Niels Ødegaard

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Niels Ødegaard (1892–1976)

Niels Ødegaard (25 September 1892 – 1976) was a Norwegian educator, newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Communist parties.

He was born in Gjøvik as a son of shoemaker Anton Ødegaard (1865–1931) and his wife Pauline Josefine Nielsen (1863–1943). He started his working career in a printing press from 1906 to 1909 and then as an office clerk for O. Mustad & Søn from 1909 to 1911. He then studied and graduated from Elverum Teachers' College in 1913, and was hired as a school teacher in Gjøvik. He also worked as a substitute teacher in , Fluberg and Vardal. From 1916 he chaired the local Labour Party chapter. In 1919 he became editor-in-chief of the newspaper Ny Dag, He was also a member of Gjøvik city council from 1919, and served as mayor from 1922 to 1940.[1] He left Ny Dag in 1924, and from 1926 to 1940 he was the editor-in-chief of Opland Arbeiderblad.[2]

He also chaired Gjøvik's school board, and was deputy chair of the supervisory council of Kommunenes Filmcentral and Norsk Film. He chaired several local companies: , Gjøvik Skifabrik, Gjøvik Auto and Byggeleverandøren, and was a board member of Gumælius og Reklame and , as well as the Federation of Norwegian Industries.[1]

He was a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway in the terms 1925–1927, 1928–1930 and 1931–1933, representing the Market towns of Hedmark and Oppland counties.[1][3] In 1924 he was elected on the ballot of the Communist Party (which he had joined),[4] but right after the election he gave up this party and rejoined the Labour Party.[5] He returned as local Labour chairman, serving until 1934. He was elected as a full member of Parliament in 1933 and 1936. His last term was ended by the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, during which he was also removed as mayor.[1] He instead became manager of the company , where he remained until 1961. He returned as mayor after the Second World War, and sat from 1945 to 1967. In total, he is the longest-sitting mayor in any Norwegian municipality.[6] He also spearheaded policies, branded "Ødegaardianism", that bore the characteristics of a mixed economy (i.e. not really socialism).[7]

In 1967 he was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Gjøvik, and in 1972 a monument to him was unveiled in the city. He died in 1976.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Niels Ødegaard" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  2. ^ Maurseth, Per (1987). Gjennom kriser til makt 1920-1935. Volume three of Arbeiderbevegelsens historie i Norge (in Norwegian). Oslo: Tiden. p. 616. ISBN 82-10-02753-0.
  3. ^ "Norges Offisielle Statistikk. VIII. 157. Stortingsvalget 1930" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
  4. ^ "Norges Offisielle Statistikk. VII. 176. Stortingsvalget 1924" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
  5. ^ Maurseth, 1987: pp. 435–436
  6. ^ a b "Niels Ødegaard". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  7. ^ Maurseth, 1987: p. 554
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