Helge Krog (9 February 1889 – 30 July 1962) was a Norwegian journalist, essayist, theatre and literary critic, translator and playwright.

Personal life

Krog was born in

Kristiania 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 ...

, the son of jurist Fredrik Arentz Krog and Ida Cecilie Thoresen. His mother, a well-known feminist, was the first female student in Norway in 1882, and his father's sister,

Gina Krog Jørgine Anna Sverdrup "Gina" Krog (20 June 1847 – 14 April 1916) was a Norwegian suffragist, teacher, liberal politician, writer and editor, and a major figure in liberal feminism in Scandinavia. She played a central role in the Norwegian l ...

, was a central figure in the Norwegian women's suffrage movement. He was married to writer and publicist Eli Meyer from 1912 to 1947, and to actress

Tordis Maurstad Tordis Elfrida Maurstad (née Witzøe; 24 December 1901 – 10 January 1997) was a Norwegian stage actress. She was married to Alfred Maurstad, and the mother of Toralv Maurstad. She later married Helge Krog. She made her stage debut in Falk ...

from 1949.

Career

Krog graduated as

cand.oecon. Candidatus oeconomices (male) or Candidata oeconomices (female), often abbreviated cand.oecon. is an academic degree in economics at Education in Denmark, Danish, Háskóli Íslands, Icelandic and Higher education in Norway, Norwegian universities ...

in 1911. He worked for the newspaper ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' from 1912, and from 1914 as a theatre and literary critic. He later worked for the newspapers ''

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 ...

'', ''

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. ...

'' and ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...

''. He issued the article collection ' in 1929 (lit. ''Opininons on books and writers''), and a second collection, ' in 1933. His first play was the

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

comedy ' from 1917, which was staged at several Scandinavian theatres. The play was a great success at

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christia ...

with almost sixty performances,

Gerda Ring Gerda Ring (11 May 1891 – 12 January 1999) was a Norwegian stage actress and stage producer. She was the daughter of writer Barbra Ring, and married actor and theatre director Halfdan Christensen in 1922. They were parents of the actors B ...

playing the "shop girl" character, and August Oddvar the "young journalist". The play ''På solsiden'' from 1927 was later basis for a film (in 1956). Other plays were ''Konkylien'' from 1929, and ''Don Juan'' (together with

Sigurd Hoel Sigurd Hoel (December 14, 1890 – October 14, 1960) was a Norwegian author and publishing consultant, born in Nord-Odal. He debuted with the collection of short stories (The Way We Go) in 1922. His breakthrough came with (Sinners in Summertim ...

, from 1930). The plays ''Underveis'' (1931) and ''Opbrudd'' (1936) treat women's role in society and were also of interest during the feminist movement of the 1970s. During the interwar period Krog became known as a member of the "radical triumvirate", along with

Arnulf Øverland Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland (27 April 1889 – 25 March 1968) was a Norwegian poet and artist. He is principally known for his poetry which served to inspire the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway during Wor ...

and Sigurd Hoel.

World War II

During the last part 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 ...

Krog lived in exile in Sweden, where he contributed to the magazine ''

Håndslag ''Håndslag'' was a Norwegian bi-weekly political magazine issued in Stockholm from June 1942 to June 1945. It was issued by Eyvind Johnson, and edited by Torolf Elster. Among the journalists were Willy Brandt and Helge Krog. The magazine was sec ...

''. He published, under pseudonym, the critical article "Nazi-Tysklands krigspotensial og den 6-te kolonne i Norge" in 1944, an article which was subject to much debate, also after the war. The pamphlet was reissued in an expanded version in 1946, questioning the contributions from the Norwegian large-scale industry to the warfare of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

( no, 6. kolonne -? Om den norske storindustriens bidrag til Nazi-Tysklands krigføring). He died 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krog, Helge 1889 births 1962 deaths Norwegian essayists Writers from Oslo 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century essayists Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian journalists