Nordal Wille | |
---|---|
Born |
Hobøl |
28 October 1858
Died | 4 February 1924 Kristiania |
(aged 65)
Citizenship | Norwegian |
Fields |
algaeology plant morphology plant anatomy plant physiology |
Institutions | Royal Frederick University |
Notable students | Haaken Hasberg Gran |
Johan Nordal Fischer Wille (28 October 1858 – 4 February 1924) was a Norwegian botanist. He was a professor at the Royal Frederick University from 1893 to his death, founded the laboratory at the University Botanical Garden and co-founded the Natural History Museum.
Wille was born in Hobøl as the son of physician Hans Georg Wille (1803–1879) and his wife Ingeborg Fischer (1811–1875). He was a grandnephew of priest and writer Hans Jacob Wille.
He married three times. The first marriage with Anne Koller, a daughter of Carl Theodor Fredrik Koller, lasted from September 1891 to her death in March 1908. During this period he was a brother-in-law of Rasmus Meyer and Gustav Guldberg, who were married to two of Anne's sisters. The second marriage with Ragna Margrethe Knudsen lasted from September 1911 to her death in July 1917, and finally he married Swedish-born school teacher Ester Victoria Svensson in October 1918.
Wille grew up in Hobøl, but eventually moved to Kristiania to take his education. He embarked on an education as a teacher of natural sciences, but became increasingly interested in algae, a field in which there was no adequate education available in Norway. He studied plant morphology, plant anatomy and plant physiology in different European countries, and conducted several field studies. He was a lecturer at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the between 1883 and 1889. He moved to the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1889.
In 1893 he was given a newly established professor position at the Royal Frederick University, which also gave him responsibility over the University Botanical Garden at Tøyen. In addition, Wille moved to Tøyen. In 1895 he founded a laboratory there. The founding of the laboratory promoted research among students, which would become important to several later researchers, including Wille's lab assistant from 1894 Haaken Hasberg Gran and, in turn, Gran's assistant Trygve Braarud.