Reidar Stavseth (May 21, 1907 – April 12, 1991) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and a politician for the

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 ...

. He served as editor for many different newspapers and is best known for having been the editor-in-chief of ''

Adresseavisen ''Adresseavisen'' (; commonly known as ''Adressa'') is a regional newspaper published daily, except Sundays, in Trondheim, Norway. The paper has been in circulation since 1767 and is one of the oldest newspapers after Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler ...

'' in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

from 1969 to 1975. He belonged to a group of journalists with "a clearly conservative attitude and an academic education."Norland, Andreas. 1991. Reidar Stavseth. ''Aftenposten'' (April 13), p. 19.

Family and education

Stavseth was born and grew up in Trondheim, the son of the school principal Julius August Stavseth and his wife Rikke Thorland, both originally from Nærøy along the

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

coast. He received his '' examen artium'' at

Trondheim Cathedral School Trondheim Cathedral School ( no, Trondheim katedralskole, Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is an upper secondary school located next to the Nidaros Cathedral in the center of Trondheim, Norway. History There is great dispute regarding ...

in 1927, a degree in economics at Royal Frederick University in 1929, and also attended a semester at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

. In 1939 he married Ragnhild Julie Eik, a farmer's daughter from Borre. The couple's son Gunnar Stavseth is also a journalist and politician for the Conservative Party.Steenstrup, Bjørn (ed.). 1973. Stavseth, Reidar. ''Hvem er Hvem?'' Oslo: Aschehoug, pp. 525–526.

Journalism and political work

Stavseth served as secretary of the Trondheim Riksmål Society before he became the editor of the newspaper '' Finnmarksposten'' in

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

in 1930. One year later he became the editor of '' Namdalens Folkeblad'' in Namsos and was the head of the

Norwegian Young Conservatives Norwegian Young Conservatives (Norwegian: Unge Høyres Landsforbund, UHL, normally referred to as Unge Høyre) is the Norwegian youth party of the Conservative Party. Its ideology is liberal conservatism Liberal conservatism is a political ...

in Namsos from 1932 to 1934. He also published the short-lived paper '' Innherreds Avis'' in Steinkjer from 1933 to 1934.''Steinkjerleksikonet'': ''Innherreds avis''.
/ref> After that, he served as the editor of '' Møre Dagblad'' in Kristiansund from 1934 to 1935. In 1936 he became the travel secretary for the Young Conservatives in Vestfold, a position that he held for three years. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was again in Møre as chairman of the Ålesund Young Conservatives and as the editor of ''

Aalesunds Avis ''Aalesunds Avis'' (The Ålesund Gazette) was a newspaper published in Ålesund, Norway from 1917 to 1958. The paper belonged to the Conservative Party.Diesen, Emil. 1921. ''Norske aviser og tidsskrifter med fortegnelse over norske pressefolk 1920'' ...

'', which was "published as one of the last free newspapers in Norway". After the liberation in 1945, Stavseth worked as the secretary for the Young Conservatives and as editor of its party newspaper, '' Unge Høire''. A year later he moved to

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

as county secretary for the Conservative Party's county branch and as editor of ''

Nordlandsposten ''Nordlandsposten'' was a daily newspaper published in Bodø, Nordland, Norway. History and profile ''Nordlandsposten'' was first published in 1862. The paper had a conservative stance. In 2002 its circulation was 15,448 copies. In autumn 2001, ...

''. Stavseth also served as the chairman of the party's Bodø branch from 1947 to 1949. He edited '' Fylkesavisen'' in Skien for some years until he returned home to Trondheim as co-editor of ''Adresseavisen'' in 1953. He was the chairman of the party's

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

branch from 1958 to 1962. Stavseth concluded his career as the newspaper's editor-in-chief from 1969 to 1974. Stavseth was a member of the Conservative Party's program committee in 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 ...

elections of 1945, 1961, 1965, and 1969. Among press organizations, he was director of the Association of Norwegian Editors from 1953 to 1955 and again from 1959 to 1970, and a member of the Daily Press Editor and Publisher Committee (DRU) from 1966 to 1970. Stavseth published several works on local and business history.

Bibliography

* 1941: ''Til heder for stripen i seilet. Ulabrands livssaga'' (In Honor of the Stripe in the Sail. Ulabrand's Life Story) * 1943: ''Nordover med hurtigruten. Historie og hverdagsbilder gjennom femti år'' (Heading North with the Coastal Express. History and Everyday Images over Fifty Years) * 1946: ''Arven fra Bjørn Farmann. Tønsberg Sjømannsforening gjennom 100 år'' (The Legacy of Bjørn Farmann. One Hundred Years of the Tønsberg Seamen's Association) * 1951: ''Handelshuset J. M. Johansen gjennom 75 år'' (The J. M. Johansen Company: Seventy-Five Years) * 1977: ''Avisen først og fremst – tilbakeblikk og randbemerkninger'' (The Newspaper First and Foremost: Recollections and Comments) * 1981: ''Sjøbad og tradisjoner kysten rundt'' (The Seaside Resort and Traditions around the Coast)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stavseth, Reidar Norwegian newspaper editors 20th-century Norwegian writers Conservative Party (Norway) politicians People from Trondheim 1907 births 1991 deaths 20th-century Norwegian male writers