Konrad Mathias Nordahl (25 September 1897 – 22 May 1975) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He was the

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 ...

of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 1939 to 1965, and an MP from 1958 to 1965.

Early life

He was born in

Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located in the western part of the municipality. Historically, the area was called ''Laxevaag'', and it was a separate municipality until 1972 when it was m ...

, then in a part of the municipality of Askøy. At the age of two, he lost his mother and was raised by his uncle and aunt as foster parents; he was then given the surname Nordahl instead of Johannessen. He joined 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 ...

in 1912, and a trade union in 1915. He had secretary jobs for the Labour Party and its youth wing, and became a central board member of the

Young Communist League of Norway The Young Communist League of Norway ( no, Norges Kommunistiske Ungdomsforbund, NKU) was until April 2006 the youth league of Norges Kommunistiske Parti (NKP). The NKP declared on 1 April 2006 that the NKU was no longer its youth organization, an ...

in 1923. In the same year the organization seceded from the Labour Party, and became the young wing of a new

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 ...

. Nordahl was a Communist Party member until 1927, and in 1929 he rejoined the Labour Party.

Trade union and politics

In 1923 Nordahl had married Constance Hole (1897–1986) and moved to

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, where he found work in a workshop. He joined the

Norwegian Union of Iron and Metal Workers The Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers ( no, Norsk Jern- og Metallarbeiderforbund, NJMF) was a trade union representing workers in the metal industry, workshops, and shipbuilding in Norway. The union was founded in 1891, and in 1905 it joine ...

, and became national chairman in 1931. Already in 1934 he became vice chairman of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. He was promoted to chairman in 1939 when

Olav Hindahl Olav Hindahl (17 October 1892, Stavanger – 14 June 1963, Oslo) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He started his career as a typographer, and became involved in the local labour union. He rose up the ladde ...

became a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

member. At the same time he joined the Norwegian Labour Party central board, where he remained until 1965. He was also a member of the executive committee of Oslo city council from 1937 to 1947. On 9 April 1940 Norway was attacked by

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 ...

. Hindahl followed the cabinet as they fled the capital. Unlike the cabinet Nordahl did not flee the country in 1940. After protests against the new Nazi authorities Nordahl was arrested in November 1940, but later released. The Confederation of Trade Unions leadership in Norway was filled with other people, perceived as more cooperationist—Nazis were however not installed until November 1941. Nordahl fled to the United Kingdom in September 1941 and established a leadership-in-exile. He was also a board member of Norges Bank-in-exile from 1941 to 1945. He is regarded as the legal Confederation of Trade Unions leader even through the war years. From 1945 to 1965 he was the undisputed leader. In 1945 he attended the

World Trade Union Conference The World Trade Union Conference between 6–17 February 1945 was participated in by countries from all around the world, at County Hall, London. Regarded as a significant moment within the international labour movement as it was the first time tha ...

in London along with many renowned trade union leaders. He was also elected twice 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 ...

, in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. For both terms he was a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Affairs and the Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Affairs. Nordahl chaired the board of Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund for some time, and also Norsk Arbeiderpresse from 1948 to 1965 and the Norwegian Industrial Bank from 1936 to 1951 (deputy chair from 1952 to 1969). He was a board member of

ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

1948 to 1951,

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...

and Raufoss Industries from 1947 to 1952,

Norsk Jernverk Norsk Jernverk is a former Norwegian industrial company which was founded in 1946 in Mo i Rana, fully owned by the Norwegian government. The production started in 1955. In 1985 it acquired the steel company Christiania Spigerverk, which was later ag ...

1947 to 1953 (supervisory board member 1959 to 1965), Norsk Hydro from 1963 to 1969 and Foreningen Norden. According to '' Dagsavisen'' commentator and former Labour Party politician Arne Strand, Nordahl was one of the three most powerful politicians in the Norwegian labour movement, and thus also in Norwegian 20th-century politics, together with Einar Gerhardsen and

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 ...

. The newspaper '' Morgenbladet'' are among those who has expanded this group somewhat, to include Haakon Lie and

Trygve Bratteli (11 January 1910 – 20 November 1984) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician with the Norwegian Labour Party. He served as the 26th prime minister of Norway from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1973 to 1976. He was president of the No ...

as well. Nordahl was pro-

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

and pro-

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and was an

anti-Communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

during the Cold War. He issued several books, including ''Israel, en demokratisk utpost i Midt-Østen'' ("Israel, a Democratic Outpost in the Middle East", 1965). In 1991 and 1992 his diaries were published in two volumes. He died in May 1975 in Oslo, his

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

interred at Østre gravlund.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordahl, Konrad 1897 births 1975 deaths Trade unionists from Bergen Politicians from Bergen Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian people of World War II Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Members of the Storting Norwegian anti-communists Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian diarists 20th-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century non-fiction writers 20th-century diarists