Einar Gerhardsen
Einar Gerhardsen | |
---|---|
Prime Minister of Norway | |
In office 25 September 1963 – 12 October 1965 | |
Monarch | Olav V |
Preceded by | John Lyng |
Succeeded by | Per Borten |
In office 22 January 1955 – 28 August 1963 | |
Monarch | Haakon VII Olav V |
Preceded by | Oscar Torp |
Succeeded by | John Lyng |
In office 25 June 1945 – 9 november 1951 | |
Monarch | Haakon VII |
Preceded by | Johan Nygaardsvold |
Succeeded by | Oscar Torp |
Personal details | |
Born | Einar Gerhardsen 10 May 1897 Asker, Akershus |
Died | 19 November 1987 90) | (aged
Nationality | Norwegian |
Political party | Labour Party |
Spouse(s) | Werna Gerhardsen |
Profession | Civil servant, road worker |
Einar Henry Gerhardsen (10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was Prime Minister for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism. Many Norwegians often refer to him as "Landsfaderen" (Father of the Nation); he is generally considered one of the main architects of the rebuilding of Norway after World War II.
Early life
Einar Gerhardsen was born in the municipality of Asker, in the county of Akershus. His parents were Gerhard Olsen (1867–1949) and Emma Hansen (1872–1949). He was married to Werna and they had two sons Truls and Rune Gerhardsen and a daughter Torgunn. His brother was Rolf Gerhardsen and with him Einar Gerhardsen also had a lifelong working relationship. From the age of 17, Gerhardsen went to meetings in the Labour party's youth movement.[1] In 1918, during the Finnish Civil War, Gerhardsen resigned his membership in the Church of Norway after the church sided with the "Whites" against the "Reds".[2]
Political work, imprisonment
Originally a road worker, Gerhardsen became politically active in the socialist labour movement during the 1920s. He was convicted several times of taking part in subversive activities until he, along with the rest of the Labour party, gradually moved from communism to democratic socialism. He participated in the Left Communist Youth League's military strike action of 1924. He was convicted for assisting in this crime and sentenced to 75 days of prison.[3]
By the middle of the 1930s Labour was a major force on the national political scene, with Gerhardsen as the Mayor of Oslo and Johan Nygaardsvold as Prime Minister of a minority cabinet.
During World War II, Gerhardsen took part in the organised resistance against the German occupation of Norway, and was arrested on 11 September 1941. Having already been under suspicion for a long time, Gerhardsen had been detained and subjected to interrogations on 31 previous occasions since the summer of 1940. Initially he was sent to Grini concentration camp in Norway. In February 1942 he was accused of leading resistance work from his imprisonment, and removed from the camp for interrogation. Initially interrogated at the police station at Møllergata 19, he was soon transferred to the Gestapo headquarters at Victoria Terrasse. At Victoria Terrasse he was tortured to reveal information on the resistance, but did not break. In April 1942 he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany. In September 1944 he was transferred back to Grini, where he spent the rest of the war.[4]
After the war, Gerhardsen formed the interim government which sat from the end of the occupation in May 1945 until the elections held in October the same year. The elections gave Labour an absolute majority in Parliament, the Storting, which it retained until 1961. Gerhardsen served as President of the Storting from 10 January 1954 to 22 January 1955.
Present
During and after his periods in office he was greatly respected by the people, even those not sharing his social democratic views. The administrations he led forged an eclectic economic policy in which government regulation of commerce, industry and banking was combined with market economics. Abject poverty and unemployment were sharply reduced by his government's policies of industrialisation and redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation, together with the creation of a comprehensive social security system.[5] In foreign policy, he aligned Norway with the Western powers at the end of the 1940s after some initial hesitation within the governing party, and Norway became a founding member of NATO.
Documents from 1958 reveal that the Gerhardsen's government knew that Israel was going to use heavy water supplied by Noratom for plutonium production, making it possible for Israel to produce nuclear weapons.
In November 1962 an accident in which 21 miners died occurred in the Kings Bay coal mine on Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. In the aftermath, the Gerhardsen government was accused of not complying with laws enacted by parliament. In the summer of 1963 a vote of no confidence passed with the support of the Socialist People's Party and a centre-right minority coalition government was formed, under John Lyng. Although this new government lasted only three weeks, until the Socialist People's Party realigned itself with Labour, it formed the basis for an opposition victory under the leadership of Per Borten at the 1965 elections. Gerhardsen retired from national politics in 1969 but continued to influence public opinion through writing and speeches.
Gerhardsen's political legacy is still an important force in Norwegian politics, especially within his own party,[6] although some of the social policies of his government have been revised. (See also Economy of Norway)
Pasttime
He inherited a hut (from his father); it was called Kristi Rolighet and it was located next to Dælivannet in Bærum.
References
- ↑ NRK. "NRK.no - Store norske". Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ↑ Gerhardsen, Rolf (1967). Einar Gerhardsen: som en bror ser ham (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug. p. 50.
- ↑ Maurseth, Per (1987). Gjennom kriser til makt 1920-1935. Volume three of Arbeiderbevegelsens historie i Norge (in Norwegian). Oslo: Tiden. p. 502. ISBN 82-10-02753-0.
- ↑ Olstad, Finn (1999). Einar Gerhardsen: en politisk biografi (in Norwegian). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. pp. 158–176. ISBN 8200128288.
- ↑
- ↑ Jens Stoltenberg:Vi bygger landet Speech April 22, 2010, Office of the Prime Minister, retrieved September 18, 2012
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Trygve Nilsen |
Mayor of Oslo 1940 |
Succeeded by Rolf Stranger |
Preceded by Rolf Stranger |
Mayor of Oslo 1945 |
Succeeded by Rolf Stranger |
Preceded by Johan Nygaardsvold1 |
Prime Minister of Norway 1945–1951 |
Succeeded by Oscar Torp |
Preceded by Oscar Torp |
Prime Minister of Norway 1955–1963 |
Succeeded by John Lyng |
Preceded by John Lyng |
Prime Minister of Norway 1963–1965 |
Succeeded by Per Borten |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by Martin Tranmæl |
Party secretary of the Labour Party 1923–1925 |
Succeeded by Martin Tranmæl |
Preceded by Martin Tranmæl |
Party secretary of the Labour Party 1936–1939 |
Succeeded by Ole Øisang |
Preceded by Oscar Torp |
Chairman of the Labour Party 1945–1965 |
Succeeded by Trygve Bratteli |
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