Adam Hjalmar Egede-Nissen (29 June 1868 – 4 April 1953), was a Norwegian

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

and politician, who began his political career in the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and was first elected to the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

(parliament) in 1900. He later switched to the Labour Party before eventually joining the

Communist Party of Norway The Communist Party of Norway (, NKP) is a communist party in Norway. The NKP was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. It was Stalinist from its establishment and, as such, supported the Soviet government while oppo ...

, serving as party chairman from 1934 to 1946.

Life and work

Parents

Adam Hjalmar Egede-Nissen was born on an Øvre Rinnan farm in Frol Municipality (today part of

Levanger Levanger may refer to: Places * Levanger Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Levanger (town), a town within Levanger Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Levanger landsogn, a former municipality (1856–1962) in Trø ...

Municipality]) in Nord-Trøndelag, Nordre Trondheim county, where his father Paul Christian Egede-Nissen (1835–1891) was then serving in the

medical corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

of the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

. Having qualified as a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

in 1858 and having been active as a military physician in the Italian liberation struggle led by

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

, by 1863 Paul Egede-Nissen was practicing medicine in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

; in 1867 he was a commissioned officer with the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and was a regimental surgeon stationed with the army at Levanger. Adam Egede-Nissen's mother was Sophie Amalie Normann of

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

(1826–1912), widow of Søren Schøning (1816–1861), who had been a merchant on Grøtøya island in

Karlsøy Municipality Karlsøy () is an island List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hansnes. Other villages include Dåfjord, Hessfjord, Karlsøya ( ...

; she married his father in 1863, and the couple had three children, Pauline Fayette Egede-Nissen (born 1864), Søren Kristian Henrik Egede-Nissen (born 1866), and Adam Egede-Nissen, born in 1868. Besides his two full siblings, he had a stepbrother, Jakob Schøning.

Youth and early career

Adam Egede-Nissen graduated from Trondheim Cathedral School in 1886, receiving his Cand philol. (master's degree) two years later. In 1887 he was appointed as a post office assistant in

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county; and in 1890 as a mail clerk; he transferred in the following year to become a mail clerk in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. He was postmaster in

Vardø Vardo or Vardø may refer to: Places * Vardø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vardø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative centre of Vard� ...

(in

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

near the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n border) from 1897 to 1911, when he became postmaster in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

. On 13 May 1899, during his time in Vardø, he founded the newspaper " Finnmarken"; he was its editor for many years. Egede-Nissen was a member of the municipal council of

Vardø Municipality Vardø (; ; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county in the extreme northeastern part of Norway. Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway, more to the east than Saint Petersburg or Istanbul. ...

from 1903 to 1911. With Vardø being the easternmost municipality in Norway — and indeed in all of Western Europe — it formed a thriving

duty-free A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will ...

centre for the

Pomor trade The Pomor trade (; ) was carried out between the Pomors of Northwest Russia and the people along the coast of northern Norway, as far south as Bodø (town), Bodø. The trade went on from 1740 until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The Pomor tr ...

of Norwegian

pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic ocean, marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. ''Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as "pollock" in North America, Ireland and the Unit ...

for Russian rye grain and other goods brought by merchants from

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

. Making use of his contacts with Russian merchants and officials, Egede-Nissen was among the first Norwegians to establish working links with anti-Tsarist Russian groups. As early as 1902 he had begun printing and smuggling literature across the border into Russia promoting democracy and socialism. In 1906 he was a co-founder of ''Nordens Klippe'', a decidedly socialist Norwegian mineworkers union.

Left and Labour Party

In 1900 Egede-Nissen was first elected to the

, representing the

for the towns of Hammerfest-Vardø-Vadsø electoral area. During his first term in parliament, he was a member of the Standing Committee on Roads (1900–1903). During some of his time in parliament, fellow socialist Thorolf Bugge, who had worked in the Vardø post office with him since 1898, served as acting postmaster there (1901 to 1906). Having been re-elected in 1903, Egede-Nissen broke with the Liberals in 1905 and joined the Labour Party in the Storting, becoming one of its leaders. He was re-elected for the Labour Party at the next two parliamentary elections in 1906 and 1909, representing the same constituency as before. From 1903 through 1912 he was a member of the Standing Committee on the Military, and during the years from 1906 to 1912 the Storting elected him as a member of the Lagting.

