Arnfinn Moland (born 25 August 1951) is 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 ...

historian. He was born in

Kvinesdal Kvinesdal is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Liknes. Other villages in Kvinesdal include Feda, Fjotland, and Storekvin ...

. He finished his secondary education in

Flekkefjord is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Flekkefjord. The villages of Sira, Gyland, Rasvåg, Kirkehavn, and Åna-Sira are ...

in 1970, served in His Majesty the King's Guard from 1973 to 1974, and graduated from 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 ...

with the cand.philol. degree in 1977. His master's thesis was ''Prissubsider eller støtte? Striden om melkeparagrafen 1972''. From 1977 to 1978 he took a pedagogical education. He was also active in athletics. Representing Kvinesdal IL, he achieved a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

of 6.91 metres in July 1978 at

Lovisenlund Lovisenlund is a multi-purpose stadium in Larvik, Norway. It is the home ground of Larvik Turn. The record attendance is about 17,000, from a 1956 match between Larvik Turn and Fredrikstad FK. It was used for the Norwegian football cup final of ...

in Larvik. He had 14.34 metres in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

, achieved in July 1978 at Stovnerbanen in

Oslo 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 ...

. Moland was hired as a researcher by

Norway's Resistance Museum Norway's Resistance Museum also known as the Norwegian Home Front Museum ( no, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum) is a museum located at the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. The museum collection focuses on Norwegian resistance during the occupation of Norway b ...

in 1978. From 1993 to 1997 he worked for the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. He was the director of Norway's Resistance Museum from 1995, from 1998 with the title of associate professor. His first major book was ''Hjemmefront'', volume six of the series ''Norge i krig''. The volume was released in 1987 together with Ivar Kraglund. In 1997 he released ''"Strengt hemmelig". Norsk etterretningsteneste 1945-1970'', about Norwegian intelligence, together with Olav Riste. In the same year he released ''Milorg i Stor-Oslo. Distrikt 13s historie'' together with Terje Diesen, about the Greater Oslo district of

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 ...

. In 1999 followed ''Over grensen? Hjemmefrontens likvidasjoner under den tyske okkupasjonen av Norge 1940-1945'' about Norwegian liquidations of Nazi collaborators.List of publications
in BIBSYS This book has been described as a contrast to Egil Ulateig's book ''Med rett til å drepe''. He also contributed to film. He was a screenwriter and co-director of the film ''Rapport fra "Nr. 24"'' about Gunnar Sønsteby. The book ''Gunnar Sønsteby. 24 kapitler i Kjakans liv'' followed in 2004. In 2008 Moland published the book ''Max Manus. Film og virkelighet'', which followed the release of the film ''

Max Manus Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar (9 December 1914 – 20 September 1996) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II, specialising in sabotage in occupied Norway. After the war he wrote several books about his adventu ...

''. Exploring the relationship between the film and the real-life

, the book was written together with the film's screenwriter Thomas Nordseth-Tiller. Moland has not been entirely uncontroversial as a historian. In 2000 he accused Norwegian newspapers of printing untrue stories about 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 ...

, because "relatives of

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such ...

sympathizers" sat as editors in these newspapers. The statement was sharply criticized by editors such as Harald Stanghelle, Steinar Hansson and Gudleiv Forr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moland, Arnfinn 1951 births Living people People from Kvinesdal People from Flekkefjord University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian historians Norwegian military historians Historians of World War II Directors of museums in Norway Norwegian screenwriters 20th-century Norwegian male writers 21st-century Norwegian male writers 21st-century Norwegian historians