Meyer Nilssen Foshaug (15 June 1868 – 6 June 1955) was a Norwegian farmer and politician for the Labour and Social Democratic Labour parties. He served ten terms in 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 ...

Career

He was born at Foshaug in

Målselv Municipality Målselv () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moen, Troms, Moen. The main commercial centre of the municipality is the ...

as a son of farmers Nils Johnsen Foshaug and Erikka Korneliusdatter. He worked on the family farm from an early age. He was a member of the Målselv

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 1901 to 1904, and was elected to the

already in the 1903 election, representing the constituency of

Tromsø Amt Tromsø is a city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the island of Tromsøya which sits in the ...

. The Labour Party got its first four parliamentary seats after the 1903 election, all representatives of

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

. In addition to Foshaug, they were

Jørg Berge Jørg (Jørgen) Berge (3 September 1854 – 1916) was a Norwegian editor, temperance activist and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Arendal. He spent several years as a seaman, and studied and worked in Canada, Spain and several ci ...

Alfred Eriksen Alfred Eriksen (nicknamed "Karlsøypresten", 30 August 1864 – 4 May 1934) was a Norwegian priest, politician, newspaper editor, and non-fiction writer. Personal life He was born as Alfred Eriksen in Christiania as the son of the watch ...

and

John Lind Johansen John Lind Johansen (29 September 1852 – 31 January 1940) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was born at Aarstein in Ibbestad. He studies fisheries in France and Belgium, and spent his working career as a fisher and farmer. ...

; also,

Adam Egede-Nissen Adam Hjalmar Egede-Nissen (29 June 1868 – 4 April 1953), was a Norwegian postmaster and politician, who began his political career in the Liberal Party and was first elected to the Storting (parliament) in 1900. He later switched to the L ...

was elected on 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 ...

ballot. After Norway adopted

single-member constituencies A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a Multiwinner voting, multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as ...

, Foshaug was re-elected from the constituency Senjen in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escapes death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Janu ...

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

and from Malangen in the 1918 election. Norway reverted to multi-member constituencies, and Foshaug was elected from the constituency

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

. In 1921, when the Labour Party split in two because of disagreements over the

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 ...

membership, Foshaug disavowed the pro-Comintern faction and joined the new

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 was elected on their ballot in the 1921 parliamentary election. He was also elected as a national board member of the party. However, by the next election in 1924 the Social Democratic Labour Party had lost out in the political competition and he was not re-elected. His fifth seat was taken by the Liberal Party. Foshaug instead served as mayor of Målselv from 1925 to 1931. In 1927 the Labour and Social Democratic Labour parties reunited under the former name, and Foshaug was elected to Parliament in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. During the intermittent term 1931–1933 he was a deputy representative. He was a board member of

Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap or TFDS is a defunct Norwegian shipping company that also has activities in public transport and tourism. Based in Tromsø the company was one of the two operators of the Coastal Express and also operated a number o ...

from 1926 to 1941 and of the

Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate ( or NVE) is a Norwegian government agency established in 1921. It is under the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and regulates the country's water resources and energy supply. Its mandate in ...

from 1935. 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 ...

, specifically from 1942, he lost his political positions. After the occupation, in 1945, he briefly served as deputy mayor of Målselv. He did not return to national politics after the Parliament of 1936 had fulfilled its term. He died in 1955. He was a Baptist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foshaug, Meyer 1868 births 1955 deaths Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Troms Members of the Storting Members of the Storting 1904–1906 Members of the Storting 1907–1909 Members of the Storting 1910–1912 Norwegian Baptists Norwegian farmers People from Målselv Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway politicians