Thorolf Rafto (July 6, 1922 – November 4, 1986) was a human rights activist and professor in

Economic History Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and ins ...

at the

Norwegian School of Economics The Norwegian School of Economics ( no, Norges Handelshøyskole) or NHH is a business school situated in Bergen, Norway. It was founded in 1936 as Norway's first business school and is a leading teaching and research institution in the fields of ...

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The

Rafto Foundation for Human Rights The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights was established in 1986 in memory of Thorolf Rafto, a professor of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a human rights activist. The main objective of the Rafto Foundation is the promo ...

was established in gratitude for his efforts and inspiration.

Personal life

Thorolf Rafto was born in

. His father, Robert Rafto was an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gymnast and the winner of the Norwegian decathlon championships in 1918. In his younger days Rafto competed on national level in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, and won the Norwegian championships in

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

in 1947. 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 ...

, Thorolf Rafto fled to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and served with the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...

. Back in

after the war, he earned university degrees in Languages and History. In 1950, at the age of 28, Rafto married Helga Hatletvedt with whom, he had four children. In 1956, Thorolf Rafto became a lecturer at the

Activism

His involvement in political activism in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

started with the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

of 1968. Later in his life, Rafto got, particularly, supportive of the liberal ideas of the

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

reformists such as

Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czechoslovak ...

and

Jiří Hájek Jiří Hájek (; 6 June 1913 in Krhanice near Benešov – 22 October 1993 in Prague) was a Czech politician and diplomat. Together with Václav Havel, Zdeněk Mlynář, and Pavel Kohout, Hájek was one of the founding members and architects of ...

. In 1973, Rafto travelled to

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, where he witnessed the persecution of intellectuals and Soviet Jewish ''

refuseniks Refusenik (russian: отказник, otkaznik, ; alternatively spelt refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authori ...

'', who had applied for emigration to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. On the return from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Rafto wrote an article criticizing internal Soviet politics in Italy's

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

, that later was published in

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. In 1979, Rafto traveled again to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

to hold a lecture for students excluded from the universities for political reasons. He was abused and later imprisoned by the

security police Security police officers are employed by or for a governmental agency or corporations to provide security service security services to those properties. Security police protect facilities, properties, personnel, users, visitors and enforce cer ...

which may have caused him lasting health damage. In 1981, Rafto made several trips to Poland to work closer with labour organisations there. By 1985 his health was weakening. In 1986, Thorolf Rafto died at 64 years of age.

Rafto Foundation and Rafto Prize

After the death of Thorolf Rafto, his friends and colleagues agreed to establish the

(''Raftostiftelsen'') which would continue Rafto’s work on a promotion of freedom of speech and political expression in

. It was also decided to introduce the

Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize (''Raftoprisen'') is a human rights award established in the memory of the Norwegian human rights activist, Thorolf Rafto. Organization The prize is awarded annually by the Rafto Foundation for Human Righ ...

(''Raftoprisen'') for human right activists. The fall of the Iron Curtain and the consequential democratization of

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

states caused reconsider of the mission of the foundation. It also opened new possibilities to work with other geographical regions in a promotion of human rights. The initial idea of the

Rafto Prize The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize (''Raftoprisen'') is a human rights award established in the memory of the Norwegian human rights activist, Thorolf Rafto. Organization The prize is awarded annually by the Rafto Foundation for Human Righ ...

is to provide a basic informative platform for the laureates that would help to receive further attention from the international media and support from political and non-political organisations. By awarding the

, the

seeks to bring attention to independent voices that due to oppressive and corrupt regimes are not always heard. In 1990, the

was awarded to a Burmese democratic leader,

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...

who in the following year 1991 received the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights. Four Rafto Laureates have subsequently received further international assistance and were awarded the

José Ramos-Horta José Manuel Ramos-Horta (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician currently serving as president of East Timor since May 2022. He previously served as president from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Fore ...

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

and

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi wa ...

were awarded the

prior to the

References

Other sources

*Per Egil Hegge (2016) ''Fear Shall Not Triumph: The Rafto Prize - 30th Anniversary'' (Bergen: Fagbokforlaget) *Atle M. Skjærstad (2016) ''Uværet som aldri stilnet'' (Bergen: Vigmostad & Bjørke AS)

External links

Rafto Prize website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafto, Thorolf 1922 births 1986 deaths University of Oslo alumni Royal Norwegian Air Force personnel of World War II Norwegian activists Norwegian decathletes Academic staff of the Norwegian School of Economics 20th-century Norwegian economists Norwegian human rights activists Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom