Albert Balchen (22 October 1874 – 11 June 1940) was a Norwegian barrister, economist, editor and politician for the Centre Party.

Biography

He was born on 22 October 1874, in

Vestre Aker Vestre Aker (Western Aker) is a List of boroughs of Oslo, borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It has a population of 50,157 as of 2020. The previous Aker Municipality was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948. The borough of Vestre Aker was org ...

, to

Fredrik Glad Balchen Fredrik Glad Balchen (6 April 1815 – 24 April 1899) was a Norwegian teacher of the deaf. Personal and early life Balchen was born on 6 April 1815, in Bergen, to chaplain Johan Peter Balchen (1783–1827) and his wife Christiane Wilhelmine Gulb ...

(1815–1999) and Valgerda Benjamine, née Heiberg. He finished his secondary education in 1893, graduated with the

cand.jur. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1899 and the

dr.philos. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in economics in 1907. Following a few years as a deputy judge and junior solicitor, he settled 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 ...

as an attorney before embarking on the doctoral thesis. His thesis concerned

trade balance Balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of a nation's exports and imports of goods over a certain time period. Sometimes, trade in services is also included in the balance of trade but the official IMF definition only consi ...

, and from 1908 to 1910 he chaired the economics group of the Polytechnic Society. From 1909, he was the secretary-general of ''De norske eksportnæringers landsforbund'' while continuing to practice law, from 1910 as a barrister with access to working with Supreme Court cases. In 1914, he married Hildur Jenssen. He was also a contributor to the newspaper ''

Verdens Gang (), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...

'' from 1910, and board member from 1911, but left in 1913. From 1915 to 1925, he edited the economic magazines ''Norsk Exporttidende'' and ''Tidsskrift for bank- og finansvæsen''. Politically, Balchen aligned with the

Norwegian Agrarian Association The Norwegian Agrarian Association () is the largest Norwegian interest organization for farmers. It functions both as a labour union and as a trade union. It negotiates with the Norwegian Farmers and Smallholders Union and the Norwegian Minis ...

as a member of their working group on customs policy from 1912 to 1913. He later headed the Norwegian Taxpayers Association, only to return to the Agrarian Association in 1924 to shape a proposition on

state budget A government budget is a projection of the government's revenues and expenditure for a particular period, often referred to as a financial or fiscal year, which may or may not correspond with the calendar year. Government revenues mostly include ...

cuts. In 1930, he became Oslo county chairman of the Agrarian Party. In the

1930 Norwegian parliamentary election Year 193 (Roman numerals, CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

he was the Agrarian Party's second ballot candidate behind

Thorvald Aadahl Thorvald Aadahl (23 July 1882 – 26 March 1962) was a Norwegian newspaper editor, novelist, and playwright. Born in Rødenes, he was chief editor of newspaper from 1913 to 1942 and chaired the Norwegian Press Association from 1931 to 1934. ...

, and in the

1933 Norwegian parliamentary election Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independe ...

, he headed the ballot. Neither attempt resulted in his election. He was also considered as Minister of Trade in

Kolstad's Cabinet Kolstad's Cabinet governed Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalba ...

. In the 1934 Norwegian local elections, Balchen stood as the Agrarians' top candidate, and the third candidate overall, on a joint list with

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...

and the Free-minded People's Party. Already in 1931, Balchen had become a member of the 31-man strong "central committee" of

Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (; ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Nazi collaborator who Quisling regime, headed the government of N ...

's organization at the time, Nordiske Folkereisning. In 1933, Balchen issued the pamphlet ''Nasjonal politikk'' ("National Politics"),Obituary, ''

Nationen is a Norwegian daily newspaper with a particular focus on agriculture and rural districts. Its circulation in 2015 was 12,954, an increase of 281 copies from 2014. History and profile was founded in 1918. The founding editor-in-chief was Th ...

'' 12 June 1940 where he among others espoused the racial superiority of the Norwegian people, whose individualism would be a "bulwark against collectivism and the other isms of lesser peoples and social classes". In 1934, he was elected to Leidangen's board in Oslo. Balchen died the day after Norway had succumbed to invading German forces, 11 June 1940, aged 66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balchen, Albert 1874 births 1940 deaths Politicians from Oslo University of Oslo alumni Norwegian economists 20th-century Norwegian lawyers Norwegian magazine editors Centre Party (Norway) politicians Fatherland League (Norway)