Lars Borgersrud (born 11 March 1949) is a Norwegian military historian and

government scholar Government scholar (Norwegian, ''statsstipendiat'') is a position awarded by the Parliament of Norway upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research and funded directly over the State budget of Nor ...

. His work has largely centered on

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 opposing ...

in Norway. Borgersrud formed close relations with leading figures of the Norwegian Maoist movement beginning in the late 1960s.

Career

Borgersrud's

master's thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

from 1975 disclosed sensitive information regarding military personnel and organization prior to

and their possible effects on military preparedness prior to the invasion of Norway by Nazi Germany. As a student he was threatened with being prosecuted if he published his thesis. Nevertheless, Borgersrud eventually published three books with material from his work under the pseudonym "Ottar Strømme": ''Stille mobilisering'', ''Unngå å irritere fienden'' and ''Den hemmelige hæren''. In 1978, he also published the first volume of the secret report from ''Den militære undersøkelseskommisjonen av 1946'', under the same pseudonym. He was a contributor to the 1995 World War II encyclopedia '' Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-1945''.

Research

His 1995 doctoral dissertation examined the Wollweber organization in Norway. In the 2000s, he also participated in research on the fate of

war children War children are those born to a native parent and a parent belonging to a foreign military force (usually an occupying force, but also military personnel stationed at military bases on foreign soil). Having a child by a member of a belligerent ...

—children born during the

German occupation of Norway 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 ...

who had German fathers and Norwegian mothers.

Denied access to governmental archive

While preparing the book ''Konspirasjon og kapitulasjon'' (2000), Borgersrud tried to survey Norwegian military officers with Nazi sympathies but met resistance and was denied access to historical documents from the

National Archival Services of Norway The National Archival Services of Norway ( no, Arkivverket) is a Norwegian government agency that is responsible for keeping state archives, conducts control of public archiving and works to preserve private archives. It is subordinate to the Mi ...

Family

He was until 1982 married to professor and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

activist Leikny Øgrim, daughter of XU member and physicist Otto Øgrim and sister of SUF(m-l) and

AKP(m-l) The Workers' Communist Party ( no, Arbeidernes Kommunistparti, AKP) was a Norwegian communist party (1973–2007). AKP was a Maoist party and one of two communist parties in Norway; the other was the older Communist Party of Norway which had rema ...

ideologist Tron Øgrim. He is the father of

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Elling ''Elling'' is a Norwegian Black comedy film directed by Petter Næss. Shot mostly in and around the Norwegian capital Oslo, the film, which was released in 2001, is primarily based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen's novel ''Brødre i blodet'' ("Blood bro ...

and Aslak from Gatas Parlament.

References

Selected works

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borgersrud, Lars 1949 births Living people 20th-century Norwegian historians University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian military historians Historians of World War II Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Norwegian historians