Views on neutrality and disarmament

Egede-Nissen gained prominence during the August 1909 parliamentary debate on army reorganization, espousing the then radical ideas of neutrality and military disarmament. Terje Baalsrud, ''Politikken mot forsvaret—frem mot 1940. En dokumentasjon'' ("Pre-1940 defence policy: a documentation"), Institutt for forsvarsopplysning ("Defence information institute"), Oslo: 1985, p. 19.

Views on temperance and prohibition

From 1910 he served as one of nine members of a parliamentary alcohol commission which was mandated to chart Norway's future laws on the sale of wine, beer and distilled spirits. The Storting adopted their 1918 majority report, in which the commission recommended that all importation and sale of alcohol be conducted through controlled storehouses (''samlag''), the profits of which flowed into the Norwegian Treasury (''Statskassen''), while breweries and distilleries remained privately owned — a position held by a six-member majority of the committee. Egede-Nissen and Sven Aarrestad, parliamentary leader of the Temperance Party (''Avholdspartiet''), however, contended that the government should restrict the legal sale of alcohol by allowing individual municipalities to vote to ban its local sale and set a goal of eventually achieving national prohibition, at least of distilled spirits, whilst a third dissenter, famed Norwegian physician and psychiatrist Johan Scharffenberg, supported an immediate total prohibition of all liquor sales, characterizing alcohol as "this nerve poison that turns people into animals."

Resignation from Stortinget

Having become Stavanger's postmaster in 1911, he declined to stand for re-election in the 1912 election, especially as he would no longer be living in the electoral area that he had represented.

Communist views

Egede-Nissen was elected to the municipal council of

Stavanger Municipality Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

in 1913, and in 1915 he was elected mayor, a post he retained until 1919. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

of 1917, though, Egede-Nissen became sympathetic to the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

cause. Having been elected to leadership of the labour Party in 1918, he went to the new

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, where he met with

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and participated in a meeting that led to the establishment of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

, although he did not attend the founding meeting in March 1919; the only Norwegian attending was Emil Stang, supposedly to represent the Norwegian Labour Party. The Soviets had invited the Labour Party to join the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

, a goal that Egede-Nissen shared, but his party eventually repudiated the principles of Lenin and remained

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

. During his mayoralty, Egede-Nissen was fined for his leading role in organizing a general strike held on 21 June 1919Werner Hauge,
Etter 1917: Noreg i skuggen av revolusjon
'' ("After 1917: Norway in the shadow of revolution"), ''Internasjonal Sosialisme'', No. 62 (April 1993). Accessed 2012-03-12. in support of the

. In 1921 he was once again elected to the Storting, this time representing Stavanger for the Labour Party. In 1923 the tensions could no longer be papered over, and the Labour Party formally split into two factions; the smaller group organized itself as the

, and Egede-Nissen become a founding member of the nascent Communist Party, serving as party chairman from 1934 to 1946; another Labour Party member who joined at this time was Peder Furubotn, who served as Communist Party chairman from 1925 to 1930.Terje Halvorsen,
Furubotn, Peder
". in ''Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45''. Oslo: 1995, Cappelen. pp. 126–127. . Accessed 2008-09-15. At their 1946 congress the party replaced Egede-Nissen with Emil Løvlien as chairman.

Nazi occupation of Norway

During the

Nazi occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the World War II, Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the Norwegian Campaign, German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi G ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Egede-Nissen fled to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

aboard a whaling ship. In

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

he enlisted in the anti-Nazi struggle and was sent first to

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

and later to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The ship taking him to the U.S. was torpedoed, and although some sailors were killed, Egede-Nissen and many others were rescued by the crew of an American ship. In the autumn of 1944 he returned to

in northern Norway, where he participated in the struggle against Nazi occupation by serving as one of the translators for the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, which had begun to drive the occupying German troops out of the country.

Family

Egede-Nissen was married to Georga ("Goggi") Wilhelma Ellertsen (1871–1959); they had eleven children, seven of whom became stage and film actors: Aud Egede-Nissen (1893–1974), Gerd Grieg (1895–1988), Ada Kramm (1899–1981), Oscar Egede-Nissen (1903–1976), Stig Egede-Nissen (1907–1988), Lill Egede-Nissen (1909–1962) and Gøril Havrevold (1914–1992).Store Norske Leksikon
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egede-Nissen, Adam 1868 births 1953 deaths Norwegian communists People from Levanger Politicians from Nord-Trøndelag Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Place of death missing People educated at the Trondheim Cathedral School Members of the Storting 1900–1903 Members of the Storting 1904–1906 Members of the Storting 1907–1909 Members of the Storting 1910–1912 Members of the Storting 1922–1924