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{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Nordal Wille
|image             = NordalWille.jpg
|image_size        =
|caption           = Wille, circa 1911
|birth_date        = {{birth date|1858|10|28|df=y}}
|birth_place       = [[Hobøl]]
|death_date        = {{death date and age|1924|2|4|1858|10|28|df=y}}
|death_place       = [[Oslo|Kristiania]]
|residence         =
|citizenship       = [[Norway|Norwegian]]
|nationality       =
|fields            = [[algae]]ology<br>[[plant morphology]]<br>[[plant anatomy]]<br>[[plant physiology]]
|workplaces        = [[University of Oslo|Royal Frederick University]]
|alma_mater        =
|doctoral_advisor  =
|academic_advisors =
|doctoral_students =
|notable_students  = [[Haaken Hasberg Gran]]
|known_for         =
|influences        =
|influenced        =
|awards            =
|religion          =
|footnotes         =
}}
'''Johan Nordal Fischer Wille''' (28 October 1858 – 4 February 1924) was a Norwegian botanist. He was a professor at the [[University of Oslo|Royal Frederick University]] from 1893 to his death, founded the laboratory at the [[University Botanical Garden (Oslo)|University Botanical Garden]] and co-founded the [[Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo|Natural History Museum]].
==Personal life==
Wille was born in [[Hobøl]] as the son of physician Hans Georg Wille (1803–1879) and his wife Ingeborg Fischer (1811–1875). He was a grandnephew of priest and writer [[Hans Jacob Wille]].<ref name=nbl>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2005|volume=10|title=Nordal Wille|encyclopedia=[[Norsk biografisk leksikon]]|editor=[[Knut Helle|Helle, Knut]]|first=Anne|last=Vaalund|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Nordal_Wille/utdypning|language=Norwegian|accessdate=27 March 2009}}</ref>
He married three times. The first marriage with Anne Koller, a daughter of [[Carl Theodor Fredrik Koller]], lasted from September 1891 to her death in March 1908. During this period he was a brother-in-law of [[Rasmus Meyer]] and [[Gustav Guldberg]], who were married to two of Anne's sisters. The second marriage with Ragna Margrethe Knudsen lasted from September 1911 to her death in July 1917, and finally he married Swedish-born school teacher Ester Victoria Svensson in October 1918.<ref name=nbl/>
==Career==
Wille grew up in Hobøl, but eventually moved to [[Oslo|Kristiania]] to take his education. He embarked on an education as a teacher of natural sciences, but became increasingly interested in [[algae]], a field in which there was no adequate education available in Norway. He studied [[plant morphology]], [[plant anatomy]] and [[plant physiology]] in different European countries, and conducted several field studies. He was a lecturer at the [[Swedish Museum of Natural History]] and the [[Stockholm University]] between 1883 and 1889. He moved to the [[Norwegian College of Agriculture]] in 1889.<ref name=nbl/>
In 1893 he was given a newly established professor position at the [[University of Oslo|Royal Frederick University]], which also gave him responsibility over the [[University Botanical Garden (Oslo)|University Botanical Garden]] at [[Tøyen]]. In addition, Wille moved to Tøyen. In 1895 he founded a laboratory there. The founding of the laboratory promoted research among students,<ref name=nbl/> which would become important to several later researchers, including Wille's lab assistant from 1894 [[Haaken Hasberg Gran]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2001|volume=3|title=Haaken H Gran|encyclopedia=[[Norsk biografisk leksikon]]|editor=[[Knut Helle|Helle, Knut]]|first=Finn-Egil|last=Eckblad|authorlink=Finn-Egil Eckblad|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Haaken_H_Gran/utdypning|language=Norwegian|accessdate=27 March 2009}}</ref> and, in turn, Gran's assistant [[Trygve Braarud]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2000|volume=2|title=Trygve Braarud|encyclopedia=[[Norsk biografisk leksikon]]|editor=[[Knut Helle|Helle, Knut]]|first=Jahn|last=Throndsen|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Trygve_Braarud/utdypning|language=Norwegian|accessdate=27 March 2009}}</ref>
After the death of professor [[Axel Blytt]] in 1898, Wille was also given responsibility of the Botanical Museum. The collections of natural history items were located at the university campus in downtown Kristiania, but this locality had become too small.<ref name=nbl/> Together with [[Waldemar Christofer Brøgger (geologist)|Waldemar Christofer Brøgger]], Wille was instrumental in moving the natural history collections to new localities at Tøyen. This was the foundation of the [[Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.uio.no/om-museet/museets-bygninger/botanisk-museum/|title=Botanisk museum|publisher=Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo|language=Norwegian|accessdate=27 March 2009}}</ref> Later, a larger expansion of the university as a whole became necessary. The locality in downtown Kristiania provided little room for spreading out, so a more peripheral location was debated. Wille lobbied for Tøyen, but the site at [[Blindern]] further west was chosen. According to the encyclopedia ''[[Norsk biografisk leksikon]]'', Wille became "bitter" due to this decision.<ref name=nbl/>
Wille was also involved in politics, serving as the [[Conservative Party of Norway|Conservative Party]] chairman of the local chapter in [[Grünerløkka|Grünerløkken]] from 1911 to 1913. He subscribed to the idea of [[philanthropy]].<ref name=nbl/>
He was a Knight, First Class of the [[Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav]] and a Commander, Second Class of the Swedish [[Order of the Polar Star]]. He died in Kristiania in 1924,<ref name=nbl/> one year before the name of the city was changed to Oslo.
{{botanist|Wille|Wille, Nordal}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1858 births]]
[[Category:1924 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Norwegian botanists]]
[[Category:Norwegian phycologists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Oslo]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star]]
[[Category:People from Hobøl]]
[[Category:19th-century Norwegian botanists]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala]]