Jens Olaf Gjerløw (20 March 1885 – 5 December 1949) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was editor for the newspaper ''

Morgenbladet ''Morgenbladet'' is a Norwegian weekly, newspaper, covering politics, culture and science. History ''Morgenbladet'' was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg. The paper is the country's first daily newspaper; however, Adresseavi ...

'' from 1920 until his death in 1949, except for a period in German prisons during

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 ...

Personal life

Gjerløw was born 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 ...

as a son of vicar Ole Ohnstad Jensen Gjerløw (1845–1924) and Agnethe Hermine Brun (1854–1936). He grew up in Hamarøy and

Vågan Vågan ( sme, Vuogát) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Svolvær. Some of the villages in Vågan include Digermulen, ...

, where his father was stationed. He was a nephew of Mons Klingenberg Gjerløw and Ragnvald Gjerløw and a first cousin of Lilli Gjerløw. From 1914 to 1920 he was married to Gretchen Scheen (1890–1981), and from February 1924 he was married to Dagmar Helene Jæger (1889–1979), a daughter of Henrik Bernhard Jæger. He was the maternal grandfather of

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

politician

Tora Aasland Tora or TORA may refer to: People * Tora (given name), female given name * Tora (surname) * Tora people of Arabia and northern Africa * Torá language, an extinct language once spoken in Brazil Places * Tora, Benin, in Borgou Department * T ...

Career

Gjerløw

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1903, and graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1909 with the cand.philol. degree. In 1910 he was hired in the conservative newspaper '' Fredrikstad Tilskuer''. After half a year he was hired in ''Høires Pressekontor'', a centralized office that helped conservative newspapers with articles. In 1916 he went on to be sub-editor in ''

'', and in 1918 he became acting editor-in-chief, succeeding Carl Joachim Hambro. He was appointed editor for the newspaper in 1920, and remained editor until 1949, except for some years 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 ...

. He chaired the Conservative Press Association from 1925 to 1936. Following the milk strike in September 1941, he was arrested for "anti-German sentiments" and sentenced to fifteen years in jail. He was imprisoned at

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...

from 13 September to 8 October, then at

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress ( no, Akershus Festning, ) or Akershus Castle ( no, Akershus slott ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress h ...

for a week, then at Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel from 16 October 1941 to April 1942. He was released, but kept under close scrutiny, and ''Morgenbladet'' was stopped between 1943 and 1945. Gjerløw was then editor again from 1945 to his death, when he was succeeded by

Rolv Werner Erichsen Rolv Werner Erichsen (2 December 1899 – 22 August 1988) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was born in Holt outside Tvedestrand in Aust-Agder. Career He was born as the eldest son of district physician Stian Erichsen (1867–1953) and ...

. He also wrote the conservative-tinted history work ''Norges politiske historie'', released in three volumes between 1934 and 1936. The purpose of the work was to discredit the "

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

version" of the political history, represented by

Ernst Sars Johan Ernst Welhaven Sars (11 October 1835 – 27 January 1917) was a Norwegian professor, historian, author and editor. His main work was ''Udsigt over den norske Historie'', four volumes issued from 1873 to 1891. He co-edited the magazines ...

' works. Specifically, Gjerløw wanted to show that the Conservative Party did not lack nationalist goals. The accusations of lacking such goals stemmed from the party's attitudes to the

Union between Sweden and Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway ( sv, Svensk-norska unionen; no, Den svensk-norske union(en)), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Swede ...

. After the war Gjerløw became less of a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

supporter; he advocated broad political cooperation and was against

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

membership. He died in December 1949 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjerloew, Olaf 1885 births 1949 deaths People from Stavanger People from Nordland University of Oslo alumni Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors 20th-century non-fiction writers