Frode Viggo Nyegaard lived a long and rich life. He was an entrepreneur who built a successful business, whose fortune now forms the basis for the distribution of Fondation Idella grants.

Early life and education

Frode V. Nyegaard was born on August 5th, 1904 in Frederiksberg as the son of Master Plumber Valdemar Viggo Nyegaard and wife Anna Nyegaard. He was the eldest of 10 children.

Frode started working at an early age, and aged 13-14 years old he reputedly worked at a corset factory in Frederiksberg.

After his high school graduation, Frode V. Nyegaard studied building engineering at the Polytechnic College – now the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). He graduated as M.Sc. in Building Sciences in 1928.

Business career

Frode V. Nyegaard’s first entrepreneurial endeavour was the development of the building-site, which would later become the Blidah Park residential area in Hellerup. the largest development project in Scandinavia at the time. Immediately after that, he worked for the company ‘Bodilsen & Sandager’ renovating the Frederica railway station, followed by a time at the City Engineer’s office in Odense (1928). Later he joined the consulting engineering company ‘Glud & Ellern’ (1931).

In 1932 Frode V. Nyegaard established his own consulting engineering company, which was soon busy constructing residential buildings and terraced houses in and around Copenhagen. Construction projects were carried out in collaboration with local tradesmen, and the company built terraced houses in Søborg and apartment buildings in Vangede, Charlottenlund, Tingbjerg, Frederiksberg, Østerbro, Amager, Hvidovre, Rødovre and in several Copenhagen environs.

Private life

Tragically, Frode V. Nyegaard’s first wife died of cancer. They had no children.

In 1956, 52-year old, Frode V. Nyegaard moved to Switzerland, not only to take on various assignments, but also because he had been advised to “move to a better climate and work less”. He lived in Lausanne for 43 years – until 1999.

In 1971, at the age of 67, Frode V. Nyegaard married 60-year old Rigmor Nyegaard (1914-2001).

Frode V. Nyegaard passed away on August 26, 1999 in Denmark, 95 years old.

The Funds

Frode V. Nyegaard did not have any children of his own, which was one of the reasons why he decided to establish two charitable foundations:

”Frode V. Nyegaard og Hustru’s Fond” (Frode V. Nyegaard and Wife’s Foundation) was founded in 1978 and aims to support medical research in Denmark.

The foundation is domiciled in Denmark. (See more at www.nyegaardsfond.dk).

“Fondation ldella” was founded in 1994 and aims to support young students with travel grants in two fields of education: Humanities and Engineering. In the field of Medical & Health Science, the foundation supports projects in traditional health science and alternative medicine.

The foundation is domiciled in Liechtenstein.