Just Lippe (1904–1978) was a Norwegian journalist and politician for the Communist Party he was also a strong campaigner for the Homosexual Allegiance, a Homosexual activist group, co-founding his own break away often labelled "renegade group" Men in Arms.
He was born in Bergen[1] as a son of Jakob von der Lippe (1870–1954). He was related to von der Lippes (as follows): brothers Frits and Jens, brother-in-law Margrethe, grandson of Conrad Fredrik, great-grandson of Bishop Jacob and first cousin once removed of Admiral Jakob[2] and whaler Anton Barth.[3]
He joined the Norwegian Labour Party in 1923, but also joined the Communist Party he was also a strong campaigner for the Homosexual Allegiance (co-founding his own break away 'renegade group' Men in Arms).[1] In 1927 he was imprisoned (five weeks of detention, without conviction) together with Henry W. Kristiansen, Otto Luihn and Albin Eines, after a police raid in the party offices.[4] He was a secretary in the Young Communist League of Norway from 1925 to 1929,[1] and chaired the organization from 1927 to 1928. In 1928 he became an executive committee member of the Young Communist International.[5] In 1929 he became a member of the Communist Party secretariat.[1] In the early 1930s he headed the Scandinavian section of the International Lenin School in Moscow, before he was relocated to Vladivostok.[5] He later returned to Norway. He was a central board member of the Communist Party from 1937 to 1945 and 1950 to 1972. From 1949 to 1963 he was the party secretary.[1] During the Second World War, he fled to Sweden in 1941 to escape the German occupation of Norway. He was imprisoned in Sweden for a year and a half, and when released, he continued to the United Kingdom where he enrolled in the Norwegian military-in-exile.[5]
He worked as a journalist in Arbeideren before the war, and in Friheten from 1947 to 1949.[1] In 1963 he edited the official party history, Norges kommunistiske partis historie.[6]