Thorleif Røhn

Thorleiv Bugge Røhn (23 July 1881 – 20 September 1963) was a Norwegian Army officer, who as a gymnast was a member of the team that won the gold medal in the team competition at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece.

Facing limited military career prospects in Norway, Røhn sought better fortunes abroad. Having been involved in a failed business venture in Cuba in 1907–1908, he joined the Belgian colonial army Force Publique in 1909. He served in the Belgian Congo until being ordered back into active Norwegian Army service in 1915. Having been a member of the Norwegian fascist party Nasjonal Samling, Røhn was convicted of treason in the Norwegian post-Second World War legal purge.

Personal life He was born in Kristiania, United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. His parents were Ole Thorstensen Røhn and Maren Elise Bugge, who were both teachers. In the years 1898 to 1900 he attended Aars og Voss' School, gaining his examen artium academic certification. Two of his sisters were killed in a British bombing raid on Oslo in 1944.

Military career Norway, 1903–09

In 1903 he graduated from the upper section of the Norwegian Military Academy. The same year he became a first lieutenant in the Kristiansandske Brigade. In the years 1905 to 1907 he attended the Norwegian Military College, but left the school three months before graduation, citing personal reasons.

Norway, 1915–40 He transferred to the Trondhjemske Brigade in 1915, and was promoted to the rank of captain on 11 August 1916. Between 1916 and 1930, he was the commander of the 5th Heavy Machine Gun Company. From 1925 to 1930 he was also the commander of the garrison company in Trondheim. In 1930 he took command of 12th Company of the 12th Infantry Regiment, the same year transferring to the reserves. In 1930 he twice applied unsuccessfully for a promotion to the rank of major, and the command of a regular army battalion. As a captain in the reserve forces, he applied unsuccessfully for the rank of lieutenant colonel, and the command of the landvern battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment, in 1933. In 1936 he was promoted to the rank of major, The final application he handed in was rejected by the Norwegian authorities in 1939, when he applied for a promotion to lieutenant colonel and the command of either the 11th or the 12th Infantry Regiments' landvern battalion.

Sports career The Norwegian 1906 gymnastics team. Røhn is the second from the right, mid row. In 1906, Røhn was a member of the 20-strong Norwegian team that won the gold medal in the team event in gymnastics at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece. The team won the first ever gold medal for Norway in an Olympic competition, having trained together for one month before travelling to Greece. The press at the time praised the Norwegian team as "the world's first gymnasts" and described them as "flying marble statues". At a national level, he represented the Oslo-based club Oslo Turnforening.

In the shooting sport, he represented Gauldal skyttarsamlag, an association of rifle clubs in the Gauldal region, in the pre-Second World War years.

Cuban business venture In 1907 Røhn was granted leave from his military service.

Second World War Røhn was a member of the Norwegian fascist party Nasjonal Samling. In the legal purge after the end of the Second World War, Røhn was convicted of treason against Norway and sentenced to four years in prison with forced labour. Because of his treason conviction, Røhn was banned from membership in the Norwegian Congo Veterans' Association (, ), and also lost the right to a pension from the Belgian state.

Honours and awards Røhn was awarded the Haakon VII Coronation Medal in silver, for having participated in the coronation of Haakon VII of Norway in Trondheim in 1906.

For his services in the Congo, the Belgian authorities made Røhn a Knight of the Royal Order of the Lion, as well as awarding him the Belgian Congo Silver Service Star. He was also a Knight, 2nd class of the Russian Order of Saint Stanislaus.