Theodor Abrahamsen
Class of 1939
Theodor Abrahamsen (Mac’s, 1933-1939)
The following is some information about Theodor’s life which have published while we wait for an obituary from the family.
On 22nd December 2021 Theodor (Abrahamsen sadly passed away, just over two years after celebrating his 100th birthday in Norway where he lived.
Theodor was at Teddies between 1933-1939 under the Wardenship of Henry Kendall, a figure who over the next six years would become like a second father to him. Life at Teddies in the 1930s was a very different experience to life today! However, he loved the life of the School right from the beginning and despite not speaking English when he arrived (his family lived in Norway until Stalin’s take over in 1929 when his family moved to England) he quickly became a popular figure. He was placed in Macnamara’s under the legendary Arthur Macnamara, and by the time Theodor left in the Summer Term of 1939 he had accepted a place at St Edmund Hall; he was also Head of Mac’s and, in 1938, Head Prefect. He had been a member of the School’s 1st XV since 1936 (aged 16) and the 1st XI in his last two years; he became an Under Officer in the OTC; he was Hon Sec of the Kenneth Grahame Society and also edited the Chronicle – not bad for a young lad who could barely speak the language six years previously!
He was back in Oslo when the Second World War broke out and he spent two horrendous years at Buchenwald concentration camp. (see The Chronicle 2011 for a full write up -link here – https://archive.stedwardsoxford.org/Filename.ashx?tableName=ta_publications&columnName=filename&recordId=691 ). After the War, Theodor became a teacher, spending 35 years teaching in Norway, Canada and the USA, before returning to Oslo as a lecturer at the British Institute in the University from 1966-71 and eventually becoming Headmaster (or Rektor) at Hamar Katedralskole.
He was amongst the most loyal and committed OSE attending as many functions as he could despite the long distance between Oslo and Oxford, most recently to a Simeon Society lunch at School in 2019. The same year, when Teddy turned one hundred, the then Warden Stephen Jones, Society President Charles Cooper and Honorary Secretary John Wiggins went to Oslo to celebrate, joining over eighty of Theodor’s friends and family.
Theodor Abrahamsen enjoyed a remarkable life and we look forward to sharing his full obituary once we receive one.
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