Rudolf Nilsen

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Rudolf William Nilsen (1901-1929) was a Norwegian poet and journalist. He was born in Oslo. A child of the working class, Nilsen became part of the left-wing revolutionary movement and joined the organisation Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund.

In 1921, he stood trial for smuggling illegal revolutionary literature into Norway. With the help of defence lawyer Trygve Lie, he avoided sentencing, but was eventually found not guilty.

In 1924, he married Ella Quist Kristoffersen, later Ella Hval. Rudolf Nilsen's first published work was the collection of poetry På stengrunn (1925), which was followed by På gjensyn (1926). Many of his poems were political, while others were romantic or about life in Oslo.

Nilsen died of a lung illness in Paris on 23 March, 1929. Hverdagen was published posthumously the same year. His collected poems were published in 1935. New collections of his works were published in the 1970s.