''Farmand'' (Norwegian: ''The Trade Journal of Norway'') was a business magazine published in

Oslo 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 ...

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 Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, from 1891 until it was discontinued in January 1989. The name ''farmand'' (or ''farmann'') was from an

old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

word for a tradesman. It is composed of the words ''far'' as in to "travel far and wide" combined with the word ''man''. The old Norwegian king

Bjørn Farmann Bjørn Farmann ("Bjørn the Tradesman", also called Bjørn Haraldsson, Farmand and Kaupman, died between 930 and 934) was a king of Vestfold. Bjørn was one of the sons of King Harald Fairhair of Norway. In late tradition, Bjørn Farmann was made ...

or "Bjørn the Tradesman" bore this title.

History and profile

''Farmand'' was established in 1891. The founding editor of the magazine was Einar Sundt from 1891 to 1917. Einar Hoffstad later took over, being editor from 1922 to 1926 and from 1933 to 1935. Trygve J. B. Hoff, one of the founding members of the

Mont Pelerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS), founded in 1947, is an international academic society of Economist, economists, Political philosophy, political philosophers, and other Intelligentsia, intellectuals who share a classical liberal outlook. It is hea ...

, edited the magazine from 1935 to 1982. During the

German occupation of Norway 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 ...

from 1940 until 1945, Hoff was put in jail for his political views. During that time, ''Farmand'' was banned by the Nazi occupation powers. Kåre Varvin edited ''Farmand'' from 1982 to 1983, then Ole Jacob Hoff from 1983 to the end in 1989. In 1986 the magazine was sold to Cappelen, a publishing company. It was published on a weekly basis. ''Farmand'' was a conservative magazine and supported the

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited governmen ...

and

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

which was much inspired by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

''. ''Farmand'' enjoyed such prominent columnists as

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and ...

F. A. Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

, and Ludwig von Mises as well as many economists, intellectuals, and business leaders from the early Mont Pelerin Society. Before

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 ...

Norway began to ban the anti-Nazi movies of American and British origin. Hoff protested over the

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

of these movies. The contents also included current (and inside-track) reports from

East Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

countries, not the least being the crushing of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

in 1968. There were also literary excerpts, among them those from Constantine Fitzgibbon's dystopian romance during a communist takeover of England, '' When the Kissing Had to Stop''. One of the attractions was a page of quotations with its popular naughty jokes featured in the lower right-hand corner. ''Farmand'' sold 33,800 copies in 1981 and 33,900 copies in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmand 1891 establishments in Norway 1940 disestablishments in Norway 1945 establishments in Norway 1989 disestablishments in Norway Banned magazines Business magazines published in Norway Conservatism in Norway Conservative magazines Defunct magazines published in Norway Magazines established in 1891 Magazines disestablished in 1940 Magazines established in 1945 Magazines disestablished in 1989 Magazines published in Oslo Norwegian-language magazines Weekly magazines published in Norway Censorship in Norway