Elias Karelius Johansen Volan (10 March 1887 – 26 December 1974) 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 ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist. He was born in

Inderøy Inderøy is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen. Other villages include Framverran, Gangstadhaugen, Hylla, Kjerknesvågen, Kjer ...

as a son of

crofter A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer, especially in rural area ...

Johan Berent Johannessen Volvollan and Lise Eliasdatter Kjærbo. He attended Sund Folk

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

from 1903 to 1904, but spent the rest of his youth as a worker. In 1908 he became chairman of his local trade union. He became a

Norwegian Union of General Workers The Norwegian Union of General Workers ( no, Norsk Arbeidsmandsforbund, NAF) is a trade union in Norway. It has a membership of 33,000 and is affiliated with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). The union was founded on 13 April 1895 ...

unionist in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, and became a national board member in 1913. He was also a member of the Dutch Radicals (refer to Fagopposisjonen av 1911), and through his fellow adherents (spearheaded by

Martin Tranmæl Martin Olsen Tranmæl (27 June 1879 – 11 July 1967) was a Norwegian socialist leader from The Norwegian Labour Party. Biography Martin Tranmæl grew up on a middle-sized farm in Melhus, in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. He started working a ...

) he was elected chairman of the

in 1918 and deputy chairman of the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions ...

in 1920. In 1923 he went on to become

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the newly created

Norwegian Union of Building Workers The Norwegian Union of Building Industry Workers ( no, Norsk Bygningsindustriarbeiderforbund, NBIAF) was a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. It was founded in 1923 as the Norwegian Union o ...

. He was active in the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centr ...

, but when the party split in 1923 he joined the

Communist Party of Norway The Communist Party of Norway ( no, Norges Kommunistiske Parti, NKP) is a communist party in Norway. The NKP was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. It was Stalinist from its establishment and, as such, supported t ...

. He was a central

board member A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

from 1923 to 1929 and

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

member from 1925 to 1929. Because of this he was removed as

leader in 1927, and instead became head of trade matters in the

. In 1929 he was also removed as member of the Confederation of Trade Unions secretariat together with Hans Aas. He chaired the party

Arbeiderklassens Samlingsparti Arbeiderklassens Samlingsparti (lit. "Unified Party of the Working Class") was a short-lived political party in Norway. Establishment It was a part of the tendency of unification among the workers' parties in Norway. From the Norwegian Labour Par ...

in 1927, but it was very short-lived. He left the Communist Party in 1929, and rejoined the Labour Party. He was secretary of the Confederation of Trade Unions from 1931 to 1934, when he was again removed. He instead became Confederation of Trade Unions secretary for

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

in 1935, where he mainly travelled around and founded trade unions. In 1938 he returned as national secretary. He was married to Olufine Mathilde Vinje (1885–1953) from June 1909 to 1938, and then to Astrid Evensen (1890–1958) from July 1938. After the

German invasion of Norway German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

in 1940, the leadership of the Confederation of Trade Unions fled together with the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. Volan became acting

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

from 13 April 1940. On 14 April he co-signed a petition to the people to remain calm under the new German rule (following the

Lysaker Bridge sabotage The Lysaker Bridge sabotage ( no, Lysakeraksjonen, lit. 'The Lysaker Action') was a sabotage action in World War II which occurred in Norway on the night between 13 and 14 April 1940 when a Lysaker Bridge, bridge at Lysaker, bordering Oslo, was blow ...

). Volan was a member of the ''Nemnda for industri og omsetning'', and participated in negotiations during the summer. Many trade unionists disliked his role. Nonetheless, he was removed by Germans in September 1940.

Jens Tangen Jens Eugen Tangen (20 July 1897 – 22 September 1980) was a Norwegian trade unionist. Career Tangen chaired the trade union Norwegian Union of Building Workers from 1935, having been deputy chairman from 1933 to 1934. In 1940, he was a central mem ...

from Fagopposisjonen av 1940 was ordered by Germans to take over. Volan fled to Sweden, where he worked for the exiled part of the Confederation of Trade Unions. He was a Communist Party member for a brief time, but joined the Labour Party for the third time before 1945. After the war, he was not sanctioned for the time as trade union leader in

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

Norway. He continued as union secretary until retirement in 1953, being re-elected in 1946 and 1949. He was a member of the

Labour Court of Norway Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

from 1954 to 1957. He died in December 1974 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volan, Elias 1887 births 1974 deaths People from Inderøy Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian trade unionists Norwegian people of World War II Norwegian expatriates in Sweden