Trond Hegna (2 October 1898 – 20 January 1992) was a Norwegian author,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and editor. He served as a member of the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

from Rogaland from 1949–1965.

Biography

He was born 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), Norway. He was the son of Hans Hegna (1863–1945) and Birthe Buttingsrud (1876–1956). He attended

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian language, Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",

. He studied economic and social economics at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

where he became Cand.philol. in 1923. While a student, he became a member of the Norwegian Labour Party organization for students (''Den Socialdemokratiske Studenterforening''). It was here the paper and the organization ''

Mot Dag Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party. After World War II, many of its former members were leaders in Norwegian politics and ...

'' was founded in 1921, and Hegna was involved from the beginning. He edited the paper between 1926 and 1928, remaining throughout its existence a central contributor, and was chairman for the

Norwegian Students' Society Norwegian Students' Society ( no, Det Norske Studentersamfund) is Norway's oldest student society. The Norwegian Students' Society was established during 1813 in Oslo, Norway. Two years after the Royal Frederick University (today named the Univer ...

in 1924 and 1926. Between 1924-25 he was editor-in-chief in ''

Rjukan Arbeiderblad ''Rjukan Arbeiderblad'', commonly known as RA, is a Norwegian newspaper, based in Rjukan and owned by Amedia. It was established in 1923 by the local Labour movement. First editor was Axel Sømme, who edited the newspaper from 1923 to 1924. Trond ...

''. When ''Mot Dag'' became a part of the Communist Party of Norway (NKP) in 1927, Hegna also became the editor for ''

Norges Kommunistblad was a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. History was started on 5 November 1923 as the official party newspaper from the Communist Party, which was established that year after a split from the Labour Party. The first editor was Olav ...

'' in a period. He left the party in 1929 along with most of the members of ''Mot Dag''. Between 1932 and 1936 he was also one of the editors of ''

Arbeidernes Leksikon (''The Laborers' Encyclopedia'') is a Norwegian encyclopedia published in six volumes in the 1930s. It was the first reference book in Norwegian to have a pronounced class bias, and the first encyclopedia outside of the Soviet Union to be direc ...

''. When ''Mot Dag'' was dissolved in 1936, Hegna again became a member of the Norwegian Labour Party. Between 1939 and 1940 he was the editor of '' Vestfold Arbeiderblad'', and in 1940 he became editor of ''

1ste Mai ''Rogalands Avis'' is a local newspaper published in Stavanger, Norway. History and profile ''Rogalands Avis'' was established in 1899. The paper is based in Stavanger and covers the southern Rogaland. A Labour Party-affiliated newspaper, i ...

'' (now ''Rogalands Avis'') in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. During the

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 ...

, the newspaper was closed after publishing the headline "Ingen nordmann til salgs!" (No Norwegian for sale!). In September 1940, Hegna was arrested and imprisoned in

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...

until 1943. After the liberation of Norway at the end of

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 ...

, he again became editor of ''1ste Mai'', a position he held until 1958. He was a member of

city 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 counc ...

from 1945 to 1955, and was represented at 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 ...

between 1950 and 1965, for a period leader of the Standing Committee on Finances and Customs . He was in the national board of the Labour Party between 1949 and 1953 and deputy chairman of the party group at Stortinget from 1958. Hegna was one of many ''Mot Dag'' members that became influential in the Labour Party after the second world war, but in a contrast to many of these, Hegna was active in the left wing of the party, among other things against Norwegian membership in the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

in 1972, but he chose to remain with the party. Hegna also wrote several books, among these books about 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 ...

, about

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

, and also served as a translator of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

books. In 1983 he published the autobiography ''Min versjon''.

Personal life

In 1939, he married Ragna Høyland (1913-1973). Hegna is the grandfather of Norwegian comedian Anne-Kat Hærland.

Biography

Personal life

References

Other sources

Related reading