orig. Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel
born Aug. 3, 1872, Charlottenlund, Den.
died Sept. 21, 1957, Oslo, Nor.
King of Norway (1905–57).
Born prince Carl of Denmark, he was offered the Norwegian crown after the restoration of the country's independence in 1905. He accepted only after receiving approval by a plebiscite, and he took the Old Norse name of Haakon. In World War II he fled to England after the German invasion of Norway (1940), and his refusal to abdicate inspired Norwegians to resist the German occupation.