Evald O. Solbakken (15 December 1898 – 4 March 1967) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

parties. He joined the Labour Party through membership in the youth association ''Freidig'' in

Storhamar Storhamar is a neighborhood of Hamar, Norway, west of the town center and formerly in the municipality Vang, Hedmark, Vang. It is the location of the distillery Arcus AS, Arcus, the national lottery Norsk Tipping and the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre ...

in 1917. His first political position was to be secretary here. He was hired as secretary in the trade information office in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

in 1920. In 1921 he was hired as subeditor in the Hamar newspaper '' Demokraten'', where he succeeded

Georg Svendsen Georg "Mr. George" Svendsen (19 March 1894 – 1966) was a Norwegian journalist and crime novelist. He was born in Eidanger, and started his journalistic career in '' Bratsberg-Demokraten'' before moving on to ''Demokraten'' where he was a subedito ...

. Solbakken's superior at the time, editor-in-chief Olav Larssen, has made note that Solbakken was among the last journalists in the labour press to be hired with

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

only. After a short period in 1923 as editor-in-chief of '' Østerdal Arbeiderblad'', he joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

later in 1923 and became subeditor in ''Arbeideren'' (the new name of ''Demokraten''). In 1927 he rejoined the Labour Party, and was hired as subeditor in ''

Hamar Arbeiderblad ''Hamar Arbeiderblad'' (often referred to locally as "HA") is local newspaper published in Hamar, Norway by Hamar Media. The paper is edited by Carsten Bleness. HA was one of the first newspapers to place the internet edition of a newspaper behind ...

''. He was then editor-in-chief of ''

Tidens Krav ''Tidens Krav'' (''TK'') English: ''The Time's Demands'' is a local newspaper published in Kristiansund, Norway. It was founded in 1906, is published Tuesday through Saturday, and reports news from Nordmøre. The newspaper owned the local televis ...

'' from 1928 to 1931, subeditor of ''

Fremtiden ''Fremtiden'' was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Drammen, Norway, between 1905 and 2000. It was an official publication of Norwegian Labour Party in Buskerud. History and profile ''Fremtiden'' was started in 1905. Its first editor was Torge ...

'' from 1931 to 1934, then a journalist in '' Arbeiderbladet''. From 1947 to 1961 he edited ''Hamar Arbeiderblad''. During World War II and the

German occupation of Norway 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 ...

he was arrested on 4 December 1940, and imprisoned in

Åkebergveien Åkebergveien is a street in Oslo, Norway. The street is named after the former farm Åkeberg. ''Åkebergveien 11'' formerly belonged to the brewery Ytteborgs Aktiebryggeri. In 1934 the building was acquired by the city of Oslo, and after rebuil ...

until 4 March 1941. He was arrested for the second time, and imprisoned in Møllergata 19 from 27 January to 23 April 1942, then in Grini concentration camp until 2 June 1942. He then spent time in exile in Sweden, where he helped lead the refugee centre

Kjesäter Kjesäter is a manor in the municipality of Vingåker in the county of Södermanland in Sweden that now (2008) serves as a folk high school and hostel. During World War II, it served as a refugee camp and transit center for refugees fleeing Nazi pe ...

towards the end of the war. After the war he released the memoirs ''I fengsel og landflyktighet'' (1945), and several historical books: ''50 års samvirke i hovedstaden'' (1945), ''Hamar Arbeiderblad gjennom 25 år'' (1950), ''Hamar Jern- og Metallarbeiderforening 50 år: 1900-1950'' (1950), ''Det røde fylke gjennom 100 år'' (1951), ''Hedmark fylkes arbeiderparti 1904–12. november 1954'' (1954) and ''Hamar arbeiderparti 1907–27. januar 1957'' (1957). He became blind in his later life. He died in March 1967, and was buried in Hamar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solbakken, Evald 1890s births 1973 deaths People from Hamar Norwegian newspaper editors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Norwegian expatriates in Sweden 20th-century non-fiction writers