Einar Sæter (6 December 1917 – 10 November 2010) was a Norwegian

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

er, resistance member, newspaper editor and writer.

Nazi resistance efforts

Sæter was born in Øksendal Municipality. During the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 th ...

he was a member of XU, a resistance organization. XU was an intelligence organization which focused on collecting static information about the German occupants. Reports were brought by couriers to the

Norwegian legation in Stockholm The Norwegian Legation in Stockholm played a significant role during the World War II, Second World War. Until 9 April 1940 the legation consisted of four persons, and at the end of the war about 1,100 persons were connected to the legation. Refug ...

. Sæter worked as courier for XU. He operated a direct route from

Nordmøre Nordmøre () is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. The area comprises the northern third of the county including the List of municipalities of Norway, municipalities of Kristiansund Mu ...

to Sweden, via

Tydal Municipality Tydal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Neadalen/ Tydalen valley. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ås. Other villages include Østby, Græsli, Aungrenda, and Stugudalen. There ...

and Essandsjøen over to Endalsstugane and Blåhammarstugan in Sweden.

Career

Sæter won the silver medal in triple jump at the Norwegian athletics championships in 1946, representing Torshaug IF. His career best was 13.98 metres, achieved in June 1947 on

Bislett stadion Bislett Stadium () is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here. The original stadi ...

. In 1953 he won a national silver medal in the decathlon, this time representing IL i BUL. He edited the newspaper ''

Aura Avis is a Norwegian newspaper, based in Sunndalsøra. It was established in 1947 by Erling Innvik. Innvik edited the newspaper from 1947 to 1954, when he became editor of the Iowa-based '' Decorah-posten''. was then bought by the agency Norsk Ar ...

'' from 1954 to 1971, when he founded the newspaper ''

Driva The Driva river runs through Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal counties in Norway. The headwaters lie in the Dovrefjell mountains in the south, from where it flows northward, downward through the Drivdalen valley in Oppdal Municipality. When the ri ...

''. He was editor-in-chief here, and retired in 1988. He also wrote several books, and the best known book is ''XU. I hemmeleg teneste 1940–1945'', released in 1995. A second edition written with his son Svein Sæter came in 2007. Sæter also released ''Gullfeber. Norske gullgravarar i Klondike og Alaska'' in 1996, about Norwegian

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

participants in Northern America, and ''Hans Hyldbakk. Samtale med ein 100-åring'' in 1998, about Hans Hyldbakk. In 2002 he was awarded

The King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold.

Personal life

Sæter was an uncle of Norwegian politician Alv Jakob Fostervoll. After a stroke he used a wheelchair in the last years of his life. He died in November 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saeter, Einar 1917 births 2010 deaths People from Sunndal XU Norwegian male triple jumpers Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian non-fiction writers Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen