Ansgar Eugène Olaussen (27 December 1887 – 22 January 1962) was a Norwegian newspaper editor, educated as a typographer, and politician. As a politician he started in Young Communist League of Norway (, and notably edited ''

Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...

'' from 1911 to 1921. For the Labour Party he was county leader, central board member and MP for slightly more than a year, until he joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

in 1923. Some years after finishing his sole term as an MP for the Communists, he shifted to the

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

and associated himself with Nazism during the Second World War.

Career in the labour movement

He was born in

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

as a son of Hannibal Olaussen (1848–1916) and Bella Sophie Johansen (1852–1918). His father was an immigrant from Tanum, Sweden, and was a

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

by profession, like Eugène's older sister Anna Catharina. The family later lived in

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

. Eugène Olaussen later settled in

Hokksund Hokksund is a town in the municipality of Øvre Eiker in the county of Viken, Norway. History Hokksund is the administrative centre, and largest town in Øvre Eiker, with a population of around 8,000. Hokksund is located 18 km west of Dr ...

. He started his working career at the age of 13, and after some years as a laborer he learned the

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

's trade. His apprenticeship was spent in newspapers like ''

Moss Avis ''Moss Avis'' is a local newspaper in Moss, Norway. Having a rivalry with ''Moss Dagblad'', it is published six days a week. The chief editor is Pål Enghaug. It was established in 1876, and became affiliated with the Liberal Party. It later shif ...

'' and ''

Jarlsberg Jarlsberg was a former countship that forms a part of today's Vestfold county in Norway. The former countships of Jarlsberg and Larvik were merged into a county in 1821. Jarlsberg and Larvik's County (''Jarlsberg og Larviks amt'') were renamed ...

''. In 1907 he became editor-in-chief of ', and was a central board member of the . From 1911 to 1921 he edited the publication of NSU, ''

''. He recruited

Nikolay Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

and

Karl Radek Karl Berngardovich Radek (russian: Карл Бернгардович Радек; 31 October 1885 – 19 May 1939) was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a C ...

to write in the newspaper, and gained a personal acquaintance with

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

. In the summer of 1913 he applied unsuccessfully for the editor chair in ''

Demokraten ("The Democrat") is a local newspaper in Fredrikstad, Norway. Second in its city behind , it is published three days a week. The chief editor is Tomm Pentz Pedersen. It was established in 1906 as , being affiliated with the Labour Party. Retri ...

''. Later that summer he was hired as editor-in-chief of '' Haugesunds Folkeblad'', but he continued in when asked by the central board of to do so. In 1918 he was a part of the left wing that assumed power 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 ...

. He became a member of the party's central board. In 1921 NSU changed name to the Young Communist League of Norway, as the

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

broke out of the Labour Party. In 1923 the communists broke out of the Labour Party to form the

, and the Young Communist League followed. He remained central board member here until 1924. His central board membership in the Labour Party was ended in 1923 as he joined the Communist Party, so did his time as county leader in the Labour Party since 1920. His party change came in mid-term since being elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

. Also in 1923 he wrote the propagandistic history book together with Arvid G. Hansen and Aksel Zachariassen. From 1924 to 1925 he edited the communist magazine '' Proletaren''. He was fired for opposing a semi-union with the Labour Party (some two months after the editor of ''

Arbeidet ''Arbeidet'' ("The Work") was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Bergen in Hordaland county. History and profile ''Arbeidet'' was started in Bergen as a socialist newspaper on 6 December 1893, by a grouping called . It was the first socialist d ...

'' was fired for supporting such a union). He was also imprisoned for 120 days for antimilitaristic agitation. He also translated French poetry and published and the novel in 1926.

Shift to the far right

Olaussen had already undergone change from

antimilitarism Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especia ...

to favoring a

violent revolution ''Violent Revolution'' is the tenth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator. It was released on 25 September, 2001 and is the band's first album to feature lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö. After almost a decade of musical experimentatio ...

, when he in 1927 shifted from the

extreme left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

to the

. He left the Communist Party in 1927, but unlike many others who then joined the Labour Party, he joined the right-wing Fatherland League in 1928 and later the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. From 1927 he wrote for the newspaper ''

Tidens Tegn ''Tidens Tegn'' (Norwegian: ''Sign of the Times'') is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941. Editors The founder and first editor-in-chief of ''Tidens Tegn'' was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Tho ...

''. 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 ...

he was refused membership in the fascist party

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such a ...

. Nonetheless, he wrote extensively for the Nazi publications of the party.

Post-war

Olaussen wrote the memoirs , "From Kremlin to Youngstorget". The memoirs were printed, but because of the war's end, his kind was not longer tolerated and the book was not published. In 1947, Olaussen, during the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The purge in Norway after World War II was a purge that took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was deemed to have collaborated with the German occupation of the country. Several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens wer ...

, was sentenced for Nazi collaboration to two and a half-years in prison. He died in January 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olaussen, Eugene 1887 births 1962 deaths Norwegian people of Swedish descent Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian magazine editors Members of the Storting Buskerud politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Fatherland League (Norway) People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway Norwegian memoirists 20th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century memoirists Politicians from Tønsberg