905 and 2005. All Norwegians were eligible for nomination, and there were initially 600 people on the list. A "Great Norwegian Committee" consisting of Nils Arne Eggen, Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, Guri Hjeltnes, Harald Norvik, Erling Sandmo and Cathrine Sandnes narrowed the list down to 50. Another poll was conducted, again SMS-based, with the results presented live on NRK1 on 17 December 2005. The winner, with 41% of the vote, was King Olav V. Former Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen was second with 24%, followed by Erik Bye with 15%. The results for the top 50 spots were as follows:



  1. Olav V - King of Norway
  2. Einar Gerhardsen - politician and Prime Minister of Norway
  3. Erik Bye - Norwegian journalist, artist, author, film actor, folk singer and radio and television personality
  4. Kim Friele - gay rights and human rights activist
  5. Thor Heyerdahl - ethnographer, led Kon-Tiki expedition
  6. Mari Boine - Norwegian Sami musician
  7. Gro Harlem Brundtland - politician and 22nd Prime Minister of Norway
  8. Haakon VII - King of Norway
  9. Christian Michelsen - shipping magnate, statesman, and 1st Prime Minister of Norway
  10. Fridtjof Nansen - explorer, diplomat, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
  11. Ivar Asbjørn Følling - physicist and biochemist known for describing the disease commonly known as Følling's disease or phenylketonuria
  12. Grete Waitz - marathon runner, first woman to run a marathon in under two and a half hours
  13. Alf Prøysen - author, poet, playwright and musician
  14. Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad - archaeologists and explorers of Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in 1960
  15. Anne-Cath. Vestly - author of children's literature
  16. Gunnar Sønsteby - member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II.
  17. Knut Hamsun - writer, laureate of Nobel Prize
  18. Kjell Aukrust - poet
  19. Eivind Berggrav - Lutheran bishop, figure in resistance against German occupation of Norway
  20. Kirsten Flagstad - opera singer and dramatic soprano
  21. Ole Gunnar Solskjær - football player and manager
  22. Hjalmar Andersen - speed skater, won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games held in Oslo, Norway
  23. Edvard Munch - painter and print-maker, best known for painting The Scream
  24. Bjørn Dæhlie - Norwegian businessman and retired cross–country skier, won a total of 29 medals in the Olympics and World Championships from 1991 and 1999
  25. Carl Joachim Hambro - journalist, author and politician
  26. Katti Anker Møller - feminist, children's rights advocate, reproductive rights activist
  27. Kristian Ottosen - non–fiction writer and public servant
  28. Rosemarie Köhn - bishop in the Diocese of Hamar of the Church of Norway
  29. Bjørn Wirkola - ski jumper
  30. Sam Eyde - engineer and industrialist
  31. Olav Selvaag - residential contractor, responsible for innovative design for building affordable housing in Post–World War II economic expansion
  32. Arne Arnardo - circus performer, generally known as the "circus king" of Norway
  33. Karl Evang - physician and civil servant
  34. Thorbjørn Egner - playwright and songwriter for children
  35. Halldis Moren Vesaas - poet for children
  36. Jan Garbarek - jazz saxophonist
  37. Finn Lied - military researcher and politician
  38. Sigrid Undset - novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature
  39. Wenche Foss - actress of stage, screen, and television
  40. Erling Stordahl - farmer and singer
  41. Oscar Mathisen - speed skater
  42. Sonja Henie - figure skater and film star
  43. Arne Nordheim - composer
  44. Trygve Lie - politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs and 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations
  45. Inger Hagerup -poet of 20th century
  46. Johs Andenæs - jurist
  47. Liv Ullmann - actress and film director
  48. Ragnar Frisch - economist, being one of the founders of the discipline of econometrics, and for coining the widely used term pair macroeconomics/microeconomics in 1933; awarded Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1968
  49. Gustav Vigeland - sculptor
  50. Francis Bull - literary historian