Henry Olaf Hoff (14 July 1912 – 25 June 2011) was a Norwegian welder, trade unionist and politician for the Communist and

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 ...

parties.

Early life and career

He was born in Aker. After attending vocational school in mechanics, which he finished in 1936, he was an apprentice at Norsk Gjærde- og Metalldukfabrikk from 1937 to 1941. While working here he also took extra education in the evenings. When finishing his training as a plate worker and welder in 1941, he was hired at Rodeløkken Maskinverksted. During the Second World War he was also active in the resistance, earning the

Defence Medal 1940–1945 The Defence Medal 1940–1945 () is the award rewarded to those military and civilian personnel who participated in the fight against the German invasion and occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945. The Defence Medal 1940–1945 can be awarde ...

, and in 1947 he attended a communist evening school.

Political career and unionism

In politics, he started as leader of the local

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

branch in Høybråten in 1947. In 1948 he advanced to regional leader 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 ...

and Akershus; he was also a central board member of the organization until 1953, outliving the 1949 catharsis of

Peder Furubotn Peder Furubotn (29 August 1890 – 28 November 1975) was a Norwegian cabinetmaker, politician for the Communist Party and resistance member during World War II. Early and personal life Furubotn was born in Brekke, Sogn og Fjordane, the son o ...

and his supporters. From 1949 to 1951 he also served as the Young Communist League's national secretary. He was elected to Oslo city council in 1951, and re-elected in 1955. He served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Oslo during the term 1954–1957, and as it happened he had to meet in Parliament almost half of the time. In total he met during 2 years and 193 days of parliamentary session. From 1954 to 1965 he also served as the secretary of the Communist Party, also being elected for a new term as a deputy in Oslo city council from 1963 to 1967. Hoff was hired as a welder at Nylands Verksted in 1951, and worked here until 1971 except for his tenure as party secretary in the Communist Party. From 1952 to 1954 he was the local trade union chairman at Nyland, and a supervisory council member of ''Oslo faglige samorg'' from 1953 to 1965. From 1968 to 1970 he headed the union again, and was also given a spot in the company's corporate council. He ultimately left his job as a labourer to become a full-time trade unionist. He was elected as such in the Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers in 1971, and from 1980 to 1981 he served as deputy leader of the union. He also announced a change in politics, as he in 1986 was selected for the supervisory council in Oslo Labour Party. He was one of their main contacts in the metal industry, and was a member of their party platform committee ahead of the

1991 Norwegian local elections Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on 8 and 9 September 1991. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently. Re ...

. He resided near

Valle-Hovin Valle-Hovin is a neighborhood in Oslo, Norway, best known for the sports and music venue of the same name. It consists of two neighborhoods with unclear boundaries, Valle and Hovin. Valle was a farm under Nonneseter but was bought by private o ...

where he also involved himself when a party platform was to be laid out for the 1995 borough council elections. Hoff was also a research consultant, as a member of trade subcommittees in

NTNF The Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ( no, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Forskningsråd) or NTNF was the first of five research councils established in Norway. It existed from 1946 until the end of 1992, when the f ...

and Norsk Produktivitetsinstitutt from 1978 to 1983 and the

Fafo Foundation The Fafo Research Foundation, also known as the Fafo Foundation or just Fafo ( no, Forskningsstiftelsen Fafo), is a Norwegian research foundation and owner of the research institute: The ''Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research.'' The inst ...

from 1982 to 1985. He was a prolific writer on workers' rights and trade issues. He died in June 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoff, Henry Olaf 1912 births 2011 deaths Norwegian resistance members Norwegian trade unionists Politicians from Oslo Deputy members of the Storting Communist Party of Norway politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian non-fiction writers