Nils Per Imerslund (9 May 1912 – 7 December 1943), 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 ...

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 ...

, was one of the most prominent figures of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

scene in pre-

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. He first gained prominence at home and abroad with the publication in 1936 of his début book, ''Das Land Noruega'', a fictionalised autobiography of his youth in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. His blonde, blue-eyed stature and extravagant way of life gave him the position of "the Aryan Idol". A loathing of his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

and self-perceived feminine traits, led him to frequently risk his life. He lived most of his early years in Mexico and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, fought with the

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

(SA) in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in the 1930s, fought with the Fascist Falange in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, and finally joined the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

to fight in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, where he was severely injured. He died at Aker University Hospital on 7 December 1943. Imerslund also participated in radio broadcasts in the Nazi-controlled

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

Selected works

References

External links

Aftenposten
(In Norwegian)

Relevant publications

*Emberland, Terje, and Bernt Rougthvedt. ''Det ariske idol: Forfatteren, eventyreren og nazisten Per Imerslund.'' Aschehoug, 2004. *Montfort, Ricardo Pérez. "Three Norwegian Experiences in Post-Revolutionary Mexico: Per Imerslund, Halfdan Jebe and Ola Apenes." In ''Expectations Unfulfilled: Norwegian Migrants in Latin America, 1820-1940'', pp. 184–224. Brill, 2016. *Neyens, Mieke. "Revisiting the revolution: a Norwegian Nazi in 1930s Mexico." ''Studies in Travel Writing'' 19, no. 4 (2015): 358-376. 1912 births 1943 deaths Hamar Katedralskole alumni Norwegian expatriates in Mexico Norwegian expatriates in Germany Norwegian people of the Spanish Civil War Norwegian modern pagans Members of Nasjonal Samling Norwegian gay writers Norwegian autobiographers Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II LGBTQ people in the Nazi Party Waffen-SS personnel killed in action Far-right modern pagans Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Norwegian Waffen-SS personnel 20th-century Norwegian writers {{Norway-writer-stub Norwegian broadcasters Norwegian Nazi propagandists Accidental deaths in Norway Infectious disease deaths in Norway Accidental deaths from falls