Martin Strandli (28 January 1890 – 14 January 1973) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour and

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

parties. He was born in

Stange Municipality is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen. Other villages include Bekkelaget, Espa, Bottenfjellet, Il ...

. He joined his first trade union in 1913, and worked as a construction worker in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

. He was a board member of the Labour Party in Kristiania. In February 1923 he was elected to the Labour Party central board, as the only pro-Comintern member together with Kristian Kristensen. When the pro-Comintern faction broke away to create the Communist Party, he joined them, but eventually returned to Labour. From 1933 to 1937 and 1945 to 1946 he was a treasurer in the

Norwegian Union of Building Industry Workers The Norwegian Union of Building Industry Workers (, NBIAF) was a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. It was founded in 1923 as the Norwegian Union of Building Workers (). It was a merger bet ...

, and from 1934 he was a member of the secretariat of the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

. He was a co-founder of Oslo Bygge- og Sparelag (OBOS) in 1929, and was the chairman from 1937 to 1942. He was then arrested as a part of 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 was incarcerated in

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway, where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This ...

from February to March 1942, then in

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 ...

until 13 March 1945. He was transferred to

Mysen Mysen is the administrative center of the municipalities of Norway, municipality of Eidsberg in the counties of Norway, county of Østfold in Norway. The town is named after the old farm of Mysen (Old Norse, Norse ''Mysin'', from ''*Mosvin''), si ...

, but the rest is unknown. At Grini he participated in an inner circle of Labour Party-affiliated discussants. In the autumn of 1944 he became a part of a post-war party platform committee, which consisted of

Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1945 to 1951, 1955 to 1963 and 1963 to 1965. With a total of 16 years in office, he is the longest serving Pri ...

(leader), Olaf Watnebryn, Olaf Solumsmoen, Gunvald Engelstad, Arnoldus Kongerø and Strandli.

Gunnar Bråthen Gunnar Bråthen (7 October 1896 – 7 June 1980) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He was Minister of Pay and Prices from 1955 to 1959. He was born in Hole as a son of a baker. He was a member of Kristiania ci ...

joined in January 1945. After the war, from 1946 to 1960, he was the CEO of Oslo Bygge- og Sparelag. He received the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1950, and the

Medal of St. Hallvard The Medal of St. Hallvard () is the highest award of the City of Oslo, Norway. It is awarded to people who have made a particularly noteworthy contribution to the City of Oslo. It is named after the city's patron, Saint Hallvard (ca. 1020–1043) ...

in 1958. He died in January 1973.Steenstrup, 1973: p. 632

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strandli, Martin 1890 births 1973 deaths People from Stange Norwegian trade unionists Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Politicians from Oslo