Egil Helle (28 April 1923 – 2006) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

newspaper editor, information worker and biographer. He was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. He started his journalist career in 1942, during the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

, in the illegal press. The name of his illegal newspaper changed several times, from ''Ukenytt'' via ''Norges Demring'' to ''Fram''. He had to flee to Sweden towards the end of World War II. After the war he worked as a journalist in ''

Bergens Arbeiderblad ''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage ...

'' from 1945 to 1952 and in ''

Arbeiderbladet ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

'' from 1952 to 1961. He was then the editor-in-chief of ''Bergens Arbeiderblad'' from 1961 to 1964, before working on the editor's board of ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1964 to 1975. He was the press spokesman in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

from 1975 to 1978, and information director in the

Ministry of Petroleum and Energy The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy ( no, Olje- og energidepartementet) is a Norwegian ministry responsible for energy, including petroleum and natural gas production in the North Sea. It is led by Minister of Petroleum and Energy ...

from 1978 to 1991. He was the first to hold this post in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, and saw seven

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

s come and go during his time. Helle was a prolific non-fiction writer. He authored biographies of

Oscar Torp Oscar Fredrik Torp (, 8 June 1893 – 1 May 1958) was a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He was party leader from 1923 to 1945, and mayor of Oslo in 1935 and 1936. In 1935 he became the acting minister of Defence in the governm ...

(1982),

Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was the 22nd prime minister of Norway for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With totally 17 years i ...

(1987),

Christian Holtermann Knudsen Christian Holtermann Knudsen (15 July 1845 – 21 April 1929) was a Norwegian typographer, newspaper editor, publisher, trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He is known as chairman of his party in three non-consecuti ...

(1988),

Nils Langhelle Nils Langhelle (28 September 1907 – 28 August 1967) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party and Minister of Labour 1945–1946, Norway's first Minister of Transport and Communications 1946-1951 and 1951–1952, Minister of Defense 1952� ...

(1991) and

Kyrre Grepp Olav Kyrre Grepp (6 August 1879 – 6 February 1922) was a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party. Grepp became a Communist by the end of his life and was active in the Comintern. He studied literature and philosophy, howev ...

(1995). In 1984, he wrote a Norwegian petroleum history, and he has also written books about the Folketeatret building and

Biblioteksentralen Biblioteksentralen AL is a library center for public libraries in Norway, with offices in Oslo. It is the primary supplier of books, equipment and services to these libraries. Libraries make use of Biblioteksentralen's centralized library catalog ...

. Helle was married, and lived in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. He died in April 2006. Folketeaterbygningen, Oslo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helle, Egil 1923 births 2006 deaths Writers from Bergen Norwegian resistance members Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Norwegian newspaper editors Civil servants from Bergen Norwegian biographers Male biographers Norwegian non-fiction writers 20th-century biographers 20th-century Norwegian male writers Male non-fiction writers