Niels Ødegaard (25 September 1892 – 1976) was a Norwegian educator, newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

parties. He was born in

Gjøvik Gjøvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Gjøvik (town), town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Norway, Biri, Bybrua, ...

as a son of shoemaker Anton Ødegaard (1865–1931) and his wife Pauline Josefine Nielsen (1863–1943). He started his working career in a printing press from 1906 to 1909 and then as an office clerk for O. Mustad & Søn from 1909 to 1911. He then studied and graduated from Elverum Teachers' College in 1913, and was hired as a school teacher in Gjøvik. He also worked as a substitute teacher in Tyldalen,

Fluberg Fluberg is a village in Søndre Land Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located near the north end of the Randsfjorden, about north of the village of Hov and about to the southeast of the village of Dokka. The village w ...

and

Vardal Vardal is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now divided between Gjøvik Municipality and Vestre Toten M ...

. From 1916 he chaired the local Labour Party chapter. In 1919 he became editor-in-chief of the newspaper '' Ny Dag'', He was also a member of Gjøvik city council from 1919, and served as mayor from 1922 to 1940. He left ''Ny Dag'' in 1924, and from 1926 to 1940 he was the editor-in-chief of Opland Arbeiderblad. He also chaired Gjøvik's school board, and was deputy chair of the supervisory council of Kommunenes Filmcentral and Norsk Film. He chaired several local companies: Gjøvik Støperi og Mekaniske Verksted, Gjøvik Skifabrik, Gjøvik Auto and Byggeleverandøren, and was a board member of Gumælius og Reklame and Gjøvik Bruk, as well as the

Federation of Norwegian Industries The Federation of Norwegian Industries () is an employers' organisation in Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic ...

. He was a deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) 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 based on party-list proportional represe ...

in the terms 1925–1927, 1928–1930 and 1931–1933, representing the

Market towns of Hedmark and Oppland counties The Market towns of Hedmark and Oppland counties () was an electoral district for parliamentary elections in Norway. It comprised the market towns () of Hamar and Kongsvinger in Hedmark county and Lillehammer and Gjøvik in Oppland county. The dis ...

. In 1924 he was elected on the ballot of the Communist Party (which he had joined), but right after the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

he gave up this party and rejoined the Labour Party. He returned as local Labour chairman, serving until 1934. He was elected as a full member of Parliament in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. His last term was ended by 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 th ...

, during which he was also removed as mayor. He instead became manager of the company Hunton Bruk, where he remained until 1961. He returned as mayor after the Second World War, and sat from 1945 to 1967. In total, he is the longest-sitting mayor in any Norwegian

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. He also spearheaded policies, branded "Ødegaardianism", that bore the characteristics of a

mixed economy A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services. More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...

(i.e. not really socialism).Maurseth, 1987: p. 554 In 1967 he was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Gjøvik, and in 1972 a monument to him was unveiled in the city. He died in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oedegaard, Niels 1892 births 1976 deaths Norwegian schoolteachers Norwegian newspaper editors Politicians from Gjøvik Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Oppland Members of the Storting