Jens Olaf Gjerløw (20 March 1885 – 5 December 1949) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was editor for the newspaper ''

Morgenbladet is Norway's oldest daily newspaper, covering politics, culture and science, now a weekly news magazine primarily directed at well-educated readers. The magazine is notable for its opinion section featuring contributions exclusively from Norweg ...

'' from 1920 until his death in 1949, except for a period in German prisons during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Personal life

Gjerløw was born in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

as a son of vicar Ole Ohnstad Jensen Gjerløw (1845–1924) and Agnethe Hermine Brun (1854–1936). He grew up in

Hamarøy Municipality or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Oppeid ...

and

Vågan Municipality Vågan () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of to ...

, where his father was stationed. He was a nephew of

Mons Klingenberg Gjerløw Mons Klingenberg Gjerløw (11 November 1850 – 1935) was a Norwegian editor. He was born in Aurland as a son of Jens Larsen Gjerløw and Anne Marie Nitter Ohnstad. He was a brother of Ragnvald Gjerløw. He took secondary education as well as the ...

and Ragnvald Gjerløw and a first cousin of

Lilli Gjerløw Lilli Gjerløw (19 June 1910 – 4 December 1998) was a Norwegian archivist and liturgical historian. She was employed at the National Archives of Norway for 45 years. Biography She was born in Nord-Audnedal as a daughter of vicar John Jenssøn Gje ...

. From 1914 to 1920 he was married to Gretchen Scheen (1890–1981), and from February 1924 he was married to Dagmar Helene Jæger (1889–1979), a daughter of Henrik Bernhard Jæger. He was the maternal grandfather of

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

politician Tora Aasland.

Career

Gjerløw finished his secondary education in 1903, and graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

in 1909 with the cand.philol. degree. In 1910 he was hired in the conservative newspaper '' Fredrikstad Tilskuer''. After half a year he was hired in ''Høires Pressekontor'', a centralized office that helped conservative newspapers with articles. In 1916 he went on to be sub-editor in ''

'', and in 1918 he became acting editor-in-chief, succeeding Carl Joachim Hambro. He was appointed editor for the newspaper in 1920, and remained editor until 1949, except for some years 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 chaired the

Conservative Press Association The Conservative Press Association (; shortened DKPF) was a Norwegian media institution whose stated objective was the furtherance of conservative daily newspapers. Amongst its members were editors, journalists, publishers and businesspeople who w ...

from 1925 to 1936. Following the milk strike in September 1941, he was arrested for "anti-German sentiments" and sentenced to fifteen years in jail. He was imprisoned at

Grini concentration camp Grini prison camp (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Bærum, Norway, which operated between 1941 and May 1945. Ila Detention and Security Prison is now located here. History Grini was originally built as a women's prison, near an old croft ...

from 13 September to 8 October, then at

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress (, ) or Akershus Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress has been the namesake and centre of the ...

for a week, then at Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel from 16 October 1941 to April 1942. He was released, but kept under close scrutiny, and ''Morgenbladet'' was stopped between 1943 and 1945. Gjerløw was then editor again from 1945 to his death, when he was succeeded by Rolv Werner Erichsen. He also wrote the conservative-tinted history work ''Norges politiske historie'', released in three volumes between 1934 and 1936. The purpose of the work was to discredit the "

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

version" of the political history, represented by

Ernst Sars Johan Ernst Welhaven Sars (11 October 1835 – 27 January 1917) was a Norwegian professor, historian, author and editor. Assuming perspectives from the positivism philosophical school, his main work was ''Udsigt over den norske Historie'', f ...

' works. Specifically, Gjerløw wanted to show that the Conservative Party did not lack nationalist goals. The accusations of lacking such goals stemmed from the party's attitudes to the

Union between Sweden and Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway (; ), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch and common foreign pol ...

. After the war Gjerløw became less of a Conservative Party supporter; he advocated broad political cooperation and was against

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

membership. He died in December 1949 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjerloew, Olaf 1885 births 1949 deaths People from Stavanger People from Nordland University of Oslo alumni Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors 20th-century Norwegian non-fiction writers