Mentz Schulerud

Who was Mentz Schulerud?

Mentz Schulerud was a Norwegian author, radio personality and theatre director. He was known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of the city of Oslo.

Schulerud was born in Kristiania, but grew up in Rena, Lillehammer and Ringsaker as the older brother of the famous children's book author Anne-Cath. Vestly. Schulerud took his cand.mag. degree in 1941. During the German occupation of Norway he was involved in a Norwegian resistance group called 830-S. For his work in the Norwegian illegal press, he was incarcerated at Grini concentration camp in 1944.

After the war, was hired as programme secretary in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, in 1946. He was later subeditor from 1959 to 1962. During this period he also worked as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Vinduet from 1959 to 1963. In 1962 he left the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation to become director of Oslo Nye Teater. Through his numerous radio programmes, articles and books, he vividly conveyed the history of the capital with anecdotes and biographical scetches, particularly relating to its artistic life. A Riksmål proponent, Schulerud chaired the organization Riksmålsvernet for a period, and was later a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature.