Per Egil Hegge (born 6 March 1940) is a Norwegian journalist. Hegge was born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

as a son of two teachers from

Skatval Skatval is a village in the municipality of Stjørdal in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the Skatval peninsula about northwest of the town of Stjørdalshalsen. The inhabitants are called as ''Skatvalsbygg''. Skatval Church is lo ...

. The family moved to

Inderøy Inderøy is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen. Other villages include Framverran, Gangstadhaugen, Hylla, Kjerknesvågen, ...

in 1941. He served his

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

at the elite Russian language program of the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...

. He started his career in the

Norwegian News Agency The Norwegian News Agency ( no, Norsk Telegrambyrå; abbreviated NTB) is a Norwegian press agency and wire service that serves most of the largest Norwegian media outlets. The agency is located in Oslo and has bureaus in Brussels in Belgium and ...

, and was hired in ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...

'' in 1962 and remained there for the rest of his career. He was the newspaper's

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

correspondent from 1963 to 1965, and then worked in Norway (winning 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 ...

in 1968) before becoming

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

correspondent from 1969 to 1971. He was then expelled from the country, one of the reasons for this being that he was the first journalist to interview

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repr ...

after he won the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

in 1970. After another six years in Norway from 1971 to 1977 Hegge was the

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

correspondent from 1977 to 1981. He was then subeditor before editing ''Aftenposten'''s magazine ''

A-magasinet ''A-magasinet'' is a supplement to the Norwegian newspaper ''Aftenposten'' that is published every Friday. The supplement is published in a format of , and it is therefore smaller than the daily newspaper, which is published in tabloid format. The ...

'' from 1984 to 1988. From 1992 to 1998 he was the cultural editor. He retired in 2005, but continued to have a column about the correct use of language. When it comes to perceptions of the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and r ...

quality development, Hegge has been called a "housegod of the dissatisfied" by literary critic

Aage Borchgrevink Aage Storm Borchgrevink (born 1969) is a Norwegian human rights activist, writer and literary critic. He works at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, where he focuses on the human rights situation in Russia, Chechnya and Georgia. Career He was bo ...

. Hegge chaired the Norwegian branch of

PEN-International The Postsecondary Education Network International, known as PEN-International, is an international partnership of colleges and universities serving the higher education of students with hearing impairment. PEN-International was founded by Dr. Jam ...

from 1985 to 1988. He has written several books, formerly about world affairs, lately many books about the correct use of language and other popular releases. He has also biographed

Otto Sverdrup Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup (31 October 1854, in Bindal, Helgeland – 26 November 1930) was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer. Early and personal life He was born in Bindal as a son of farmer Ulrik Frederik Suhm Sverdrup (1833–1914) ...

(in 1996),

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

(in 2002) and

Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the l ...

(in 2006). His Nansen biography was translated to Armenian in 2007.List of publications
in BIBSYS Hegge has also been a popular lecturer. In 2003 he was decorated with the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (Knight 1st Class).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegge, Per Egil 1940 births Living people People from Trondheim People from Inderøy Norwegian journalists Norwegian newspaper reporters and correspondents Norwegian columnists Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian expatriates in the Soviet Union Norwegian expatriates in the United States Norwegian magazine editors Norwegian biographers Norwegian male writers Male biographers