Emil Løvlien (22 September 1899 – 4 June 1973) was a Norwegian

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

worker, trade unionist and politician from

Løten Løten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, H ...

. He represented the Labour Party until the split in 1923, and the Communist Party thereafter. He was the chairman of the Communist Party from 1946 to 1965, and served three terms in the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

Pre-war life and career

Emil Løvlien was born in Løiten as the son of

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...

Herman Løvlien (1858–1941) and his wife Oline (1857–1932).. Retrieved on 28 December 2008. He was the younger brother of Ole H. Løvlien. Emil Løvlien attended secondary modern school from 1913, but left in 1914 to become a forest worker. In 1918 Løvlien joined the local branch of the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, Norwegian Union of Forestry and Land Workers. He also became involved in politics, and was selected as a member of the board of the local chapter of the Labour Party. In 1922 Løvlien was selected to the national board of the Union of Forestry and Land Workers. He was elected to serve in Løten

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

, but left the board of the Labour Party chapter, only to return in 1923 as a board member of the local Communist Party chapter. The Communist Party had split from the Labour Party in 1923, due to the latter's unwillingness to accept the

Twenty-one Conditions The Twenty-one Conditions, officially the Conditions of Admission to the Communist International, are the conditions, most of which were suggested by Vladimir Lenin, to the adhesion of the socialist parties to the Third International (Comintern) cr ...

, leading to exclusion from the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

. The next year, in 1924, Løvlien left the national board of the Union of Forestry and Land Workers, but began a two-year stint as board member of the Communist Party in

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

. Løvlien stood for parliamentary election in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

and

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

, but unsuccessfully. In 1931, he was again elected to the municipal council. He was re-elected in 1934, and in the same year he became the party secretary of the Communist Party nationwide. Due to this position, he was also a member of the party's central committee, and served as a member of the board of the party newspaper '' Arbeideren'' from 1934. From 1936 he was also a member of the party politburo. He left all positions in 1940, the year that Norway was invaded by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, and the Communist Party declared illegal.

Post-war career

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

, at the first elections after the liberation of Norway from German occupation, Løvlien was elected to the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from Hedmark. He was a member of the Standing Committee of Finance and Customs and the Election Committee, served as Vice President of the

Odelsting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

and as a representative to the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

. He also took over as party chairman of the Communist Party, in 1946. Løvlien was not re-elected to Parliament in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, but returned in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

and

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

to serve two more terms. During both these terms he continued as a member of the Standing Committee of Finance and Customs and the Election Committee. He stood for re-election in

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

, but lost out to Karen Grønn-Hagen of the Centre Party. The margin was extremely small by Norwegian standards; only 16 votes. As such Løvlien was the last member of parliament to be elected from the Communist Party ticket ( Reidar T. Larsen was elected in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, but as a part of the Socialist Electoral League). Løvlien stepped down as chairman of the Communist Party in 1965. He continued as a member of Løten municipal council until his death. His brother Ole Løvlien became

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovlien, Emil 1899 births 1973 deaths People from Løten Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Hedmark politicians Norwegian trade unionists International Lenin School alumni Members of the Storting 1945–1949 Members of the Storting 1950–1953 Members of the Storting 1954–1957 Members of the Storting 1958–1961