Ivar Elias Kornelius Flem (8 January 1865 – 1948) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was chief editor of the newspaper ''

Sunnmørsposten ''Sunnmørsposten'' () is a newspaper published by Polaris Media in Ålesund, Norway. History and profile In its early days, ''Sunnmørsposten'' competed with several other local newspapers, including '' Aalesunds Avis'' (1917–1957), '' Aales ...

'' for nearly fifty years.

Personal life

Flem was born on 8 January 1865 in

Haram Municipality Haram is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative center is Brattvåg, the industrial center of Sunnmøre. Other important villages in the municipality include Austnes, Eidsvik, ...

to Martinius Ingebrigtsen Flem and Oline Blindheim. In 1897 He married Nikoline Susanna Landmark. He was the father of Dagfinn Flem and Magne Flem. Flem died in 1948.

Career

Flem passed

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1885, and studied philology. In 1894 he became editor of the

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

based newspaper ''

''. In 1896 he bought the newspaper and was both publisher and editor the next fifty years, except 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 ...

, when he was dismissed from his position as editor by the Nazi authorities. ''Sunnmørsposten'' became a daily newspaper from 1905, and was eventually regarded among the most important newspapers in the region. In 1946 his two sons Dagfinn and Magne took over as editors, and the newspaper was owned by the family until 1991. Flem supported 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 ...

. He was an eager advocate for the

dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden The dissolution of the union (; ; Høgnorsk, Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; ) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of ...

. He also supported the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated i ...

for employees, which he implemented in Sunnmørsposten, along with paid vacation. He was a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Ålesund Municipality Ålesund (, sometimes spelled Aalesund in English) is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ce ...

from 1914 to 1922. He also wrote two books, ''Mennesket naturbestemt'' and ''Determinismen''.

Personal life

Career

References

Further reading