Petter Carl Reinsnes (usually called P.C. Reinsnes; 4 October 1904 – 12 March 1976) was a Norwegian politician (

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 ...

), mayor of the Sortland municipality, county mayor of

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

, and a member of the

Storting 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 ...

. Petter Ovald Karlsen (later Petter Carl Reinsnes) was born in the Reinsnes district of Sortland municipality. He was elected into Sortland

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 the fall of 1931, and became mayor in 1935. He was removed from office by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

in 1941, during the

German occupation of Norway 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 ...

, and in 1944 he was forced to escape to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. When the war was over, he returned to the Sortland municipality, and worked as mayor until 1959. His party, the

, lost the municipal election in 1959, and Reinsnes consequently lost his position as mayor. Reinsnes retained his position on the municipal council. After the election in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, he was chosen to become the mayor again, and kept this position until 1975. He was also chairman of

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

from 1945 to 1960, deputy county mayor from 1966 to 1970 and county mayor of Nordland in 1971. From 1954–1957 Reinsnes served as a deputy representative 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 ...

. He was then voted into Parliament 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 remained there for two periods (eight years). During both terms, Reinsnes was a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign and Constitutional Affairs and the Enlarged Committee on Foreign and Constitutional Affairs. He campaigned for the construction of an agriculture school in

Vesterålen Vesterålen is a district and archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just north of Lofoten and west of Harstad. It is the northernmost part of Nordland county. Sortland is the largest town, situated near the center of the archipel ...

, and he was a chairman for Vesterålens power group from the start in 1939 until his death in 1976. In the 1960s, he took the initiative to connect the islands in Vesterålen by a bridge. The Andøy and

Kvalsaukan Bridge The Kvalsaukan Bridge ( no, Kvalsaukan bru) is a bridge that crosses the Hognfjorden in Sortland Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Norwegian County Road 82 between the Sortland (town), town of Sortland and the neighboring ...

s were opened in 1974, and

Sortland Bridge The Sortland Bridge ( no, Sortlandsbrua) is a cantilever road bridge that crosses the Sortlandssundet strait between the village of Strand on Hinnøya island and the town of Sortland on Langøya island. It is located within Sortland Municipality ...

was opened in 1975.

Hadsel Bridge The Hadsel Bridge ( no, Hadselbrua) is a cantilever road bridge in Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The bridge carries Norwegian County Road 82 and it crosses the Langøysundet strait between the islands of Langøya and Børøya. ...

was opened in 1978, after his death. He was a chairman in Vesterålsbruene A/S from 1970 until his death. Reinsnes was also engaged in work to obtain an airport for

Stokmarknes Airport Stokmarknes Airport ( no, Stokmarknes lufthavn; ) is an airport in Hadsel Municipality in Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the le ...

was opened in 1972. Reinsnes was awarded th King's Medal of Merit in gold a short time before his death. He died 12 March 1976 of cancer. On 26 August 1978, a bust of Reinsnes, made by

Nils Aas Nils Sigurd Aas (21 April 1933 – 10 February 2004) was a Norwegian sculptor. He was one of the most prominent artists in modern Norwegian sculpture and is particularly well known for his statue of Haakon VII, located in the June Seventh Squar ...

, was unveiled outside Sortland town hall, the same day that the Vesterålen bridges were officially opened by King Olav V. He was biographed in ''P. C. Reinsnes - samfunnsbyggeren'', by Alf Oxem 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinsnes, Petter Carl 1904 births 1976 deaths People from Sortland Mayors of places in Nordland Chairmen of County Councils of Norway Members of the Storting Labour Party (Norway) politicians Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Deaths from cancer in Norway