From Bjørnson to Nansen: Norwegian Support for Ukraine in Historical Perspective

Today, Norway is among the leading supporters of Ukraine, providing military, humanitarian, and civilian assistance through the Nansen Programme. Named after Fridtjof Nansen, one of Norway’s most renowned humanitarians, the programme reflects a tradition of international solidarity that has long been associated with the country.

This seminar explores the historical roots of that tradition through the lives and actions of prominent Norwegian public figures who used their moral and intellectual authority in support of human rights and national self-determination in Ukraine. Writer and Nobel laureate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, one of Europe’s leading advocates for oppressed peoples, defended the cultural and national rights of Ukrainian students in Lviv at the beginning of the twentieth century. Fridtjof Nansen, explorer, diplomat, and humanitarian, organized relief efforts in parts of present-day Ukraine during the famine of 1920–1921. More recently, Christian Christensen, long-time editor of Morgenbladet, helped bring the story of the Ukrainian freedom fighter and refugee Mykola Radejko to a Norwegian audience through his book Frihet for Ukraina (1992).

The programme features historian Carl Emil Vogt, one of Norway’s leading experts on Fridtjof Nansen and his humanitarian work, alongside researchers and specialists from the National Library of Norway and members of the Ukrainian community in Norway.

The seminar is organized by the Ukrainian Association in Norway with support from the Fritt Ord Foundation.