Nils Per Imerslund (9 May 1912 – 7 December 1943), born 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 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, was one of the most prominent figures of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

scene in pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Norway. He first gained prominence at home and abroad with the publication in 1936 of his début book, ''Das Land Noruega'', a fictionalised autobiography of his youth in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. His blonde, blue-eyed stature and extravagant way of life gave him the position of "the Aryan Idol". A loathing of his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and self-perceived feminine traits, led him to frequently risk his life. He lived most of his early years in Mexico and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, fought with the

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

(SA) in

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in the 1930s, fought with the Fascist

Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, and finally joined the

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

to fight in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

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, where he was severely injured. He died at

Aker University Hospital Oslo University Hospital, Aker (also known as Aker Hospital or just Aker) is one of the four main campuses of Oslo University Hospital. It was an independent hospital from 1895 to 2009, under the name Aker Hospital and from 2002 Aker University Ho ...

on 7 December 1943. Imerslund also participated in radio broadcasts in the Nazi-controlled

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

Selected works

References

External links

Aftenposten
(In Norwegian)

Relevant publications

*Emberland, Terje, and Bernt Rougthvedt. ''Det ariske idol: Forfatteren, eventyreren og nazisten Per Imerslund.'' Aschehoug, 2004. *Montfort, Ricardo Pérez. "Three Norwegian Experiences in Post-Revolutionary Mexico: Per Imerslund, Halfdan Jebe and Ola Apenes." In ''Expectations Unfulfilled: Norwegian Migrants in Latin America, 1820-1940'', pp. 184–224. Brill, 2016. *Neyens, Mieke. "Revisiting the revolution: a Norwegian Nazi in 1930s Mexico." ''Studies in Travel Writing'' 19, no. 4 (2015): 358-376. 1912 births 1943 deaths Hamar Katedralskole alumni Norwegian expatriates in Mexico Norwegian expatriates in Germany Norwegian people of the Spanish Civil War Nazis from outside Germany Norwegian modern pagans Members of Nasjonal Samling Norwegian gay writers Norwegian autobiographers LGBT people in the Nazi Party German gay writers Waffen-SS personnel killed in action Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War Norwegian Waffen-SS personnel 20th-century Norwegian writers Norwegian anti-communists {{Norway-writer-stub