Karsten Ingemann Torkildsen (18 December 1896 – 26 February 1979) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He was born 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 ...

and married in 1932. He moved to

Rjukan Rjukan () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Tinn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of Tinn Municipality. The town is located in the Vestfjorddalen valley, between the lakes Møsvatn ...

in 1915 and started his trade union career here as vice chair of the ''Rjukan faglige samorg'' in 1920. He also held this post in 1924 and 1925, and was deputy chair of Rjukan Labour Party in 1920. He was a deputy member of

Tinn Tinn is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Aust-Telemark and Upper Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. Some of the villages in Tinn include Atr� ...

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 ...

from 1919 to 1922 and councilman from 1928 to 1930. In 1927 and 1930 he chaired ''Rjukan faglige samorg''. From 1930 to 1934 he was employed as secretary of ''Øvre Telemark faglige samorg'' and Telemark Labour Party. He moved to

Notodden is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, G ...

where he chaired the local party chapter from 1931 to 1934 and the

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

from 1933 to 1934. Nationwide he served as chairman of the Norwegian Union of Chemical Industry Workers from 1934 to 1945 and chairman from 1945 to 1963. As such was also a secretariat member of the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

. 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 ...

(1940–1945), however, the trade union movement was usurped by the Nazis. Torkildsen fled to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Here, in 1942 he was elected as chair of the exiled branch of the

Norwegian People's Aid Norwegian People's Aid () was founded in 1939 to provide post-conflict reconstruction assistance and humanitarian relief during conflicts. NPA is now engaged in more than 33 countries in de-mining, Humanitarian aid, humanitarian relief, promotin ...

. He later served as chairman here after the war, from 1947 to 1951. He was also given a multitude of other positions. From 1945 he was a member of Norges Eksportråd. In 1946 he was elected to the board of

Norsk Folkeferie Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

(until 1950) and the supervisory council of

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

(until 1963). From 1947 he was a board member of Arbeidernes Landsbank and member of the Defence Commission of 1946. He died in February 1979 and was buried at

Grefsen image:Grefsen kirke 20080531-1.jpg, thumbnail, 250px, Grefsen Church Grefsen is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway. Grefsen was a part of the municipality of Aker, Norway, Aker before the Second World War, later incorporated into Oslo. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torkildsen, Karsten 1896 births 1979 deaths Trade unionists from Oslo People from Rjukan Politicians from Telemark Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian expatriates in Sweden