Thorleif Schjelderup was born into a well-known Norwegian family. His father Ferdinand Schjelderup was a Supreme Court judge and a mountaineering pioneer in Norway. He was also one of the leaders in the resistance movement against the Germans in 1940-45. Thorleif grew up in Oslo not far away from Holmenkollen, and showed an early talent for ski jumping. In 1940, aged 20, he placed fourth at Holmenkollen, but World War II halted his ski jumping career for five years. In 1946 he was second at Holmenkollen, and in 1947 he was second in the National Championship, placing third in 1948, qualifying for a spot on the Norwegian Olympic team. After his Olympic bronze medal in St. Moritz, he took another second place at Holmenkollen. Later in 1948 he finished his law studies at the Oslo University as a qualified lawyer, but he continued to compete in ski jumping until 1953. He became the first Norwegian ski jumper to jump further than 100 m, when he landed a 106 m jump in Planica, Yugoslavia on 15 March 1950. After his active career he became an excellent ski jumping coach, working for the Italian team from 1953-56, after which he coached the Norwegian team until 1962.
Thorleif Schjelderup became a well-known author, environmentalist, photographer and was popular promoting various causes, travelling around in Norway to promote outdoor activities and environmentalism. He published 10 books, mainly on the subjects of ski jumping and nature. In 1973 he published the first ever Norwegian textbook on environmentalism for the elementary school. Schjelderup was an idealist his whole life, and a strong advocate for ideas he believed in, playing an important role making the Norwegian people aware of important environmentalist questions. Schjelderup was married to actress Sossen Krogh from 1942-47. In 1948 he married the black US born opera singer Anne Brown, but they divorced in 1969. Later he lived with musical actress/singer Ranveig Eckhoff until 1985, and for several years they resided in Stockholm.
Norway