- Adolf Hoel
Adolf Hoel (
May 15 ,1879 – 1964 inOslo ) was a Norwegian geologist andpolar researcher. He was the leading Norwegian researcher atSvalbard in the early 20th century, and in 1928 founded "Norges Svalbard- og Ishavsundersøkelser", which became theNorwegian Polar Institute in 1948. The mineralhoelite is named in his honour. His focus on and research of the polar areas is largely credited as the reason Norway has the sovereignty overSvalbard andQueen Maud Land . He led several scientific expeditions to Svalbard andGreenland .In 1933, he became a member of the National Unity party of the former minister of defense,
Vidkun Quisling , largely due to his Norwegian nationalist approach to the Norwegian occupation of a part of Greenland in the early 1930s.Hoel became a fellow of the
University of Oslo in 1911 and adocent in 1919. He was appointed a fullprofessor in 1940. Hoel was rector of theUniversity of Oslo from 1941 to 1945.After the war he finished his work on the history of Svalbard in three volumes.
He married Lisbet Birgitte Fredrikke Thomsen in 1916 and had issue.
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