Ornulv Odegard
- Category : 1901-births
- Type : MGE
- Profile : 2/4 - Hermit / Opportunist
- Definition : Split - Small (3,53,57)
- Incarnation Cross : RAX Maya 1
Biography
Norwegian professor of psychiatry, head physician, and director at Gaustad psychiatric hospital 1938-1972.
On 12 November 1945 during the legal purge in Norway after World War II he was appointed, together with psychiatrist Gabriel Langfeldt, to conduct the psychiatric examination of Knut Hamsun who had been charged with treason for his support of the Nazis during the war. The examination concluded that Hamsun had "permanently impaired mental faculties," on which the charges of treason were dropped.
Ødegård introduced lobotomy as a treatment method at Gaustad in 1941, the first hospital in Norway to do so. He continued this practice long after other and better treatment methods had become available. Lobotomy as a treatment method in Norway was based on Ødegård's research.
Ødegård died on 23 February 1986 in Oslo, Norway, aged 84.