Christian Gottlieb Hilt (29 January 1888 – 5 August 1958) was a Norwegian newspaper editor 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. Hilt was born 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 ...

, and started studies in 1906 but left the higher education system after a couple of years. He instead became subeditor in the newspaper '' Smaalenenes Social-Demokrat'', and was acting editor-in-chief from 1910 to 1911. Hilt then worked in '' Den 1ste Mai'', ''

Bratsberg-Demokraten ''Bratsberg-Demokraten'' ("The Bratsberg Democrat") was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien in Telemark county. From 1924 to 1929 it was named ''Telemark Kommunistblad''. ''Bratsberg-Demokraten'' was started on 7 April 1908, as the Labour P ...

'' and ''

Social-Demokraten ''Social-Demokraten'' () was a Swedish daily Social Democratic newspaper, belonging to the Swedish Social Democratic Party. The paper was founded in 1885 by Axel Danielsson and August Palm. Palm also edited the paper from 1885 to 1886. Another ...

''. In 1914, he was hired in ''

Fremtiden ''Fremtiden'' was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Drammen, Norway, between 1905 and 2000. It was an official publication of Norwegian Labour Party in Buskerud. History and profile ''Fremtiden'' was started in 1905. Its first editor was Torge ...

'', where he was promoted to subeditor in October, and in 1916 he was hired in ''

Ny Tid ''Ny Tid'' (English: ''Modern Times Review'') is Norway's largest international quarterly review of non-fiction books – up to 50 in each issue. It is currently owned by Ny Tid & Orientering AS. ''Ny Tid'' is headed by the newspaper founder ...

'' where he became editor in 1918. Already in 1919, Hilt left ''Ny Tid'' to become a manager in the news bureau Arbeidernes Pressekontor. He was also a

delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United S ...

at the Fourth

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 ...

Congress in 1922, and participated in the 4th and 7th Enlarged Plenums of the Executive Committee of the Comintern in 1926 and 1927. In 1923, Hilt broke away from the Labour Party, joining the Communist Party. He was elected party secretary in 1925, and was a politburo member from 1926 to 1929. He had two spells as editor-in-chief for ''

Norges Kommunistblad was a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. History was started on 5 November 1923 as the official party newspaper from the Communist Party of Norway, Communist Party, which was established that year after a split from the Norwegian Lab ...

'', from July 1926 to the spring of 1927 and from the autumn 1927 to 1929. The hiatus came because Hilt stayed in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for a period. Around 1926–1927, he also served on the editorial board of ''

Proletaren ''Proletaren'' (meaning ''The Proletarian'' in English) was a Norwegian periodical published by the Communist Party. History and profile ''Proletaren'' was started in September 1923 during the fraction in-fighting in the Labour Party which res ...

''. Hilt then stayed in the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1936, where he did various work for Comintern, and was a correspondent for newspapers all over

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. In 1937, Hilt returned to Norway as secretary of a Norway–Soviet friendship association. He also edited a communist periodical ''Nytt Land'' from 1937 to 1940. During 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 ...

, Hilt was a member of the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

. He was described by

Heinrich Fehlis Heinrich Fehlis (1 November 1906 – 11 May 1945) was a German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer during World War II. He commanded the ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo) and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) in Norway and Oslo during the German occupation of No ...

in an August 1940 edition of ''

Meldungen aus Norwegen ''Meldungen aus Norwegen'' (Reports from Norway) is a series of reports on the situation in occupied Norway during World War II, by the Oslo department of the German ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo) and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD). The reports were edi ...

''. When the illegal newspaper ''

Friheten ''Friheten'' () is a Norwegian language biweekly newspaper, published by the Norwegian Communist Party (NKP). History and profile ''Friheten'' was founded illegally in 1941 during the German occupation of Norway due to World War II. The founde ...

'' started in 1941, Hilt edited it together with

Erling Heiestad Erling () is a Scandinavian male name, meaning "heir of clanchief" or "descendant of the jarl / earl", i.e. prince or similar. Notable people named Erling include: Given name * Erling Aas-Eng (born 1965), Norwegian politician * Erling Aastad (1898� ...

. The newspaper was

stencil Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object. The holes allow the pigment to reach only some parts of the surface creatin ...

ed, and published fortnightly. Hilt also edited ''Radio-Nytt''. While Heiestad was arrested in 1941, Hilt made good his escape to

neutral Sweden Sweden had a policy of neutrality in armed conflicts from the early 19th century, until 2009, when it entered into various mutual defence treaties with the European Union (EU), and other Nordic countries.

. After the war, Hilt was again secretary of a new Norway–Soviet friendship association. He died in August 1958, and is buried at Østre Aker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilt, Christian 1888 births 1958 deaths Journalists from Bergen Norwegian newspaper editors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian resistance members Norwegian expatriates in the Soviet Union Norwegian expatriates in Sweden