Nikolai Schei

Who was Nikolai Schei?

Nikolai Andreas Schei was a Norwegian jurist and civil servant.

He was born in Førde as the son of Per Schei and Johanne Schei. He was a brother of Andreas Schei, and through him an uncle of Chief Justice Tore Schei.

He took his examen artium in 1925, and took the cand.jur. degree in 1928. He also worked part-time as an assistant in the Ministry of Justice and the Police. He left in 1929, was a deputy judge in Sunnfjord for a short time before working for the counties of Møre og Romsdal from 1929 to 1931 and Oslo-Akershus from 1931 to 1934. In April 1933 he married Othilia Helberg Christensen, a daughter of Ingolf Elster Christensen. In 1934 he was appointed as inspector in a national arbitration institution, which was led by Carl Platou. In 1939 Schei was hired by the newly established Ministry of Provisioning. He was tasked to head the Directorate of Provisioning and Rationing.

In 1940, when Germany invaded Norway as part of World War II and the royal family and government of Norway fled the country, Schei was specifically asked to stay in Norway, where he continued as director of provisioning and rationing until 1945.