Hans Andreas Hanssen (29 April 1873 – 1960) 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 ...

newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party. He served two terms as an MP, and edited the newspapers '' Smaalenenes Social-Demokrat'', '' Nybrott'', ''

1ste Mai ''Rogalands Avis'' is a local newspaper published in Stavanger, Norway. History and profile ''Rogalands Avis'' was established in 1899. The paper is based in Stavanger and covers the southern Rogaland. A Labour Party-affiliated newspaper, i ...

'' and '' Folket''. Hanssen was a temperance activist in the years before

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 opposin ...

, and then joined

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 ...

and worked as a priest.

Career

Hanssen was born in

Kråkerøy Kråkerøy is an island and a former municipality in Viken county, Norway. The island of Kråkerøy was separated from Glemmen as a municipality of its own January 1, 1908. At that time Kråkerøy had a population of 3,311. The rural municipality ...

as a son of a blacksmith. After finishing middle school in 1889 he worked different office jobs in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

, Fredrikshald and

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 ...

. In 1906, Hanssen founded the newspaper '' Smaalenenes Social-Demokrat'' in Fredrikstad, and edited it until 1909. He moved to Fredrikshald where he traded art and ran a cigar shop. Hanssen served in the city council from 1910 to 1916, the first three years as deputy mayor. He was 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 ...

from the city in

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

, and served one term. In 1916, Hanssen moved to

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

to edit the newspaper '' Nybrott''. He edited ''

'' in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

from 1919 before returning to Larvik in 1921, this time as manager in '' Folkets Dagblad'', established by a merger of ''Nybrott'' and ''

Bratsberg-Demokraten ''Bratsberg-Demokraten'' ("The Bratsberg Democrat") was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien in Telemark county. From 1924 to 1929 it was named ''Telemark Kommunistblad''. ''Bratsberg-Demokraten'' was started on 7 April 1908, as the Labour Pa ...

''. Hanssen was elected to the Parliament of Norway from the

Market towns of Vestfold county The Market towns of Vestfold county ( no, Kjøpstedene i Vestfold fylke) was an electoral district for parliamentary elections in Norway. It comprised the market towns ( no, kjøpsteder) of Holmestrand, Horten, Tønsberg, Sandefjord and Larvik in ...

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 ...

, and served his second term. He was not re-elected. In the summer of 1923, Hanssen resigned his membership in the Labour Party, because of the religion policy of the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

. Hanssen was an active

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

. He did not rejoin the Labour Party when it left the Comintern in late 1923, because he was still a "revolutionary internationalist". From 1927 to 1929, Hanssen edited the

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

magazine '' Folket''. After managing a rehab and a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

Ørje Ørje is the administrative centre of Marker municipality, Norway, not far from the Swedish border. Its population (2013) is 1,881. Ørje was founded in the 1880s around a timber-processing mill. Engebret Soot had built the first Norwegian cana ...

between 1929 and 1931, he returned to ''Folket'' where he was treasurer from 1931 to 1934 and then editor again. Hanssen also edited the magazine ''Idun'' during his career. 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 ...

, Hanssen joined the Fascist party

. They gave him the job as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

for the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

(of which Hanssen had not been a member) in

Hvaler Hvaler is a municipality that is a group of islands in the southern part of Viken County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjærhalden, on the island of Kirkeøy. The only police station in the municipali ...

. After the Second World War, he was convicted of treason in 1948 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 ...

. He was sentenced to one year of prison and ten years of loss of voting rights. Hanssen died in 1960.Maurseth, 1987: p. 604

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanssen, Andreas 1873 births 1960 deaths Labour Party (Norway) politicians Members of Nasjonal Samling Members of the Storting Norwegian Methodists Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian priests Østfold politicians People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway People from Fredrikstad People from Halden People from Larvik Protestant religious leaders convicted of crimes Politicians from Telemark