Magnus Nilssen (18 July 1871 – 20 November 1947) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour and Social Democratic Labour parties. He was born in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

as a son of shoemaker Mathias Nilssen (1834–1920) and his wife Eline Pedersen (1835–1918). He was a first cousin of Marcus Halfdan Kastrud. He finished his apprenticeship as a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

in 1889, and moved to

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 ...

in the same year. He was a secretary in his local trade union from 1891 to 1892 and treasurer in 1893. He was also member of the socialist youth club ''Friheden'' in both Kristiania and

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsbor ...

(where he lived in 1894). He started his own goldsmith business in 1897. In November the same year he married Inga Marie Ravneberg. He joined the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

, and became a member of the central board in 1900. From 1901 to 1918 he was the party secretary. He lost out when "the new direction" became dominant in 1918. "The new direction" had tried to replace him with

Alfred Madsen Alfred Martin Madsen (10 April 1888 – 8 May 1962) was a Norwegian engineer, newspaper editor, trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He began as deputy chairman of their youth wing, while also working as an engineer. In ...

at the national convention in 1915. In 1921 he quit the central board to co-found a new party, the

Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway The Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway (in Norwegian ''Norges Socialdemokratiske Arbeiderparti'') was a Norwegian political party in the 1920s. Following the Labour Party's entry into the Comintern in 1919 its right wing left the party t ...

. He chaired this party throughout its existence, from 1921 to 1927. He took part at the founding congress of the

Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI) was an international organization of socialist and labourist parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a merger of the rival Vienna International and the Berne Intern ...

in 1923; the other Norwegian delegates were Arne Magnussen, Michael Puntervold and

Olav Kringen Olav Kringen (24 July 1867 – 6 October 1951) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was born at a croft in Sel, and was a manual laborer in Norway before emigrating to the United States in 1887. There, he studied and took a teacher education. He ...

. Nilssen was a member of Kristiania (Oslo) city council from 1902 to 1910, 1914 to 1919 and 1926 to 1928. To the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

he was elected for the first time in the

1906 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway between 5 and 27 August 1906, with a second round held between 26 August and 22 October.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1438 It was the first parliament ...

. He represented his city. He was re-elected eight times, to serve a total of nine terms in Parliament. There was a hiatus between 1922 and 1927; he was never elected to Parliament for the Social Democratic Labour Party. He served as President of the Lagting from 1919 to 1921 and Vice President of the Storting from 1935 to 1945. After the reunion of Labour and Social Democratic Labour in 1927, he rejoined the Labour Party central board, this time as deputy party leader. The party had two deputy leaders—Nilssen and

Edvard Bull, Sr. Edvard Bull (4 December 1881 – 26 August 1932) was a Norwegian historian and politician for the Labour Party. He took the doctorate in 1912 and became a professor at the University of Kristiania in 1917, and is known for writings on a broad r ...

—to accommodate different wings within the party. Nilssen also served as

Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

in the two-week Hornsrud's Cabinet between January and February 1928. He left as deputy leader in 1939, and left the central board in 1945. His last term in Parliament ended in 1945—de facto with a hiatus from 1940 to 1945, when Germany occupied Norway and suspended Parliament. Nilssen participated in the ''Riksråd negotiations'' in 1940 between Germans and those parliamentarians who had not fled the country, in which the Presidium infamously asked

King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was King of Norway from 18 November 1905 until his death in 1957. The future Haakon VII was born in Copenhagen as Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ...

to abdicate. During the remainder of the occupation, Nilssen lost all his public positions. After the occupation and war, he was dropped by the Labour Party as their member of the Presidium, and was not summoned to the relevant meetings and forums. Fredrik Monsen was the party's new member of the Presidium.Berntsen, 2006: p. 104 Nilssen was a member of the supervisory committee of the

Gjøvik Line The Gjøvik Line () is a Norwegian railway line between Oslo and Gjøvik. It was originally named the North Line (''Nordbanen'') and ran between Grefsen and Røykenvik. The line was completed to Gjøvik in 1902. The Gjøvik Line was one of t ...

from 1908 to 1919, and of the supervisory council of Norges Brannkasse. He was a school board member in Oslo from 1910 to 1922 and 1929 to 1937, and a board member of the

Norwegian State Railways 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 ...

from 1922 and Oslo Hospital from 1933. He was a deputy board member of the

Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

from 1938 to 1940, and a deputy member of the

Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee () selects the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's will. Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. ...

from 1922 to 1940. Nilssen died in November 1947 in Oslo.

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