Neurosurgery in Norway started with Vilhelm Magnus (1871-1929). He was born by Norwegian parents in Minnesota, but the family moved back to Norway due to his mother’s ill health when he was still a child. After finishing high school in Bergen he studied medicine in Oslo at the same time as Roald Amundsen until the latter left the university in order to fully concentrate on his explorations.

Following graduation, Magnus travelled widely in Europe to study neurology, pathology and physiology. Significantly, he as physiologist was first to describe the function of the corpus luteum.

After working with Victor Horsley, who became a close friend, he became dedicated to brain surgery and during the next 26 years (1903-29) he instituted neurological surgery as a special field in Norway. Already by 1920 his surgical mortality for brain tumor surgery was 8.1 % which unusual at this time.