Wereide, Thorstein (1882-?)

Norwegian physicist and parapsychologist. He was born on March 9, 1882, at Nordfjord, Norway. He studied at the University of Oslo (B.A., 1910; Ph.D., 1914). He joined the staff of the University of Oslo as a physicist in the Medical College following World War I and remained there throughout his long career.

In 1919 he was among the cofounders of the Norwegian Society for Psychical Research. In 1926 he became editor of Psykisk Tidsskrift, the society's journal (1926-39), and the following year was elected president of the NSPR. He was a delegate to the international psychical research congresses at Copenhagen (1920), Warsaw (1923), Paris (1927), and Athens (1930) and president of the International Congress of Psychical Research held in Oslo in 1935. Having survived World War II, he was also able to attend the International Conference on Parapsychological Studies at Utrecht in 1953 and the International Conference on Spontaneous Phenomena at Cambridge, England, 1955.

His investigations covered mediumship, materialization, and multiple personality phenomena. He made a special study of the Norwegian medium Ingeborg Koeber and the multiple personalities of Hungarian Lujza Ignath. Among his many writings, several were translated into English for Tomorrow magazine.

Sources:

Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology. New York: Helix Press, 1964.

Scarabaeus [Thorstein Wereide]. Mysteriesamfund (Mystery Societies). N.p., 1948.

Wereide, Thorstein. Byggesamfund (Building Societies).N.p., 1956.

——. "Medium or Murderess." Tomorrow (winter 1957).

——. Menneskets Metafysikk (The Metaphysics of Man).N.p., 1953.

——. "Norway's Human Doubles." Tomorrow (winter 1955).