Svein Blindheim
{{Short description|Norwegian military officer (1916–2013)}}
{{Use dmy dates | date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Svein Blindheim
| image = Svein Blindheim.jpg
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1916|8|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Voss, Norway
| death_date = {{death date and age |2013|3|17|1916|8|26|df=y}}
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| occupation = Military officer
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| spouse = {{marriage|Joan Mary Tindale|1945|1970}}
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| father = Severin Nicolai Blindheim
| mother = Ragna Lavik
| relatives = maternal grandson of Andres Lavik;
grandnephew and nephew of Andreas, Dore, Johannes and Nils Lavik
| awards = War Cross with Sword
}}
Svein Lavik Blindheim (29 August 1916 – 17 March 2013{{Cite web |last=Jentoft |first=Morten |date=2013-03-17 |title=Svein Blindheim er død |url=https://www.nrk.no/norge/svein-blindheim-er-dod-1.10952345 |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=NRK |language=nb-NO}}) was a Norwegian military officer, known for his resistance work during World War II.
Personal life
Blindheim was born in Voss as a son of educator Severin Nicolai Blindheim (1890–1925) and teacher Ragna Lavik (1891–1976).{{cite encyclopedia |title=Svein Blindheim |encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon|first=Lars |last=Borgersrud |author-link=Lars Borgersrud |editor=Helle, Knut |editor-link=Knut Helle |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget |location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Svein_Blindheim/utdypning|language=Norwegian |accessdate=29 January 2010}} He was a maternal grandson of Andres Lavik,{{cite book|title=Vi sloss for Norge|author=Bryne, Arvid|page=14|language=Norwegian}} and thus a grandnephew of Andreas, Dore and Johannes Lavik and nephew of Nils Lavik.{{cite encyclopedia|year=|title=Nils Lavik|encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon|first=Paul|last=Odland|editor=Helle, Knut|editor-link=Knut Helle|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Nils_Lavik/utdypning|language=Norwegian|accessdate=30 July 2012}} From 1945 to 1970, he was married to British citizen Joan Mary Tindale.
Career
Before the Second World War he took education in Askim, and competed in middle-distance running and skiing for the local sports club Askim IF. He took military education at Terningmoen.
He participated in the Battle of Fossum Bridge of the Norwegian Campaign, and was later a member of the Special Operations Executive branch Norwegian Independent Company 1. In 1944, he initiated and was the first leader of the sabotage group Aks 13000. He was decorated with the War Cross with Sword{{cite encyclopedia|year=2007|title=Svein Lavik Blindheim |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/Svein_Lavik_Blindheim |editor=Henriksen, Petter |editor-link=Petter Henriksen |language=Norwegian|accessdate=29 January 2010 }} and the War Medal with one Star for his war contributions.
Politically he aligned with the Liberal Party in the post-war period. In the 1961 parliamentary election he was a minor ballot candidate for the party.{{stort61}} In 1966, he was released from the Armed Forces after having criticized Norway's nuclear politics.
In 1978, he was convicted to 75 days imprisonment for revealing espionage operations in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, even though the revealed information was made public by Finnish agents in a Finnish newspaper years before Blindheim.{{cite encyclopedia |first=Lars |last=Borgersrud |encyclopedia=Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45 |title=Blindheim, Svein |language=Norwegian |editor=Dahl |editor-link=Hans Fredrik Dahl |editor2=Hjeltnes |editor2-link=Guri Hjeltnes |editor3=Nøkleby |editor3-link=Berit Nøkleby |editor4=Ringdal |editor4-link=Nils Johan Ringdal |editor5=Sørensen |editor5-link=Øystein Sørensen |url=http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/b/b3.html#blindheim-svein |access-date=29 January 2010 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=82-02-14138-9 |page=45 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014062617/http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/b/b3.html#blindheim-svein |archive-date=14 October 2013 |df= }}
Selected works
- {{cite book |title=Nordmenn under Hitlers fane |year=1977}}
- {{cite book |title=Offiser i krig og fred |year=1981}}
- {{cite book |title=Den lange reisen. Et oppgjør med krigen |year=2006}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blindheim, Svein}}
Category:Norwegian male middle-distance runners
Category:Norwegian Army personnel of World War II
Category:Norwegian prisoners and detainees
Category:Prisoners and detainees of Norway
Category:Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel
Category:Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway)
Category:Sportspeople from Vestland
Category:20th-century Norwegian sportsmen
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