Double anniversary for Norway's most comprehensive source of knowledge and facts

November 12 2021

This past Wednesday was a double anniversary for ‘Store norske leksikon’. It marked 115 years since Norway’s first encyclopaedia was launched, and 10 years since “The Great Norwegian Rescue”, when the Fritt Ord Foundation and several other institutions joined forces to ensure the future of one of the country’s most comprehensive sources of knowledge and facts.

The Norwegian encyclopaedia reports having more than 3.2 million unique users every month, and that roughly 600 000 articles are accessed each day. This reference work offers more than 180 000 articles, written by more than 4600 contributors. The 1000 specialists responsible for the encyclopaedia are academic staff members employed by universities and colleges.

The encyclopaedia is organised as an association that counts all the Norwegian universities and a number of other knowledge- and culture-based institutions as members. The majority of the specialists who write for the encyclopaedia are researchers at the universities, with direct access to edit and publish articles.

Store norske leksikon is the largest knowledge-base in Norway that features quality-assured content, attributed to professionals under their full names. This makes it possible to be critical of sources, an important aspect of open, informed social debate.

Congratulations from Fritt Ord!

Svein Stølen, rector of the University of Oslo. Photo: Jo Straube
L. to r. Stig Arild Pettersen, Nils Christian Stenseth, Anne Marit Godal, Trond Andreassen & Petter Henriksen. Photo: Jo Straube

The anniversary commemoration took place in the University Aula, and featured speeches by Svein Stølen, rector of the University of Oslo, Knut Olav Åmås, executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation and chair of the Store norske leksikon Board, Odin Adelsten Aunan Bohmann, state secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Margareth Hagen, rector of the University of Bergen and member of the Board of Store norske leksikon, Åse Wetås, executive director of the Language Council of Norway, Erik Bolstad, editor-in-chief of Store norske leksikon and Ylva Østby, neuropsychologist. In addition, there was a panel discussion on“The Great Norwegian Rescue” with Trond Andreassen (former chair of the Board), Anne Marit Godal (editor-in-chief 2011–2016), Petter Henriksen (chief editor 1995-2010) and Nils Christian Stenseth (former member of the Board), as well as musical interludes performed by the Vox Humana Choir.

Watch a recording of the commemoration here:

News

Eirin Larsen and Hadia Tajik join the Fritt Ord Board

August 5 2025

Eirin Larsen (36) and Hadia Tajik (42) bring valuable experience from journalism, technology, politics and jurisprudence to the Fritt Ord Board.

Making the film «Farouk» – on the geologist that secured Norway its oil

July 1 2025

Geologist Farouk Al-Kasim joined the the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in 1968, shaping Norwegian petroleum resource management for decades afterwards. Now, documentary film director Halkawt Mustafa and producer Janne Hjeltnes are making a film about Al-Kasim’s life and reflections.
“Farouk tells me something in this film that he has not talked about before, because he has always told the version he feels Norway wanted to hear,” recounts Mustafa, who has Iraqi roots himself.

Read the interview with the director and see the list of grants awarded by Fritt Ord in June 2025.

Bård Vegar Solhjell new chair of the Fritt Ord Board

July 1 2025

Bård Vegar Solhjell (53) has taken over as the new chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board.

Cultural newspaper TBATBA.no and new journalism grants – June 2025

June 19 2025

– Cultural journalism is under pressure. Part of the problem is media outlets failing to cover culture in formats and ways that appeal to people under 30, says Ida Madsen Hestman, editor, freelance critic, and founder of TBATBA.no. Last year, she started the kind of publication she herself would want to read.

The magazine TBA is among those awarded funding in June 2025. See the full list of grants in Norsk Journalistikk.