Johan Scharffenberg

Johan Scharffenberg (23 November 1869 – 1 February 1965) was a Norwegian psychiatrist, politician, speaker and writer.

Early life Scharffenberg was born in Moss as the son of military officer Hedvard Carl Scharffenberg (1819–1893) and Caroline Fredrikke Dietrichson (1825–1876). He was a nephew of priest Johannes W. C. Dietrichson. The family soon moved from Moss, and Scharffenberg grew up in Kristiania, Hamar, and Molde. He finished his secondary education in 1888, enrolled in medicine studies in 1889 and took the cand.med. degree in 1897.

Career Caricature from 1905 by Andreas Bloch. Scharffenberg is birched by "Mother Aase" Scharffenberg served as a physician and psychiatrist at psychiatric institutions and prisons, working in Trondhjem from 1903 to 1904 and then in Kristiania. He worked at the prison Botsfengselet from 1919 to 1940 and was a chief physician at Oslo Hospital from 1922 to late 1945, except for 1941 to early 1945. In 1976, a bust of him was raised at Oslo Hospital. After the ruling Nazi Party in Germany passed the German Sterilization Law in 1933, however, Scharffenberg—a supporter of eugenics—applauded the legislation and called for similar legislation in Norway. A lecture held at the Norwegian Students' Society in September 1940, where he called for freedom and resistance, gave him enormous applause, and is regarded as one of the starting events of the Norwegian resistance movement against the Nazi German occupation of Norway.

Post-war career Scharffenberg was 76 years old in 1945, but still participated in the public debate. He opposed Norwegian membership in NATO and even the United Nations, arguing that the state was too small to gain influence. He admired the Swiss political system, and saw the country's neutrality as an ideal for Norway in the 1950 book Norske aktstykker til okkupasjonens forhistorie. He was also a proponent of the referendum, commonly deployed in Swiss politics. He died in February 1965 in Oslo.

Selected works Hjemløse Sange (1889, poetry) Norske aktstykker til okkupasjonens forhistorie (1950)