Leif Andreas Larsen (2 January 1898 – 29 April 1978) was a Norwegian

telegrapher A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Roya ...

and politician for the Labour Party. He 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 ...

, and moved to

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

in 1926. He had an education as a telegrapher, and also took the

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree in 1924. He chaired of the Labour Party chapter in Bærum from 1930 to 1935, and was elected to serve in Bærum

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

in 1932. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he was imprisoned in Bredtveit concentration camp from 30 March 1943, then in

Berg concentration camp Berg interneringsleir (Berg internment camp) was a concentration camp near Tønsberg in Norway that served as an internment and transit center for political prisoners and Jews during the Nazi occupation of Norway. Establishment The camp at Berg ...

from 26 July 1944 to 26 March 1945. In May 1945, when Norway was liberated from the five-year-long

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, Larsen became deputy mayor of Bærum. After the 1945 Norwegian local elections he became mayor. He was the first mayor of Bærum to represent the Labour Party. He left the municipal council in 1951, but returned for the years 1956 to 1963, when he was again deputy mayor. From 1962 to 1968 he was the director of Telegrafverket, which would change its name to Televerket in 1969 and

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...

in 1995. Larsen was decorated as a Commander of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

. A road in

Sandvika Sandvika () is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a List of cities in Norway, city by the municipal council (Norway), municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003. Sandvika is situated approximately ...

, ''Leif Larsens vei'', has been named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Leif Andreas 1898 births 1978 deaths Norwegian resistance members Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Berg concentration camp survivors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Akershus Bærum politicians Directors of government agencies of Norway