Jacob Laurentius Vidnes (5 November 1875 – 4 October 1940) was a Norwegian trade unionist, newspaper editor, politician for the Labour Party and civil servant. He was born in

Vanylven Vanylven is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the village of Fiskåbygd. Other villages i ...

as a son of farmer Knud Larsen Vidnes (1819–98) og Laurine Knudsdatter (1832–1910). In May 1929 he married hotelier's daughter Sigrid Birkeland (1900–1989), who after the death of Vidnes married

Arne Ording Arne Ording (7 May 1898 – 26 July 1967) was a Norwegian historian and politician for ''Mot Dag'' and the Labour Party. Pre-war life and career Ording was born in Kristiania as a son of theology professor Johannes Ording (1869–1929) and Fredr ...

. He graduated from Volda Teachers' College in 1896, moved to

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 ...

as subeditor of ''Arbeideren'' in 1898 and was hired in the Labour Party main newspaper ''

Social-Demokraten :''This is about the Swedish newspaper. For the American newspaper see Social-Demokraten (Chicago newspaper). For the Norwegian newspaper see Dagsavisen.'' ''Social-Demokraten'' ("The Social Democrat") was a Swedish daily Social Democratic newsp ...

'' in 1899. In 1900 he was a co-founder and first chairman of ''Kristiania socialdemokratiske Ungdomslag''. He was then one of the founders of Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund in 1903. In 1909 he founded the trade union Norges Socialdemokratiske Presseforening, for all employees in the social democratic press. He was also a board member of the

Norwegian Press Association The Norwegian Press Association ( no, Norsk Presseforbund, NP) is Norwegian association established in 1910, for press people with journalism as their main profession. Among its members are the Norwegian Union of Journalists, the Association of Nor ...

. He had advanced to subeditor, and was from 1912 to 1918 the editor-in-chief of ''Social-Demokraten''. He represented the Labour Party in Kristiania city council from 1914 to 1919, and was a member of its central board from 1912. From 1913 to 1918 he was also a member of the

International Socialist Bureau The International Socialist Bureau (French: ''Bureau Socialiste International'') was the permanent organization of the Second International, established at the Paris congress of 1900. Before this there was no organizational infrastructure to the "Se ...

. In 1918 the radical wing of the Labour Party assumed control of the party at the national convention. Vidnes stepped down from the central committee, and from the positions as chairman of Socialdemokratiske Presseforening and chief editor of ''Social-Demokraten''. In a piece called ''Arbeiderpartiet gaar helt over til bolsjevismen'' published in the right-wing 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 ...

'' in May 1919 he denounced the "

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

" in the Labour Party. In 1919 he was chosen by the Norwegian government as advisor at a

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

conference. The next year he was hired as head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press office. 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 **G ...

in 1940, he fled together with the government and royal family 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 ...

. Here, he was appointed editor of '' Norsk Tidend'', the organ of the Norwegian cabinet-in-exile. He died in October 1940, after supervising only two issues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidnes, Jacob 1875 births 1940 deaths People from Møre og Romsdal Volda University College alumni Norwegian trade unionists Norwegian newspaper editors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Norwegian civil servants Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian people of World War II Dagsavisen editors