Olav Larssen (10 July 1894 – 5 July 1981) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

parties.

Personal life

Olav Larssen was born in Furnes as a son of

baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ...

Kristian Larssen and Lovise Wahlum (1873–1923). He attended primary school in rural Furnes, but then moved to the nearby city

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

to take apprenticeship as a

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and ...

. By 1910 he dwelled as a tenant in ''Østregate 55'' in the neighborhood Østbyen, nearby Hamar Station. He recalled having to adapt to the city culture, and shed some of his childhood dialect/sociolect. In 1917 he married taylor's daughter Aslaug Rustad (1892–1987). She hailed from Hamar and was the oldest girl of ten siblings. After her mother's death when she was fourteen, she had to abandon plans to become a hairdresser to help her father with tending to their family. Their daughter

Randi Randi is both a given name, and a nickname in the English language, popular in North America and Norway. It is primarily a feminine name, although there is recorded usage of the name by men. It may have originated as a pet form of '' Miranda'' ...

(1924–2002) was a well-known journalist and writer. From April 1946 she was married to

Prime Minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

(1971–72 and 1973–76)

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 N ...

. Their son Erik (1921–) became a state secretary and also a permanent under-secretary of state ( no, departementsråd) in the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

. He changed his last name to Ribu, and was married to a daughter of editor

Jørgen Hustad Jørgen Ludolf Pedersen Hustad (29 January 1896 – 31 May 1978) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Gildeskål as a son of laborer Petter Hustad (1856–1947) og Helene Sofie Jensen (1859–1933). ...

Career

Hamar and Drammen

Olav Larssen was involved in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

at a young age. He had a family background of interest in politics, as his father was a member of Furnes

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 coun ...

for 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 l ...

. Later, in 1915, the liberal workers' union under the chairmanship of Kristian Larssen decided to take up

collective membership A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

in the Labour Party. Olav Larssen became active in the youth wing of the Labour Party, Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund (NSU), already in 1911 when a local NSU branch was founded in Hamar.Larssen, 1969: pp. 38–39 At that time, Larssen underwent the typographer's apprenticeship in the book printer . He had nearly completed his training when being hired as sub-editor in the Labour Party newspaper '' Demokraten'' in June 1913.Note that Egil Helle gives the date wrongly; 1 June 1913. Larssen was hired in mid-June. Hitherto, his experience with journalism had been limited to writing pieces in the youth wing's national newspaper ''

Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...

'' from time to time, a task associated with his active political role. However, he had also involved himself in a debate on the editor of ''Demokraten'', which incidentally was printed by . Larssen had recently become secretary in the board of the newly established county branch of NSU. He was later chosen as one of the secretaries at the NSU national convention in Hamar in 1914. On the tenure in ''Demokraten'', Larsen wrote that "they were not relieved from the eternal financial torment". He resigned from the newspaper in 1916. Newly engaged to Aslaug Rustad, Larssen was hired in the

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Konner ...

-based newspaper ''

Fremtiden ''Fremtiden'' was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Drammen, Norway, between 1905 and 2000. It was an official publication of Norwegian Labour Party in Buskerud. History and profile ''Fremtiden'' was started in 1905. Its first editor was Torge ...

'' in October 1916. After some introductory weeks, he was hired as manager of the newspaper's local office in

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud, Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. K ...

. He returned to the ''Fremtiden'' head office in Drammen in the autumn of 1918. He bought a city house in

Strømsø Strømsø is a borough of Drammen, Viken, Norway. Strømsø is located at the southern side of the river Drammenselva. Until about 1600, Stømsø was an island surrounded by the Drammenselva, but was later made landfast. In 1728 Strømsø was gr ...

together with colleague

Olaf Solumsmoen Olaf Solumsmoen (19 July 1896 – 22 September 1972) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Sigdal, and decided to be a stenographer. He was hired in the Labour Party newspaper ''Fremtiden'' in Dramme ...

Editor-in-chief

He edited the Labour Party newspapers '' Demokraten'' from 1920 to 1927, and ''

Hamar Arbeiderblad ''Hamar Arbeiderblad'' (often referred to locally as "HA") is local newspaper published in Hamar, Norway by Hamar Media. The paper is edited by Carsten Bleness. HA was one of the first newspapers to place the internet edition of a newspaper behin ...

'' from 1927 to 1935. In 1935 he was hired as a journalist in ''

Arbeiderbladet ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

''. In 1940, when Norway became invaded and occupied by Germany, Larssen was the acting news editor of ''Arbeiderbladet'' before it was stopped by the Germans. He co-edited the illegal ''

Bulletinen ''Bulletinen'' ("The Bulletin") was an underground newspaper in Norway during World War II. Its first issue came in November 1940, and the publication continued until the end of the war. The name ''Bulletinen'' was adapted in November 1944. It w ...

'' from 1940 to 1942, but for this he was imprisoned. He was held at

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This is ...

from January to April 1942, then at

Grini Grini is a district in northeastern Bærum, Norway. Concentration camp The name Grini is best known from the concentration camp of the same name, but this camp lay further west and had no actual connection to the Grini area. History The name ...

until February 1943, and thereafter in the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

until the war ended. From this period he wrote the section "Blant landsmenn i Sachsenhausen" ('Among fellow countrymen in Sachsenhausen') in the memoir book ''3 fra Sachsenhausen'' (together with

August Lange Christian August Manthey Lange (28 April 1907 – 6 August 1970) was a Norwegian educator, non-fiction writer and cultural attaché. Personal life Lange was born in Kristiania, the son of politician and Nobel Laureate Christian Lous Lange (1 ...

Carl Johan Frederik Jakhelln Carl Johan Frederik Jakhelln (27 August 1914 – 25 April 1987) was a Norwegian diplomat and writer. He was born in Andenne, Belgium, as the son of jurist and diplomatist Johan Fredrik Winter Jakhelln. The family lived in five countries when ...

and W. Winiarski). Following the liberation of Norway in 1945, Larssen again became the news editor of ''Arbeiderbladet''. He was editor-in-chief from 1949 to 1963.

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larssen, Olav 1894 births 1981 deaths People from Ringsaker People from Hamar Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Politicians from Hamar Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian memoirists Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors 20th-century memoirists People from Furnes, Norway Dagsavisen editors