The doctors
Anton Jervell (1901–87) (Figure 1) grew up in Kristiania (now called Oslo), qualified as a medical doctor in 1925 and as a specialist in internal medicine in 1933, and was awarded his doctoral degree in 1936 (6–8) . His doctoral thesis, written in German, was based on research conducted at Department 8 of Ullevål Hospital in Norway in the period 1931–1935. The focus of the thesis was electrocardiographic findings in myocardial infarction (9) . It was described as pioneering work, as this was a new and little-known disease. Several weeks could pass between the admission of patients with myocardial infarction (10) , and ECG had only been introduced as a diagnostic method a few years earlier (11) .
Figure 1 Anton Jervell (1901–87), painted by Hans Finne-Grønn (1903–2001) in 1967. The painting is on display in Building 3 (the medical building), Ullevål Hospital. Photo: Svein Skog, Oslo University Hospital.
Jervell was a locum doctor at Bærum Hospital, Ullevål Hospital and Rikshospitalet in Norway, and had study exchanges in locations like Vienna, London, Paris and the United States. In 1938, he was appointed as senior consultant at the newly established medical department at the hospital in Tønsberg (Figure 2) (12) .
Figure 2 Vestfold County Hospital in 1950. Jervell lived in the white house farthest right on the photo. The brick building in the centre of the image was built in 1938, with the surgical department on the lower two floors and the new medical department on the upper two floors. The photo is from the Medical History Society ( Medisinsk historielag), Vestfold Hospital.
Jervell was involved in a wide range of activities in the county of Vestfold. He was chairman of the Tønsberg Red Cross and tried to help the Jews in the Berg concentration camp. He was arrested by the Germans in September 1943 but was released about two months later (13. 357) . After the war, he became involved in local politics as a Labour Party representative in Tønsberg City Council and was appointed director of the hospital in 1947. In 1941, Jervell was the chief editor of a textbook for nurses, which dominated nursing education for nearly 30 years.
In 1955, two professorships in medicine were announced at Departments 7 and 8 at Ullevål Hospital. The professorships were combined with senior consultant positions, and Jervell was one of seven applicants. The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo established a scientific committee consisting of five professors: one from Helsinki, Copenhagen and Malmö, and two from Norway. The expert evaluations filled 220 pages of the university’s annual report (14) .
The reviewers pointed out that Jervell’s published works from the last 15 years were ‘nowhere near’ the level of his doctoral thesis (14, p. 395) . His scientific career had not shown the ‘desired growth and development, quite the opposite’. However, they understood why this had been the case. During the war, he had not published anything, and afterward, his capacity had been ‘substantially taken up with efforts to establish a good department at a good central hospital, where he had made an outstanding contribution’. In the administrative field, his efforts were considered ‘groundbreaking’ (14, p. 535) , and he had also demonstrated quite unique qualifications as a university lecturer (14, p. 570) .
The dean believed that Jervell was one of the top two candidates, but the ‘overall impression from the statements’ was so even that it was only natural for the faculty to ‘place them on an equal footing’ (4) . The executive committee of Oslo City Council therefore had the final say. Jervell was appointed as a senior consultant in Department 8 and took up his position in January 1957, succeeding Carl Müller (1886–1983).
Fredrik (Fred) Lange-Nielsen (1919–89) (Figure 3) also grew up in Norway’s capital city. He was the eldest of three siblings, all of whom had artistic talents. He became a skilled jazz musician and was a member of several orchestras (15, 16) . He was a recording studio musician, gave radio lectures and appeared in TV programmes.
Figure 3 Fred Lange-Nielsen (1919–89) painted by Ville Aarseth (1899–1985) in 1979. The painting is on display in Building 3 (the medical building), Ullevål Hospital. Photo: Svein Skog, Oslo University Hospital.
In 1937, Lange-Nielsen began studying medicine. He was arrested in October 1944 and detained for nearly six months (13, p. 428) . He qualified as a medical doctor in 1947, a specialist in internal medicine in 1956 and a pulmonologist in 1964. In the early years of his medical career, he undertook short-term work in private practice in Gjøvik and at Lovisenberg, Haukeland, Gaustad and Rikshospitalet hospitals.
From 1953 to 1956, he worked at the hospital in Tønsberg as a junior registrar and locum. The following year, he began working at Ullevål Hospital, where he remained as a pulmonologist for nearly his entire career. He became particularly involved in allergology, and it was through his initiative that the Laboratory for Clinical Allergology was established in Department 9 in the 1960s (17) . This was the only hospital outpatient facility for adults with allergic respiratory diseases and asthma in Norway for many years (18) . He was one of the founders of the Norwegian Asthma and Allergy Association in 1960 and served as head of the medical council there for many years. In the 1970s, he spearheaded the establishment of an interdisciplinary medical school for asthma.
Fred Lange-Nielsen had a broad range of interests and was involved in many different initiatives. In 1955, he advocated for Norway to lead a campaign against boxing. He believed the consequences of minor head injuries were significantly underestimated (19) . He was active in the fight against apartheid, and in 1963, he initiated and was the first chairman of Norway’s Crisis Fund for South Africa (Krisefondet for Sør-Afrika ). The following year, the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa (IDAF) was established, and he was elected vice president (20) .
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