Asbjørn Engen (31 October 1917 – 17 October 1985) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and organizational leader. In 1948 he was hired as secretary general in ''Landsforeningen mot kreft''. It was newly founded at the time, and is since a 1998 merger known as the Norwegian Cancer Association. In 1950 Engen moved on to become a journalist in '' Morgenposten''. He became manager in 1951, and editor-in-chief in 1951. He withdrew from this position shortly before the takeover by industrialist Sverre Munck. Between 1967 and the early 1980s he worked as information director in

Scandinavian Airlines System The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the Flag carrier, national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna Municipality, Solna, Sweden. Including ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. He was a member of the board of directors of the Norwegian Journalist Academy for ten years. He was also a board member of ''Norske Avisers Landsforening'', since a 1992 merger known as the

Norwegian Media Businesses' Association The Norwegian Media Businesses' Association (, MBL) is an employers' organisation in Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote ...

, He was decorated as Knight, First Class of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

and the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

. He died in October 1985. Long after his death it became known that

Libertas Libertas (Latin for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the late republic. She sometimes also appeared on coins from the imperial period, such as Galba's "Freedom ...

, a semi-secret libertarian organization, had owned ''Morgenposten'' (as well as ''

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 ...

'') during his entire period as editor-in-chief. It has been said that Engen, with this backing, "politicized" the formerly "apolitical" newspaper.

References

1910s births 1985 deaths Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Knights First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog 20th-century Norwegian writers {{Norway-writer-stub