Christian Holtermann Knudsen
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Christian Holtermann Knudsen (15 July 1845 – 21 April 1929) 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 ...
typographer, newspaper editor, publisher, trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He is known as chairman of his party in three non-consecutive periods, and also founded what would become the main party newspaper. He served three terms in 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 bas ...
.


Career


Media and trade unions

He was born in
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 o ...
as the son of a
cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...
. He finished a
typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...
's education in 1865, and worked for several printing presses 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 ...
. Most notably he worked for the weekly newspaper '' Almuevennen'', as typographer for six years and manager for eight years. In 1872 he was among the co-founders of the trade union Oslo Typografiske Forening. He chaired this organization from 1876 to 1878, 1879 to 1882 and 1883 to 1885, and in 1883 he co-founded the first trade union center in Norway, ''Fagforeningernes Centralkomité''. In 1884 Knudsen established the newspaper ''Vort Arbeide'' ('Our Work'), on behalf of the central committee. The first issue was released on 10 May 1884, and led to Knudsen being fired from ''Almuevennen''. He also had to establish his own
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
since none of the existing printing presses wanted to be affiliated with a labourer's newspaper. The fledgling project was marred by economic problems, and the burden of both writing, editing and printing lay chiefly on Knudsen. In 1885 he founded the association ''Socialdemokratisk Forening'', which formally took over the newspaper. The name was changed from ''Vort Arbeide'' to ''Social-Demokraten'' ('The Social Democrat') in 1886. At the same time, Carl Jeppesen took over as editor-in-chief, although Knudsen would return as editor from 1892 to 1893. Knudsen expanded the printing press, and published several books, many of which were frowned upon by the establishment. Kristian Stenrud's books were controversial, and
Hans Jæger Hans Henrik Jæger (2 September 1854, Drammen, Norway – 8 February 1910, Oslo) was a Norwegian writer, philosopher and anarchist political activist who was part of the Oslo (then Kristiania)-based bohemian group known as the Kristiania Bohe ...
's book ''
Fra Kristiania-Bohemen A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...
'', published in 1885, was instantly banned upon publication. Jæger was sentenced to eighty days in jail, appealed to the Supreme Court and had it reduced to sixty days.Sørensen, 1984: p. 88 Jæger's defender,
Ludvig Meyer Ludvig Meyer (22 April 1861 – 3 January 1938) was a Norwegian barrister, newspaper editor and politician. He belonged to the Norwegian Labour Party 1891 to 1903, and was both party leader, party secretary as well as editor of the party organ ''S ...
, later became both editor-in-chief of ''Social-Demokraten'' and leader of the Labour Party. Jæger and Knudsen later tried to circumvent the law and sell the banned book in Sweden, brandishing a fake name ''Julefortællinger af H.J.'' ('Christmas Carols by H.J.') on the cover, but this was discovered and the book banned in Sweden as well. Knudsen also received a jail sentence, of eleven days, for publishing a piece about
contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
in ''Social-Demokraten'' in 1887.Sørensen, 1984: p. 111 Nonetheless, Knudsen became the official stamp printer in 1895.


Political party

Knudsen, inspired by German theories, argued that "socialism sthe only means" to "help the working estate". He became a co-founder of the Norwegian Labour Party in August 1887 in Arendal. Like the trade unions, the early Labour Party contained both socialist and non-socialist elements. The most important political demand was
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...
. Knudsen was a member of the central committee from the beginning, and then became party leader from 1889 to 1890 and 1900 to 1903. From 1899 to 1926 he was a member of Kristiania city council. He was elected to 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 bas ...
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, ...
, representing the constituency of Grünerløkken, and was re-elected 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 ...
and 1912. For the first two terms he was the leader of the parliamentary party group. Knudsen was a deputy member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 1913, and served his third term as party leader from 1911 to 1918. His leadership came to an end when the radical wing, spearheaded by
Kyrre Grepp Olav Kyrre Grepp (6 August 1879 – 6 February 1922) was a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party. Grepp became a Communist by the end of his life and was active in the Comintern. He studied literature and philosophy, howev ...
and
Martin Tranmæl Martin Olsen Tranmæl (27 June 1879 – 11 July 1967) was a Norwegian socialist leader from The Norwegian Labour Party. Biography Martin Tranmæl grew up on a middle-sized farm in Melhus, in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. He started working a ...
, took over at the 1918 national party convention. He left the central committee, but returned in 1920. When the less radical wing broke out to form the Social Democratic Labour Party in 1921, Knudsen did not follow; he continued in the central committee until 1924. In 1923 the name of the newspaper ''Social-Demokraten'' had been changed again, to ''Arbeiderbladet'' ('The Labour Paper'). It became the main organ of the Labour Party, undergoing direct control; the editor-in-chief was also represented in the national party board. As the newspapers became independent in the latter quarter of the twentieth century, the newspaper changed its name again, to the current ''Dagsavisen''. Knudsen died in 1929.


References

;Further reading * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, Christian Holtermann Members of the Storting Norwegian book publishers (people) Norwegian printers Norwegian newspaper editors Trade unionists from Bergen Norwegian prisoners and detainees Politicians from Oslo Journalists from Bergen 1845 births 1929 deaths Leaders of the Labour Party (Norway) Dagsavisen editors