Einar Olgeirsson (14 August 1902 – 3 February 1993) was an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician.

Biography

Einar was born in

Akureyri Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner. Nickn ...

. In 1921, he graduated from Reykjavik Junior College. He later studied German and English literature at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in the years 1921–1924, but did not graduate. After returning to Iceland, Einar worked as a teacher in Akureyri in 1924–1928. In 1928–1931, he served as a representative to the town council of Akureyri. He was one of the co-founders of the Communist Party of Iceland in 1930. As a leading member of the Communist Party, Einar was one of the main proponents in Iceland behind the

popular front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

line, promoted by the Comintern as a means to resist the growth of

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

during the second half of the 1930s. This resulted in the merging of the Icelandic Communist Party and the left-wing faction of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

into the

People's Unity Party – Socialist Party The People's Unity Party – Socialist Party ( is, Sameiningarflokkur alþýðu – Sósíalistaflokkurinn), generally referred to as the Socialist Party ( is, Sósíalistaflokkurinn), was an Icelandic political party that functioned from 1938 to ...

in 1938. Einar would later serve as chairman of the People's Unity Party – Socialist Party during the years 1939–1968, making him one of the most influential socialist politicians in Iceland during the 20th century. Einar was a member of the

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...

, the Icelandic parliament, in the years 1937–1968: there, he served as a representative for the Communist Party until the party's merging into the People's Unity Party – Socialist Party in 1938. He then represented the People's Unity Party – Socialist Party in parliament until 1956, when he became a representative of the People's Alliance, an electoral alliance formed by the People's Unity Party – Socialist Party and another left-wing faction of the Social Democratic Party. As part of his political activity, Einar was also the editor of several left-wing newspapers, including ''

Þjóðviljinn :'' Þjóðviljinn was also the name of a magazine published by Skúli Thoroddsen between 1887 and 1915.'' ''Þjóðviljinn'' () was an Icelandic daily newspaper founded on 31 October 1936. It had close ties with the Communist Party of Iceland a ...

'' in the years 1936–1946. During the

Allied occupation of Iceland The Allied occupation of Iceland during World War II began with a British invasion intent on occupying and denying Iceland to Germany. The military operation, codenamed Operation Fork, was conducted by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. In tim ...

, ''Þjóðviljinn'' was accused of spreading propaganda against the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. As a result, Einar was arrested by the British in April 1941 and transferred to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he was imprisoned in

HM Prison Brixton HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened a ...

for several months. He was released and allowed to return to Iceland during the summer of 1941. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Einar was a member of several government committees until the 1970s. In the years 1957–1963 he served as a representative of Iceland to the Nordic Council, and in the years 1957–1981 he was a member of the Board of Directors of

Landsbanki Landsbanki (literally "national bank"), also commonly known as Landsbankinn (literally "the national bank") which is now the name of the current rebuilt bank (here called "New Landsbanki"), was one of the largest Icelandic commercial banks that f ...

. He died in

Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður (), officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður (), is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region, on the southwest coast of t ...

in 1993.

Biography

References

Further reading