A biography is a history of a person's life. In a biography you may find an individual's birth, marriage, and death information and the names of family members. Use the information carefully because there may be inaccuracies.

Many brief biographies on the Norwegian peoples have been gathered and published in collective works, sometimes called biographical encyclopedias or dictionaries. These usually only include biographies of prominent Norwegian citizens. Others contain biographies of specific groups of people, such as military officers.

A significant biographical encyclopedia is:

Edv. Bull, Anders Krogvig, Gerhard Gran, et al., Norsk Biografisk Leksikon (Norwegian Biographical Encyclopedia) 19 vols. Kristiania: H. Aschehoug & Co. W. Nygaard, 1923-83; (FHL book 948.1 D36n; computer number 0215638.)

An index to a large biographical collection is:

Scandinavian Biographical Index, New Jersey: K.G. Sour, c1994. (FHL book 948 D32s; computer number 0731014.)

The actual biographical sketches are found on 393 microfiche. The first section of the work contains Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic biographical sketches. The second section contains Swedish and Finnish sketches. The information comes from many sources. Both sections are in alphabetical order.

The Scandinavian Biographical Archives (New York City: K.G. Saur, 1990. (On 393 FHL fiche beginning with 6060432; computer number 0543637)

Collective biographies at the Family History Library are generally listed in the Locality section of the catalog under one of the following:

NORWAY - BIOGRAPHYNORWAY, [COUNTY] - BIOGRAPHYNORWAY, [COUNTY], [CITY] - BIOGRAPHY

You will also find some biographical information in Norwegian encyclopedias. See the “Encyclopedias and Dictionaries” section of this outline for additional help.

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