Victor Sparre, born in 1919, was brought up in Bergen, where his father was city librarian. Later he studied art in Oslo. In 1940, during the German invasion of Norway, he served as a private soldier and was wounded. He was afterwards active in the Resistance.
ln 1955, he won a national competition for designs to replace the windows, merely modern copies, of the mediaeval Stavanger Cathedral. There followed more than twenty commissions for stained-glass windows for Norwegian churches, including the so-called ‘Arctic Cathedral in Tromsö, where his window is one of the largest works in stained glass of this century. Meanwhile, he has been a prolific painter, with major works in the Norwegian National Gallery and many other art collections throughout Norway.
He is also well known as a journalist and broadcaster. whilst during the last few years his indefatigable campaigning for human rights has helped to make his name a household word in his own country.
In particular he was concerned with the difficult situation of Soviet dissidents. He made numerous visits to the Soviet Union in support of Aleksandr Solzjenitsyn, Sakharov, Maksimov and others.
