Arne Hestenes, pen name Plut (29 January 1920 – 3 January 1995) was a Norwegian journalist and author. He wrote feature pieces (

literary journalism Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

) and was a

restaurant critic The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

Biography

Arne Magnus Hestenes was born in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

as a son of manager Ola Hestenes (1891–1961) and Gerda Kristine Larsen (1897–1963). He was a brother of barrister

Olav Hestenes Olav Hestenes (11 February 193029 November 1996) was a Norwegian barrister. He was born in Tromsø, a son of Ola Hestenes and Gerda Kristine Larsen, and was a brother of journalist Arne Hestenes. He represented the defendant In court proceeding ...

. He started his writing career with columns in ''Tromsø Stiftstidende'', but wanted to work for ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...

'' and got his first article on print there at the age of 17. He took the

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1939 and moved to study 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 ...

. His studies were interrupted 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 th ...

. Following the 1943 University of Oslo fire, the Nazi German officials closed the university. Hestenes re-located to Stockholm, Sweden. He worked for the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governmen ...

at Sikringstjenesten which was operated by

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

. His code name was "Plut", which was later his journalistic signature after the war. 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 opposing ...

in 1945, he returned to Norway. He graduated at the University of Oslo with a

cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree currently awarded in Denmark. The degree is officially translated into English as Master of Arts and currently requires 5 years of stud ...

degree in 1947 and was hired by ''Dagbladet'' as a journalist. He remained in ''Dagbladet'' for the rest of his career. He wrote an assessment of the night life, especially in Oslo; and through the years he became a knowledgeable film critic. He became best known for his personal style which combined witty metaphors, quick and easy irony replicas, inventive word combinations and comic exaggerations. Hestenes was additionally a portrait artist. Dating from the 1940s, he worked with the artist Gösta Hammarlund. He also released several books with collections of his newspaper columns. Some of the more well-known books include ''Galleri Plut'' (1969) and ''Zoom'' (1976). He was a jury member of the

1984 Cannes Film Festival The 37th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1984. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Paris, Texas'' by Wim Wenders. The festival opened with '' Fort Saganne'', directed by Alain Corneau and closed with '' The Bounty'', directed by Roger ...

, and an honorary citizen of

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

as well as his hometown Tromsø. During the course of his career, he received a number of awards including the Norsk Industriforbunds pressepris, Oslo Riksmålsforenings Gullpenn, Oslo Kinematografers Chaplin-statuett and Haugesund Bys Hederspris. He was awarded the

Narvesen Prize The Narvesen Prize was a Norwegian prize for those who excelled in journalism. It was established in 1954 by the company Narvesen, but the Norwegian Press Association was behind the selection of winners. It was discontinued in 1990. List of winne ...

for journalism in 1963, and also won the Oslo City artist award (''Oslo bys kunstnerpris''). He was decorated with the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

(Knight, First Class) in 1991, as well as the French

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

(Chevalier) and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officier).

Personal life

He was married to Sonja Karin Bergan (1939–2001), and lived between

Aker brygge Aker Brygge is a neighbourhood in central Oslo, Norway. Since the 1980s and 1990s it has been a popular area for shopping, dining, and entertainment, as well as a high-end residential area. It was previously an industrial area. Location Aker B ...

and

Solli plass Solli plass, pronounced /su:li/ or /suli/, /plas/ or /pɽas/, also called Lapsetorvet, is a square in Oslo, Norway, located southwest of Slottsparken and the Royal Palace. The square is elliptical in shape. In the southwest lies the National L ...

. He died in January 1995 and was buried at

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a crematorium (''Vestre kr ...

in Oslo.

References

External links

Hestenes prisen
(''

'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Hestenes, Arne 1920 births 1995 deaths People from Tromsø University of Oslo alumni Norwegian resistance members Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Norwegian film critics Restaurant critics 20th-century Norwegian writers Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Burials at Vestre gravlund 20th-century Norwegian journalists