View source for Axel Aubert

{{Short description|Norwegian chemical engineer (1873–1943)}}
[[File:Axel Aubert.jpg|thumb|upright|Axel Aubert.]]
'''Axel Aubert''' (11 December 1873 – 16 December 1943) was a Norwegian chemical engineer who served as Director-General of [[Norsk Hydro]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=  https://snl.no/Axel_Aubert|title=  Axel Aubert|publisher =  Store norske leksikon |access-date= July 15, 2016}}</ref>
==Biography==
He was born in [[Oslo|Kristiania]] (now Oslo, Norway). He was the son of  Otto Benjamin Andreas Aubert (1841–98) and  Hilda Thaulow (1846–1923).<ref>
{{cite web
|url= https://snl.no/Aubert |title= Aubert |publisher= Store norske leksikon |author=  Jon Gunnar Arntzen |access-date= July 15, 2016
}}</ref>
After first studies at the Oslo Technical College, he then studied engineering at the [[University of Berlin]] and earned a [[doctorate]] in [[chemistry]] at the [[University of Basel]] in 1895.
He became the managing director of Engene Dynamitfabrik and Norsk Sprængstofindustri. In 1926 he was hired as Director-General (CEO) of [[Norsk Hydro]]. In 1940, while Norway was still neutral in [[World War II]], Aubert was contacted by agents from French military intelligence regarding Norsk Hydro's production of [[heavy water]] ([[deuterium]] oxide) at its [[Vemork|Vemork hydroelectric plant]]. Heavy water was an important material for [[German nuclear weapon project|Germany's nuclear weapon project]] and was only produced in any significant quantities at Vemork. He agreed to 'lend' Norsk Hydro's entire existing stock of heavy water to France for the duration of the war, observing that if Germany won the war he was likely to be shot. The French agents [[Norwegian heavy water sabotage#Pre-invasion efforts|transported]] {{convert|185|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} of heavy water secretly to [[Oslo]], to [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] in Scotland, and then to France.<ref Name=Dahl1999>
{{cite book
|last=Dahl |first=Per F| title=Heavy water and the wartime race for nuclear energy |publisher=Institute of Physics Publishing
|year=1999 |location=Bristol |pages=103–108 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwD44jnjmmsC |isbn=07-5030-6335
|access-date=12 July 2009
}}</ref>
Aubert retired as Hydro president in late 1941, but took over as the company's chairman and held this position until his death in 1943. Aubert emphasized the scientific and technological research. He was a member of the Executive Board of the Norwegian Industry Association from 1926 to 1934.
== Honours ==
Aubert was appointed Knight of the 1st Class of the Norwegian [[Order of St. Olav]] in 1928. He also held the Belgian [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]],  the French [[Legion of Honour]],  the Danish [[Order of the Dannebrog]] and the Polish [[Order of Polonia Restituta]].<ref name=snl>
{{cite encyclopedia
|year=2007 |title=Aubert, Axel |encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget
|url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Axel_Aubert/utdypning |access-date= 9 July 2009
}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
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{{succession box | before=[[Harald Bjerke]]| title=[[Norsk Hydro|Director General of Norsk Hydro]] |years=1926-1941 |after=[[Bjarne Eriksen (businessman)|Bjarne Eriksen]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubert, Axel}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Basel alumni]]
[[Category:Norwegian chemists]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Oslo]]
[[Category:Norsk Hydro people]]
[[Category:Engineers from Oslo]]
[[Category:Norwegian people of World War II]]
[[Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta]]
[[Category:Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal]]
[[Category:d'Aubert family]]
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