Torgeir Tarjei Olavsson Vraa (16 May 1868 – 21 June 1934) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

educator, newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party.

Biography

He was born on the Rui farm in the parish of

Fyresdal Fyresdal is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moland. The municipality of ''Molan ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

. Upon graduating from

Asker Seminary Asker Seminary was a teachers' seminary at Bjerke near Tanum. Tanum is located in Bærum, which then was a part of Asker parish. The seminary was established in 1834 to educate teachers that conformed with the School Act of 1827. The education s ...

in 1889, he was hired as a school teacher in Modum. He married Maren Sofie Hansen (1870–1935) in October 1892. Vraa joined 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 ...

, where

Christopher Hornsrud Christopher Andersen Hornsrud (15 November 1859 – 12 December 1960) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as leader of the Labour Party from 1903 to 1906 and became a member of the Storting in 1912. In 1928, he became the f ...

was a leading figure on the left wing, but in 1897 the two joined the Norwegian Labour Party. From 1902 to 1904 he was a journalist in the Labour Party newspaper ''

Social-Demokraten :''This is about the Swedish newspaper. For the American newspaper see Social-Demokraten (Chicago newspaper). For the Norwegian newspaper see Dagsavisen.'' ''Social-Demokraten'' ("The Social Democrat") was a Swedish daily Social Democratic newsp ...

'' in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(now Oslo). From 17 May 1905 he was the first editor-in-chief of the newly established Labour Party newspaper '' Fremtiden'' in Drammen, where he contributed to defining local journalism as a genre. Vraa was elected to the Parliament of Norway in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

for the constituency ''Strømsø og Tangen''. He prevailed in the second round of voting, having won the endorsement from the local Liberals who pulled their candidate. He was a member of the Protocol Committee. In the next election in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

he lost this support and was not re-elected. He instead served as deputy mayor of Drammen from 1910 to 1913. In total he was a city council member from 1910 to 1919 and 1922 to 1928. He was also county chairman for a period, and national board member from 1904 to 1912 and 1918 to 1920. He did not join any splinter party in 1921 to 1923, but stayed in the Labour Party, and gained a parliamentary seat in the elections

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

, representing the constituency Market towns of Buskerud county (Drammen, Hønefoss and Kongsberg). For both terms he was a member of the Standing Committee on Forestry and Waterways. He died in Drammen and was editor-in-chief until his death. The collected writings were published posthumously in 1936.

Legacy

A statue of him by Dyre Vaa was raised at Gamle Kirkeplass in Drammen during 1936. Streets or squares have also been named after him including Torgeir Vraas plass in Drammen and Torgeir Vraas plass in

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vraa, Torgeir 1868 births 1934 deaths People from Fyresdal Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian educators Norwegian newspaper editors Politicians from Drammen Members of the Storting